The Winner Questions & Answers | Class 6 English | CBSE NCERT

(b) — The stanza says, "Evenings, we play ball next to the creek in our neighbour's field."

(b) — Because they run so fast while playing, the speaker is completely out of breath.

(c) — The one-word lines imitate the speaker's gasping, out-of-breath state and highlight it.

Creek

A group of children, including the speaker, are playing together. The use of "we play ball" and "we run so fast" shows that the speaker is playing with friends or companions.

After playing a game I love, I feel tired but very happy and refreshed, just like the speaker who keeps running despite being out of breath. Playing with friends fills me with energy and joy. (Any sensible personal answer is acceptable.)

(b) — As the sky changes from blue to black, it becomes too dark to play and the game's over.

(a) — The stanza says "cold grass aches our feet"; playing in the cold grass of the field makes their feet ache.

(c) — Night is given the human quality of 'winning' a game, which is personification.

False — The game's over because night has fallen and darkness has won, not because the children are bored.

As evening deepens into darkness, the trees are not clearly visible. In the dim light, they appear to come closer to the children, which the poet describes as the trees 'creeping close'.

The night is 'the winner' of the game. When the blue dark turns to black, the children must stop playing, so playfully the poet makes night the winner against the children, ending the game.

The children go out to play in the evenings. The poem begins with the word 'Evenings', telling us the time of their play.

The children play next to the creek in their neighbour's field. It is an open, natural place where they can run freely.

The children play ball. They run so fast while playing that the speaker cannot even catch his or her breath.

The poem 'The Winner' has been written by the poet Georgia Heard.

A creek is a small body of water, like a small stream. The children play next to the creek in the neighbour's field.

The speaker says, "We run so fast / I can't even catch / my breath." This tells us that they run so quickly that the speaker becomes completely breathless.

The 'blue dark' of evening turns to black. This means the sky changes colour from blue to black as night falls.

The children play barefoot on the cold grass of the field. This cold grass makes their feet ache by the end of the evening.

In the fading evening light, the trees are not clearly visible. As darkness grows, they appear to move closer to the children, so the poet says the trees 'creep close'.

The speaker says "game's over" because it has become too dark to play. When the blue dark turns to black, the children can no longer see and must go home.

The poet means that night has defeated the children at their own game of play. Just as one team wins a match, darkness ends the game, so the poet playfully declares night the winner.

The poet gives human qualities to things that are not human. Night is shown as 'winning' the game, and the trees are shown 'creeping' close. Both are examples of personification.

The speaker is a child who loves playing outdoors. The words 'we' and 'our' tell us that the child is not alone but plays with a group of friends.

The children run so fast that the speaker cannot even catch a breath, yet they keep playing until darkness forces them to stop. They play every evening in the field, which shows how much they enjoy their game.

The words "trees creep close— / game's over. / Night wins!" tell us that the game has ended. The darkness of night has ended the children's play.

The poet paints the picture of an open field beside a creek, with cold grass underfoot and trees nearby. Children run about playing ball in the evening light, until the sky darkens and the trees fade into shadow.

'Aches' means to feel a dull, continuous pain. The cold grass makes the children's feet pain after playing for a long time.

The children enjoy their game so much that they do not notice the time. They keep playing until the blue dark turns to black and the game must end, showing their love for outdoor play.

The pattern imitates the speaker's panting breath while running fast. It shows the reader, word by word, just how breathless and excited the children are.

Yes, I would love to play outdoors like them. Running freely in a field with friends keeps us healthy and happy, and fresh air and exercise make us strong. (Any reasonable personal answer is acceptable.)

Every evening, a group of children play ball next to a creek in their neighbour's field. They run so fast while playing that the speaker cannot even catch a breath. They go on playing wholeheartedly even as the evening grows darker. Finally, when the blue dark turns to black, the cold grass aches their feet, the trees seem to creep close, and the game ends with night 'winning'. The poem shows playtime that is free, energetic and full of joy.

