The Quarrel

By

Eleanor Farjeon

About the Poem: The poem, “The Quarrel” is about a quarrel between brothers and sisters which is a common phenomenon, although sometimes they are unable to justify why they quarrel and patch up soon after.

Explanation:

I quarrelled with my brother
I don’t know what about,
One thing led to another
And somehow we fell out.
The start of it was slight,
The end of it was strong,
He said he was right,
I knew he was wrong

The poet says that she quarrelled with her brother. She could not figure out how did it start. Something happened which led to other and they started abusing each other. It was a small fight initially. But it soon became strong. Her brother said that he was right and the poet was wrong. However according to the poet, she was right and he was wrong. As we don’t know the cause of fight, we can’t figure out who was wrong.

We hated one another.
The afternoon turned black.
Then suddenly my brother
Thumped me on the back,
And said, “Oh, come along!
We can’t go on all night —
I was in the wrong."
So he was in the right.

That day, after the fight, they started hating each other. The whole afternoon they did not talk and hence it went bad for them. But suddenly, her brother patted on her back and said that they can’t remain so throughout the night. And that he wants to settle the matter. The brother accepts his mistake and the poet forgives him. Finally the fight is settled. In the end, the poet says that now he was in the right. Probably, she considers his accepting mistake as a right decision. Or she is accepting that he was right and she herself was wrong. Whatever her thought maybe, the fight is settled and they are friendly again.

Working with the poem

1. With your partner try to guess the meaning of the underlined phrases.

(i) And somehow we fell out.
(ii) The afternoon turned black.

Answer:

1. fell out – quarrelled or argued.
2. turned black – was spoiled or wasted due to bad or tensed mood.

2. Read these lines from the poem:
(i) One thing led to another
(ii) The start of it was slight
(iii) The end of it was strong
(iv) The afternoon turned black
(v) Thumped me on the back
Discuss with your partner what these lines mean.

Answer: (i) During the argument, one thing led to another.
(ii) The start and cause of the quarrel was petty and small.
(iii) The quarrel ended on a sour note which had a long lasting effect.
(iv) The quarrel spoiled the mood of the quarrelling persons and the afternoon became intolerably sad.
(v) Patted on the back in an amiable manner.

3. Describe a recent quarrel that you have had with your brother, sister or friend. How did it start? What did you quarrel about? How did it end?
Answer: Sameer is my best friend at school. I invited him to my birthday party, but he did not turn up for the celebrations. Suddenly he started behaving awkwardly and our relationship turned bitter. At school the next day, we had an argument about the incident. We both didn’t talk to each other for a few days. Both of us remained tense and sad on those days. Since we were missing each other, we decided to patch up. Therefore, we confronted each other and resolved our differences amicably. We shook hands and hugged each other and promised to renew our friendship in a fresh manner.

(Note: Students can attempt this question as per their personal experience)