A Friend’s Prayer — Class 6 English Poorvi Questions and Answers

A Friend’s Prayer questions and answers: understand Jill Wolf’s poem in Class 6 Poorvi through its central idea, stanza summaries, textbook exercises, vocabulary and listening activities.

Class: 6 Subject: English Book: Poorvi Unit: 2 – Friendship Type: Poem Poet: Jill Wolf Source copy: Reprint 2026–27

Source: NCERT Poorvi, Grade 6, Unit 2, printed pages 52–58; listening transcript 72; supplied reprint 2026–27. Open-ended and personal responses are examples to adapt. These explanations are study support, not an official NCERT answer key.

Poem Overview

“A Friend’s Prayer” is a short, heartfelt poem in which the speaker offers a quiet prayer about friendship. The poet wishes that friendship will always remain the most important thing in her life. She feels blessed to have special friends and promises to give her very best to them. She does not just want to share their hopes and plans — she wants to do everything a true friend can do to make their wishes come true. In the last stanza she asks to use her heart, rather than cold judgement, to understand what friends really are, and to love them exactly the way they are, without judging them from a distance. The poem’s gentle, prayer-like tone teaches that true friendship is built on love, acceptance, effort and the willingness to understand others with the heart.

About the Poet – Jill Wolf

Jill Wolf is the poet credited on printed page 53. The poem uses a personal, prayer-like voice to express gratitude, effort and acceptance in friendship.

Central Idea & Stanza Summary

Two school friends listening and sharing a notebook in a shaded courtyard
Original conceptual illustration of empathy and friendship, inspired by the poem’s message; not a scene described literally in the poem.

Central idea: The poem is a sincere prayer about being a good friend. The speaker prays that friendship will always matter most to her, that she will give her best to her friends, help make their wishes come true, and love and accept them just as they are — understanding them with her heart instead of judging them from afar. The poem teaches that true friendship rests on love, effort and acceptance.

Stanza 1 (lines 1–4): The speaker prays that friendships will always be the most important thing in her life. She feels blessed and lucky to have special friends, and because of this she resolves to give her very best to them.

Stanza 2 (lines 5–8): The speaker wants to do much more than simply share the hopes and plans of caring friends. She promises to try everything a friend can possibly do in order to help make their wishes come true.

Stanza 3 (lines 9–12): The speaker asks to use her heart to truly “see” and understand what friends can be. She prays that she will not judge her friends from a distance, but will love and accept them exactly the way they are.

Word Meanings (शब्दार्थ)

WordEnglish Meaningहिंदी अर्थ
prayera humble wish or request, often to Godप्रार्थना
friendshipthe bond of being friendsमित्रता, दोस्ती
specialbetter or more important than usual; dearविशेष, खास
blessedfortunate; favoured with good thingsधन्य, सौभाग्यशाली
very bestthe finest effort one can giveसर्वश्रेष्ठ प्रयास
shareto have or use togetherसाझा करना, बाँटना
hopeswishes for good things to happenआशाएँ, उम्मीदें
plansideas of what one intends to doयोजनाएँ
careto feel concern and love for someoneपरवाह करना, ध्यान रखना
wishesstrong desiresइच्छाएँ, मनोकामनाएँ
come trueto actually happen as desiredसच होना, पूरा होना
heartcentre of love and feelingsहृदय, दिल
realiseto understand clearlyसमझना, अनुभव करना
judgementsopinions formed about someoneराय, निर्णय
afarfrom a long way off; from a distanceदूर से
gratefulfeeling thankfulआभारी, कृतज्ञ

Poetic Devices in the Poem

FeatureExplanation
Rhyming coupletsbe/me, blessed/best, share/care, do/true, see/be, afar/are. Each four-line stanza has the pattern AABB; the rhyme sounds change across stanzas.
Prayer-like requestsThe repeated requests with ‘May’ and ‘let me’ express hopes about becoming a better friend.
Figurative expressionUsing the heart to ‘see’ means understanding with empathy, not literal eyesight.
RepetitionReferences to friends, friendship and personal pronouns maintain the poem’s focus.

‘Hopes and plans’, ‘friends who’ and ‘make their wishes’ do not have matching initial consonant sounds, so they are not valid alliteration examples.

