Back to: CBSE Class 5th English Guide and Notes
Table of Contents
Introduction
‘Ice Cream Man’ is a poem about the ice-cream seller, who is a favourite of youngsters during the summer. Rachel Field is the poet of this the poem. It reminds the readers about the joy the ice cream offers on hot summer days. Furthermore, the poem perfectly captures a child’s fondness for ice cream and the delight it delivers. It also explains the ice cream man’s cart and the many types of ice cream that he serves. As a result, it is a highly engaging piece that allows youngsters to experience the excitement they feel whenever they encounter an ice cream vendor during the summer.
About The Poet
Rachel Lyman Field was a novelist, poet, and children’s literature author from the United States. Her best-known book is Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, which won the Newbery Award. Field has also received a National Book Award, a Newbery Honour Award, and two Lewis Carroll Shelf Award nominations.
Theme Of The Poem
Rachel Field wrote this poem to express how an ice cream vendor offers happiness and refreshment amid the blistering heat of summer days. In his cart, he includes a variety of flavours. He also provides the kids cool fizzy drinks to relieve their thirst. Due to these reasons, the ice cream vendor becomes everyone’s favourite.
Stanza 1
When summer’s in the city, And brick’s a blaze of heat, The Ice-cream man with his little cart Goes trundling down the street.
The poet states in the opening verse that it is midsummer, and the city is blazing hot. The sun is beaming brightly. The ice-cream vendor arrives in town with his ice-cream cart and proceeds slowly through the streets.
Stanza 2
Beneath his round umbrella, Oh, what a joyful sight, To see him fill the cones with mounds, Of cooling brown and white:
In this stanza, the poet claims that in this intense heat, the ice-cream seller is a saviour, a source of joy and relief for everyone. The ice-cream vendor filling the cone with ice-cream under his massive circular umbrella is lovely and pleasant to watch.
Stanza 3
Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, Or chilly things to drink, From bottles full of frosty-fizz, Green, orange, white, or pink.
In this stanza, the poet describes the ice-cream seller’s cart, which is loaded with flavours such as vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. He also offers a variety of cold frosty fizz drinks in various vibrant colours like green, orange, white and pink.
Stanza 4
His cart might be a flower bed, Of roses and sweet peas, The way the children cluster round As thick as honeybees.
The poet compares the ice cream cart to a beautiful garden with blooming roses and sweet peas, in this stanza. According to the poet, the way kids crowd around the ice cream cart resembles honey bees gathering around flowers in search of nectar.
