Poem 5 - The Happy Prince

Written by Oscar Wilde, Class 9 English Moments, Chapter 5 “The Happy Prince” is a story about a prince who was a pleasant man. However, when he died, his kingdom was doomed with misery. After he died, his statue was erected atop a high platform. To know more about this story, refer to NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Moments Chapter 5. It is equipped with a summary of the lesson and a detailed explanation. The Happy Prince Questions and Answers have also been given for a better understanding. We also provide downloadable The Happy Prince Questions and Answers PDF for you to download.

Summary:

The statue was made of many precious items such as Gold, gems and the handle of the sword had a bright ruby stone. The people knew him as the ‘Happy Prince’ because he was a pleasant and jolly man.

One night a swallow flew over the city, the author personifies the swallow with a ‘he’ to give it human-like attributes. He further states that all the bird’s friends had flown to Egypt, but the little bird had not gone, so he decided to go. The Happy Prince’s city was in Egypt. When the swallow reached his city, he wondered where he would stay for the night. Humorously, he hopes the city made arrangements for him to stay. The bird saw the statue of the Happy Prince and decided to sleep under it for the night as there would be a lot of fresh air.

When he reached the bottom of the statue, he saw that he was surrounded by Gold, as the feet of the statue was made of Gold. He thought he was sleeping on a bedroom made of Gold, but when he was about to sleep under his wings, a drop was water fell on him followed by two more drops. The bird was astonished when he noticed that the statue was crying and the drops of water were, in fact, teardrops. Oscar Wilde has personified the statue as well with human-like attributes. Upon seeing the statue crying, he asked the Happy Prince why he was crying.

The Prince narrated his story about how his city was happy when he was alive, but now they are drowned in misery. He was unhappy to witness the city’s sorrows from a high pedestal. His people were dying out of hunger, people being homeless, not having enough money. The statue then narrated the story of a poor seamstress who was embroidering. She had a son who had a fever, but she could not give the son anything to eat as she had no money. She gave him water from the river. So, the Happy Prince requested the swallow to give the ruby from his sword to that maid. The swallow was hesitant at first but eventually gave in.

He flew to the seamstress’ house and kept the stone on the table. He went to the boy and flapped its wings near him, after which the boy was feeling good. He went back to the Prince and narrated his story and added that he felt warm even though the weather was cold. The overall story is wrapped around the ways the Prince helps his people. He gives parts of all the riches in his statue to his people through the swallow.