NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Kaveri Poem 6 – A Friend Found in Music

The poet calls music an ocean that pulls her to the shore — vast, powerful and irresistible — and a rhythm that moves her “to the core”, touching her deepest feelings. Music is not background sound for her; it commands her whole being.

When she feels blue — sad and low — music becomes her therapy. It lifts her spirits and makes sure she pulls through her difficult times. Like a good doctor, music does not merely soothe; it sees her safely to the other side of sorrow.

Looking back, the poet realises music has been present in all her most cheerful moments too. And when no one seems to care, music is the needed friend — loyal, available and understanding — which gives the poem its title.

I prefer instrumental music, especially the flute and the santoor. My favourite musicians are Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. I choose instrumental music because, without words, it leaves room for my own feelings — when I am studying it calms me, and when I am sad it comforts me exactly as the poem describes, like a friend who understands without speaking.

1. shore  2. rhythm  3. core  4. therapy  5. spirits  6. cheerful  7. needed  8. care

1. The phrase ‘moves me’ in ‘That moves me to the core’ is an example of personification — music is given the human power of stirring someone’s deepest feelings.

2. The metaphors for music are: music is the ocean, the rhythm, the therapy and the needed friend. As similes: Music is as vast and pulling as the ocean; music is as stirring as a rhythm; music is as healing as therapy; music is as dependable as a true friend.

3. The rhyme scheme is abcb — in each stanza the second and fourth lines rhyme (shore/core, blue/through, there/care). The impact is musical: the regular chime makes the poem itself sound like a gentle song, matching its subject.

4. By repeating the word ‘music’ again and again, the poet gives it the place of honour in every thought — the repetition works like a refrain of gratitude and shows that music fills every corner of her life.

5. The message is that music is a healer and a constant companion: it comforts us in sadness, strengthens us through difficulties, shares our joys and befriends us when no one else seems to care.

6. The mood of the poem is (ii) thoughtful.

7. The poem is written entirely in the first person — “pulls me to the shore”, “I need when I feel blue”, “lifts my spirits”, “when I’m most cheerful” — showing that the speaker is the poet herself sharing her own experience.

(i) The phrase ‘feel blue’ indicates ___________.
…feeling sad, low or depressed.

(ii) Identify the line which shows music makes the poet happy.
“Music lifts my spirits”.

(iii) What does the last line of the extract signify?
“To make sure I pull through” signifies that music gives the poet the strength to survive and come safely out of her difficult times — it does not just soothe her momentarily but sees her through to recovery.

(iv) True or False: Music plays a vital role in the poet’s life.
True

(v) Select the central idea of the extract.
A. Music brings comfort during sadness.

1. How is music able to move the poet ‘to the core’?
Music’s rhythm bypasses words and reaches the poet’s innermost self — her deepest emotions and memories. A beat or melody resonates with feelings she cannot express, so she is stirred not on the surface but at the very centre of her being.

2. Why does the poet compare music to a ‘needed friend’?
Because music behaves exactly as a true friend does: it is always available, asks nothing in return, comforts her when she feels blue, celebrates with her when she is cheerful, and — most preciously — stays beside her “when no one seems to care”.

3. Explain the poet’s attitude towards music.
Her attitude is one of deep gratitude, love and dependence. She credits music with her recoveries from sadness and her happiest hours, elevating it from a pastime to a therapist and a best friend. The whole poem reads like a thank-you letter to music.

4. Support the opinion that this poem has a universal appeal.
Every human being, in every culture and age group, knows sadness, loneliness and joy — and nearly everyone has turned to a song in those moments. The poem’s experiences (feeling blue, being lifted by a tune, finding company in music) are common to all, and its simple language and song-like rhyme make it accessible to any reader anywhere.

5. Compare your experience of music with the feelings expressed in the poem.
(Model answer) My experience matches the poet’s closely. Before exams, soft instrumental music calms my nerves; when I lost a school competition, my favourite songs slowly lifted my spirits, just as the poem says; and my happiest memories — birthdays, festivals, school functions — all have music in them. Like the poet, I have found in music a friend who never refuses to listen.