NCERT textbook exercises

Let us do these activities before we read

I. Read the following sentences. 1. I wish my friend brings idli in her tiffin tomorrow. 2. I hope my friend and I win the race tomorrow. 3. May my friend get well soon. Which of the three sentences 1–3 is closest to a prayer? Explain to your teacher and classmates.

SAMPLE ANSWER Sentence 3 (“May my friend get well soon.”) is closest to a prayer. It begins with the word “May”, which is used to express a humble, kind wish for someone else’s good — exactly the way a prayer asks for blessings. Sentences 1 and 2 express personal wishes for things one wants, but Sentence 3 is a selfless, caring wish for a friend’s wellbeing, which gives it the gentle, prayer-like tone.

II. What would you pray for your friend? First speak about it and then write it down.

SAMPLE ANSWER “I would pray that my friend always stays healthy and happy. I wish that he does well in his studies, that his good dreams come true, and that our friendship lasts for life. May he never face troubles alone, and may I always be there to support him.” (This is a speaking-and-writing task; write your own short prayer in two or three sentences in your own words.)

Let us discuss

1. Read the poem silently. As you read, underline the parts of the poem that you agree with.

GUIDED ANSWER Read each line quietly and underline the lines that match your own ideas about friendship. You might underline a line such as “With special friends I feel I’m blessed” and “But love my friends the way they are”, because these express feelings most of us share about our friends. (Underline the lines you personally agree with.)

2. Now, share the details of your underlined parts of the poem in groups and explain why you liked those lines.

GUIDED ANSWER In your group, take turns to read out the line you underlined and explain it. For example: “I liked the line ‘love my friends the way they are’ because it reminds me that true friends do not judge each other but understand and respect one another.” (This is an oral group activity — explain your own choice.)

3. Which line was underlined by most people in your group? Share it with your teacher.

GUIDED ANSWER Compare everyone’s choices and note the line chosen most often. For illustration, a group might choose “But love my friends the way they are”, as it captures the main message of the poem — accepting friends as they are. (Report the actual most-chosen line from your group.)

Let us think and reflect

I. Complete the summary of the poem by circling the correct highlighted words.

ANSWER The poet says a prayer for friendship and friends. She wants that friendship should always be an important part of her complete life. She says that her friendship makes her feel special. She wishes to do the best she can, for her friends. She wants to listen to the wishes of her friends. As a good friend, she prays that she is able to make her friends’ wishes come true. She wants her heart to understand what a true friend is. She prays that she loves her friends as they are. She tells us that true friends accept their friends for all their qualities.

II. Answer in one word only.

ANSWER 1. How does the poet feel about special friends? — Blessed. 2. What does the poet use to realise what friends can be? — Heart.

III.1. Read the following lines from the poem and answer the questions given below. “I want to do much more than share / The hopes and plans of friends who care; / I’ll try all that a friend can do / To make their wishes come true.”

(i) Complete the sentence with the most suitable option. These lines tell us that the speaker is _______________. A. clever   B. caring   C. curious   D. calm

ANSWERB. caring — the speaker is ready to do everything possible for her friends and to help fulfil their wishes, which shows that she cares deeply about them.

(ii) How will the speaker make her friends’ wishes come true? (by trying hard / by working a lot)

ANSWERBy trying hard — the line “I’ll try all that a friend can do” shows that she will make every honest effort a true friend can make.

(iii) Fill in the blank with a suitable word. My friends will feel __________ if their wishes come true.

ANSWERhappy (other suitable words: glad, delighted) — naturally, friends feel joyful when their wishes are fulfilled.

III.2. Read the following lines from the poem and answer the questions given below. “Let me use my heart to see, / To realise what friends can be, / And make no judgements from afar, / But love my friends the way they are.”

(i) The speaker says that feelings are important to understand friendship. Which line tells us this?

ANSWERThe line “Let me use my heart to see” tells us this. By saying she will use her “heart” rather than her eyes or mind, the poet shows that feelings and love are the true way to understand friendship.

(ii) Complete the sentence with the most suitable option. These lines tell us that the speaker is _______________. A. helpful   B. thoughtful   C. cheerful   D. hopeful

ANSWERB. thoughtful — the speaker reflects deeply on what friends mean and chooses to understand and accept them rather than judge them, which shows a thoughtful, caring mind.

(iii) Fill in the blank with one word. The speaker does not wish to make any ___________. She cares for them just as they are.