The poet slowly darkens the poem step by step. First, she tells us it is 'evenings' when the children play. Then comes the change — 'blue dark turns to black' — showing the sky deepening into night. The grass turns cold and aches the children's feet, and the trees 'creep close' as they fade in the dim light. Finally, the poet declares 'game's over' and 'Night wins!', completing the picture of the day of play giving way to night.

Personification means giving human qualities to non-human things. In 'Night wins!', the night is treated like a player who defeats the children and wins the game, when actually it is simply too dark to play. In 'trees creep close', the trees are shown as creatures quietly moving nearer to the children, when actually they only appear closer in the fading evening light. Both images make the poem lively and playful, turning ordinary evening changes into an imaginary game between the children and nature.

The title refers to the last line of the poem, 'Night wins!', where night is made the winner of the game because it ends the children's play. In a playful way, the poet imagines the children playing against night, and night winning when darkness falls. But one can also say the real winners are the children themselves, because they spend the evening joyfully playing in the open air. The title thus works on two levels — night wins the game, while the children win health and happiness.

The poet conveys the children's energy through action and form. She tells us that they 'run so fast' while playing ball in the open field. The striking one-word lines — 'I / can't / even / catch / my / breath' — imitate the speaker's gasping breath and put the reader in the runner's place. The children play on and on, not stopping even when the grass grows cold and their feet ache, and only the blackness of night can end the game. All these details show how excited and absorbed they are in their play.

The poem shows that children do not need expensive equipment or playgrounds to be happy. All they need is a ball, a neighbour's field beside a creek, and the freedom to run till they are breathless. The children are so happy that they play until darkness ends the game. Their play is natural and spontaneous — the cold grass, the trees and the night all become part of the fun. The poem quietly reminds us that the simplest outdoor games give the purest joy.

The poem ends with the game being over as night falls — 'trees creep close— / game's over. / Night wins!' It is not really a sad ending. The children have had a wonderful time playing, and the ending only means that a happy day of play has come to a natural close. There is no complaint or regret in the speaker's words. They will return to play again the next evening, so the ending feels peaceful rather than sorrowful.

The setting is a rural or natural one — an open neighbour's field next to a small body of water, with trees around. This suggests that the children are free to play in wide, open spaces rather than enclosed playgrounds. Their play is tied to nature: the grass, the trees and even the night are like their playmates. It also suggests simple, healthy childhood pleasures, where a ball and an open field are enough for complete happiness.

The poet shows time passing through the changing light of the evening. The poem begins with 'Evenings', the time when the children come out to play. As they keep playing, the light changes — first the 'blue dark' of dusk and then the complete 'black' of night. Along with the darkening sky, the grass turns cold and the trees seem to creep close. In this way, the poem moves from the start of playtime to its end, without ever mentioning a clock.

The poem gently tells such children what they are missing. The children in the poem run in the open air, close to nature, until they are breathless with excitement — and even the ache in their feet does not stop them. Such play gives health, happiness and friendship. The poem suggests that outdoor play every evening is joyful and healthy, and that screen-free time in a field or park can be the best part of a child's day.

The central idea of the poem is the pure joy of outdoor play in childhood. The speaker describes how a group of children play ball every evening in a neighbour's field beside a creek, running so fast that the speaker cannot even catch a breath. The poet celebrates this simple, carefree play that needs nothing but a ball and an open field. The poem also presents the playful idea of nature joining the game — the trees seem to creep close, and finally the night itself 'wins' when darkness ends the play. Beneath the playful surface, the poem carries a warm message: childhood happiness lies in running freely with friends in the fresh air, not in costly toys or closed rooms. The title deepens this idea by playfully crowning night as 'the winner', even though the children are the true winners of health and joy. The poem thus honours the ordinary magic of an evening of play.