Positive emotions (happiness): lifts my spirits, most cheerful. Negative emotions (sadness): feel blue.

1. The familiar tune stimulated a rush of nostalgia…  2. The soulful ballad expressed the singer’s anguish…  3. …creating an ambience of melancholy.  4. The festive symphony filled the air with jubilant tones…

1. move out — (v) to leave a place where one has been living
2. move in — (ii) to begin living in a new home or place
3. move on — (i) to start doing or discussing something new
4. move over — (vi) to shift position to make space for someone or something
5. move along — (iv) to go to a new position, especially in order to make room for other people
6. move off — (iii) to start moving; to leave

1. The two speakers are connected as — (i) parent-child (Jaspreet and his mother).
2. The conversation takes place at the — (i) music centre (about to close for the day).
3. The instrument causing the problem is the — (ii) santoor.
4. The problem discussed is — (ii) irregularity of the music class (the santoor teacher comes only twice a week).
5. The unsuccessful solution was — (iii) watching videos about playing the instrument.
6. The final decision taken is — (iii) purchase the musical instrument (so that he can practise regularly at home).

Teacher: Music sharpens the mind, children — why not join the morning music class?
Student 1: But ma’am, I am worried… won’t practice eat into my study time?
Student 2: Personally, I believe it does the opposite — after twenty minutes of practice my mind is fresher, and I finish homework faster. I manage both with a simple timetable.
Parent: I had the same doubt as Student 1, but seeing my daughter’s improved focus — and remembering that music is therapy, as our poem says — I now fully support the class.
(Continue with questions and complete sentences to keep the conversation flowing.)

I. Music as therapy: India’s tradition of healing music goes back to texts like Raga Chikitsa and the seventeenth-century Sangita Sudha. Today, music therapy is used in hospitals to reduce anxiety before surgery, manage pain, help stroke patients regain speech, calm children with special needs and support dementia patients — ragas like Darbari and Bhairavi are popularly associated with relaxation.

II. The seven swaras: Tradition links each note of Indian classical music to a natural sound — Shadja (Sa) to the peacock’s cry, Rishabha (Re) to the bull, Gandhara (Ga) to the goat, Madhyama (Ma) to the heron, Panchama (Pa) to the cuckoo, Dhaivata (Dha) to the horse, and Nishada (Ni) to the elephant. Discuss further details with your music teacher.

III–IV. Collect songs and poems about music in English and your own language (for example, bhajans on Saraswati, ‘Sur ki gati main kya jaanun’), and read Walter de la Mare’s poem ‘Music’ given in the book — it describes how, when music sounds, the ordinary world turns enchanted, lovely things grow lovelier and the listener returns to his truest self.

Q1. Why is the poem titled ‘A Friend Found in Music’? (30–40 words)
Because the poem’s final discovery is that music behaves like a true friend — comforting the poet in sadness, sharing her cheerful moments and standing by her when no one else seems to care.

Q2. Which two idiomatic expressions of emotion does the poet use? (30–40 words)
She uses ‘feel blue’, meaning to feel sad or low, and ‘pull through’, meaning to come safely out of a difficult time — both showing music’s role in her emotional life.

Q3. What role does music play in the poet’s happy moments? (30–40 words)
The poet notes that in her most cheerful times, “it’s clear, music was there” — music is not only a healer in sorrow but also the constant companion and cause of her happiness.

Q4. “The poem presents music as ocean, medicine and friend.” Explain how the three metaphors build the poem’s meaning. (100–120 words)
Each metaphor adds a layer to music’s portrait. The ocean conveys music’s vastness and irresistible pull — the poet is drawn to it as the tide draws a swimmer to shore, and its rhythm moves her to the core. The therapy metaphor shifts from power to healing: when she feels blue, music treats her sadness, lifts her spirits and ensures she pulls through, like medicine completing a cure. Finally, the friend metaphor makes music personal and faithful — present in her cheerful hours and loyal when no one seems to care. Together the images move from nature’s grandeur to a doctor’s care to a friend’s intimacy, bringing music steadily closer to the heart.