ANSWERjudgements — the line “And make no judgements from afar” tells us she does not want to judge her friends.

IV. Give one reason why we can say that this poem is a prayer.

ANSWERWe can call the poem a prayer because the speaker uses humble, request-like words such as “May my friendships always be…”, “So let me give my very best” and “Let me use my heart to see”. These lines express sincere wishes and pleas — just like a prayer — asking to become a better, more loving friend.

V. Why does the speaker ‘want to do more’ for her friend?

ANSWERThe speaker feels blessed to have caring friends, so she does not want to merely share their hopes and plans. She wants to do more — to actively try everything a friend can do to make their wishes come true. Her deep love and gratitude make her wish to give her very best to her friends.

VI. Do you think that the speaker knows about the wishes of her friend? How can we say so?

ANSWERYes, the speaker knows about her friends’ wishes. We can say so because she speaks of sharing “the hopes and plans of friends who care” and promises to “make their wishes come true.” Sharing hopes and plans suggests that she listens to what her friends want, which shows she is close enough to her friends to know what they hope for.

VII. Do you also pray for your friend? What do you wish for? Discuss.

SAMPLE ANSWERYes, I also pray for my friend. I wish that my friend always stays healthy, happy and safe, that he succeeds in whatever he tries, and that our friendship grows stronger every year. I also pray that I am able to be a good, loyal and supportive friend to him. (This is a discussion task — share your own honest answer.)

Let us learn

I. Select grateful and thankful from the given choices. These match the speaker’s appreciative feeling about being blessed.

II. Complete the quality words: loyal, helpful, kind, caring, honest. Suggested blanks, using each listed word once: 1 kind; 2 helpful; 3 loyal; 4 honest; 5 caring. ‘Helpful’ fits sharing things; ‘loyal’ fits always supporting a friend. The fifth sentence needs caring after ‘believe in’; do not change ‘loyal’ into an unlisted noun ‘loyalty’ to force it into that blank.

III. Three sentences about each of three friends — samples:

  • Riya: Riya is honest with me. She tells the truth kindly. I can trust her advice.
  • Aman: Aman helps when I miss a lesson. He shares his notes. He explains the work patiently.
  • Sara: Sara listens when I feel worried. She includes others in games. Her kindness makes me feel welcome.

Adapt all nine sentences to people you actually know.

Let us listen — transcript page 72

I. The one- or two-word answer is comic book.

II. Circle pictures 1, 3, 4 and 6 on printed pages 56–57: reading together on the park bench, eating ice-cream, walking in the park and both cycling. Picture 2 shows only one child cycling; picture 5 shows separate reading on the ground, rather than the shared bench activity. The transcript also mentions swings and slides, but there is no matching numbered picture of those activities in this grid.

Let us speak

1. In pairs, act the role of friends speaking to each other. Speak about the following situations: (1) A walk in the park (2) Sharing tiffins at school — using the cues given in the book (greet each other, ask/plan activities, share food, tell how it makes you feel, thank your friend).

SAMPLE CONVERSATION Situation 1 – A walk in the park:
A: “Hi Rohan! Would you like to come with me to the park this evening?”
B: “Hello Aryan! Yes, I’d love to. What shall we do there?”
A: “Let’s play on the swings first and then walk near the trees and listen to the birds.”
B: “That sounds wonderful. I really like spending time with you.”
A: “Me too! See you at five.” Situation 2 – Sharing tiffins at school:
A: “Good morning, Meera! I’ve brought paratha and curd today. What about you?”
B: “Good morning! I’ve brought idli and chutney. Shall we share our tiffins?”
A: “Yes, let’s! Sharing food with you makes me feel happy and closer to you.”
B: “Your paratha is delicious! What other food do you like?”
A: “I love poha and dosa. Thank you for sharing your tiffin with me!” This is a role-play activity — practise it aloud with your partner and create a new situation as the book asks.

Let us write

Describe how your friendship with your friend started. First list the answers for — When? Where? How? Then, use your sentences to write a short paragraph of about 80 words. Give a title to your paragraph.