The poem is full of vivid images that appeal to our senses. The visual images include the field beside the creek, the blue dark turning to black, and the trees creeping close in the fading light. The image of children running so fast that the speaker cannot catch a breath appeals to our sense of movement and makes us feel their speed in our own bodies. The touch is present in the 'cold grass' that 'aches our feet', letting us feel the chill of the evening ground under our bare feet. Together, these images create a complete picture of an evening in the open — the colour of the sky, the coolness of the grass, the breathlessness of the runners and the shadows of the trees. These sense impressions make the reader experience the playtime rather than just read about it, and they explain why the children give themselves up completely to the game.

The poem uses several poetic devices with charm and purpose. The most important is personification — night is shown as a player who 'wins' the game, and the trees are shown 'creeping' closer, both giving human qualities to non-human things. The poet uses the special arrangement of words 'I / can't / even / catch / my / breath' on separate lines; this pattern copies the panting of a runner and highlights how out of breath the children are. There is strong visual imagery in 'blue dark turns to black', which paints the deepening evening sky, and in the cold grass that aches the children's feet. The line 'cold grass aches our feet' is itself a striking expression, where the grass, and not the running, is shown as causing the ache. The poem's conversational style, narrated by a child ('we play ball'), is another device that makes it sound like a happy child's account of play. Together, these devices turn a simple evening of play into a delightful poem.

The poem teaches us several valuable lessons through its picture of playtime. First, it teaches the value of outdoor physical activity — the children run so fast that the speaker 'can't even catch my breath', showing healthy exercise enjoyed wholeheartedly. Second, it teaches the value of friendship and togetherness; the repeated words 'we' and 'our' show that the play is shared — 'we play ball', 'cold grass aches our feet'. Third, it teaches contentment with simple pleasures: the children need only a ball and a neighbour's field to be completely happy. Fourth, it teaches us to respect and enjoy nature, as the creek, the grass, the trees and the night itself become part of the children's world. Finally, it teaches graceful acceptance — when 'Night wins!', the children accept the end of play without any complaint. These values make the poem a fitting part of the unit on sports and wellness.

In the poem, the children follow a simple and joyful routine. Every evening, they gather to play ball next to the creek in a neighbour's field. They run about so fast that the speaker cannot even catch a breath, and they continue till the blue dark turns to black. When the cold grass begins to ache their feet and the trees seem to creep close, they accept that the game is over, because 'Night wins!' and it is time to go home. Compared to this, my own playtime is similar in spirit but different in detail. Like them, I go out to play in the evening after school and come home only when it grows dark. However, I usually play in a park or a school playground, not in a field beside a creek, and I often play games like kho-kho or cricket instead of just ball. (Students may adapt this second part to their own real playtime.) Like the children in the poem, I return home tired, breathless and happy.

When I close my eyes, I am right back in that field. The moment school work is done, my friends and I rush to the neighbour's field next to the creek, where we play ball every evening. The moment someone throws the ball to me, I tear after it as fast as my legs can carry me — so fast that I cannot even catch my breath! We laugh and shout as we run across the field, and no one keeps score or worries about winning. As the evening grows late, I notice that the sky, which was blue a while ago, slowly turns dark and then black. The grass under our bare feet feels cold now, and my feet begin to ache. The trees at the edge of the field seem to creep closer and closer, like they want to join our game. Then someone says the game is over — night has won today! Tired but happy, with cold feet and a warm heart, we walk home in the dark, promising to come back tomorrow evening.

Here is my continuation of the poem in the same spirit: We walk home slow, our feet cold, our hearts light, the moon our lamp in the gathering night. We talk of the throws, the runs, the fun, and promise each other tomorrow — once more, everyone! Night may win when the day is done, but we will return with the morning sun. In this continuation, the children accept night's victory cheerfully. They walk home under the moonlight, chattering about the day's play, and make a promise to return the next day. Just as in the original poem, night ends the game but cannot end the children's love for playing. (Any imaginative continuation that keeps the poem's playful tone is acceptable.)