SAMPLE ANSWER When? In Class 4.   Where? At my school.   How? She sat beside me and shared her lunch. Title: My First Day with a New Friend
My friendship with Ananya began in Class 4 at my new school. On my very first day I felt nervous and alone because I knew no one. During lunch break, a cheerful girl named Ananya sat beside me and offered to share her tiffin with me. She smiled, asked my name and helped me find my classroom. From that day, we sat together, played together and helped each other in studies. Slowly, her kindness turned into a strong friendship that I value deeply even today. Write your own 80-word paragraph about how your friendship really began.

Let us explore

I. There are many quotations about friendship. Read the ones given below. • “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” • “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” 1. What do you think is the meaning of these quotations? Share it with your teacher. 2. Think of an experience in your life with your friend that suits this quotation. Share it with your friends.

SAMPLE ANSWER 1. “A friend in need is a friend indeed” means that a true friend is one who helps and stands by you in times of difficulty, not just in good times. “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me” means that a real friend encourages you and helps you improve and become a better person. 2. For example: “Once I forgot my lunch and felt very hungry. My friend Kabir shared his food with me without being asked. That day I truly felt that a friend in need is a friend indeed.” (Share your own real experience with the class.)

II. Look for some famous quotations on friendship; these can be in your own language too. Read and share them with your teacher and classmates. Write one quotation on paper, colour and decorate it. Put it up on the class board.

GUIDED ANSWER Collect quotations such as “Friendship is the only flower that blooms in every season” or a saying in your own language. Choose your favourite, write it neatly on a sheet of paper, decorate it with colours and designs, and pin it on the class board. (This is a craft-and-display project to be done in class.)

Note: “Let us do these activities before we read”, “Let us discuss”, parts of “Let us learn”, “Let us listen”, “Let us speak”, “Let us write” and “Let us explore” are pre-reading, speaking, listening, writing and project tasks meant to be done in class with your teacher; the reading-comprehension and vocabulary exercises above are the assessable written exercises for the poem.

Additional ClearStudy questions

This practice is separate from the printed textbook exercises.

Short Answer Questions (30–40 words)

Q1. What does the speaker pray for at the beginning of the poem?
The speaker prays that friendships will always be the most important thing in her life. She wants to value her friends above other things and to keep friendship at the centre of her heart and life. Q2. How does the speaker feel about having special friends?
The speaker feels truly blessed and lucky to have special friends. This thankful feeling makes her want to give her very best to them and to be the best possible friend in return. Q3. What does the speaker want to do more than just share?
She wants to do much more than just share the hopes and plans of her caring friends. She wants to actively try everything a true friend can do to make their wishes actually come true. Q4. What does the poet mean by ‘use my heart to see’?
It means understanding friends with love and feeling rather than with cold judgement. The poet wants to look at her friends with kindness and sympathy, sensing what they truly are through her heart. Q5. Why does the speaker not want to make ‘judgements from afar’?
She does not want to judge her friends from a distance because true friendship means accepting people as they are. Instead of finding faults, she chooses to love and understand her friends with an open heart.

Long Answer Questions (100–120 words)

Q1. What message about true friendship does ‘A Friend’s Prayer’ give us?
The poem teaches that true friendship is built on love, effort and acceptance, not on cleverness or show. The speaker prays to keep friendship at the centre of her life and to feel grateful for her special friends. She promises to give her very best, to do more than just share hopes and plans, and to try her hardest to make her friends’ wishes come true. Most importantly, she wants to understand her friends with her heart and to love them exactly the way they are, without judging them from a distance. The poem reminds young readers that being a good, caring and accepting friend is itself a beautiful prayer. Q2. How is ‘A Friend’s Prayer’ different from an ordinary poem about friendship?
Most poems describe friendship from the outside — telling us what friends do for one another. “A Friend’s Prayer” is different because it is written as a humble prayer in the first person. The speaker does not boast about her friends; instead she prays to become a better friend herself. She uses gentle, request-like words such as “May my friendships…”, “let me give my very best” and “Let me use my heart to see.” This prayerful tone makes the poem deeply personal and sincere. Its focus is not on receiving friendship but on giving love, effort and acceptance — which makes it a thoughtful, inspiring poem about the duties of a true friend. Q3. How does the speaker plan to be a good friend, according to the poem?
The speaker plans to be a good friend in several caring ways. First, she keeps friendship as the most important thing in her life and feels blessed to have special friends. Second, she promises to give her very best to them. Third, she wants to do more than just share their hopes and plans — she will try everything a friend can do to make their wishes come true. Finally, she chooses to understand her friends with her heart, to make no judgements from afar, and to love them just as they are. Through love, effort, helpfulness and acceptance, she hopes to be the truest possible friend.

ClearStudy MCQ practice

1. Who is the poet of ‘A Friend’s Prayer’?

(a) Sudha Murty (b) Jill Wolf (c) Subba Rao (d) Sarojini Naidu

2. The speaker prays that friendships will always be —

(a) easy to make (b) full of fun (c) the most important thing to her (d) free of quarrels

3. With special friends, the speaker feels she is —

(a) bored (b) blessed (c) busy (d) brave

4. The speaker wants to do much more than share her friends’ —

(a) food and toys (b) hopes and plans (c) books and pens (d) games and songs

5. The speaker will try all that a friend can do to make her friends’ —

(a) wishes come true (b) work easier (c) homes happy (d) days bright

6. To ‘realise what friends can be’, the speaker wants to use her —

(a) eyes (b) mind (c) heart (d) hands

7. The speaker says she will make no judgements —

(a) in a hurry (b) from afar (c) at night (d) all alone

8. The speaker wishes to love her friends —

(a) only when they are kind (b) the way they are (c) more than herself (d) only on holidays

9. The word ‘blessed’ in the poem is closest in meaning to —

(a) excited (b) relaxed (c) grateful/thankful (d) understood

10. The overall tone of the poem is —

(a) angry (b) sad (c) gentle and prayerful (d) funny

Answer Key: 1-(b), 2-(c), 3-(b), 4-(b), 5-(a), 6-(c), 7-(b), 8-(b), 9-(c), 10-(c)

ClearStudy assertion–reason practice

For each, choose: (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A. (b) Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A. (c) A is true but R is false. (d) A is false but R is true.

1. Assertion (A): The poem can be called a prayer.

Reason (R): The speaker uses humble, request-like words such as “May my friendships…” and “Let me use my heart to see”.

Answer: (a) — R correctly explains why the poem is a prayer.

2. Assertion (A): The speaker wants to use her heart to understand friends.

Reason (R): She believes love and feeling, rather than cold judgement, help us truly understand friends.

Answer: (a) — R correctly explains the line “Let me use my heart to see”.

3. Assertion (A): The speaker feels blessed to have special friends.

Reason (R): She dislikes her friends and wishes to make new ones.

Answer: (c) — A is true, but R is false; the speaker loves and accepts her friends.

4. Assertion (A): The speaker wants to do more than just share her friends’ hopes and plans.

Reason (R): She promises to try all that a friend can do to make their wishes come true.

Answer: (a) — R correctly explains why she wants to do more.

5. Assertion (A): The speaker wishes to judge her friends from a distance.

Reason (R): She prays to love her friends exactly the way they are.

Answer: (d) — A is false (she makes no judgements from afar); R is true.

📌 Exam Tips

• Remember the poet’s name spelling: Jill Wolf, and the unit theme — Friendship.
• Learn the central message in one line: a prayer to be a loving, accepting, helpful friend.
• Quote short phrases — “I feel I’m blessed”, “use my heart to see”, “love my friends the way they are” — to support your answers.
• For one-word answers, recall: feels blessed; uses her heart.
• For “why is it a prayer” questions, point to the words “May…” and “let me…”.

⚠ Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Do not write that the speaker uses her “eyes” or “mind” to understand friends — she uses her heart.
• Do not say the poet wants to judge her friends; she clearly says she will make no judgements from afar.
• “Blessed” here means grateful/lucky, not “excited” or “relaxed”.
• Do not confuse this poem with the story “The Unlikely Best Friends” in the same unit.
• Spell key words correctly: prayer, blessed, judgements, realise, grateful.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Who wrote A Friend’s Prayer?

NCERT Poorvi credits Jill Wolf as the poet on printed page 53.

What is the poem’s central idea?

The speaker wishes to value friendship, give her best, help her friends and understand them with kindness instead of judging them from afar.

What are the vocabulary blanks?

A suitable sequence using the listed words is kind, helpful, loyal, honest and caring. ‘Caring’ fits the final sentence about caring for each other.

Which listening pictures should be circled?

Circle 1, 3, 4 and 6: shared comic reading on a bench, ice-cream, a park walk and both friends cycling.

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