The Children's Song (8th)

 

The Children’s Song by J.R. Kipling

Word	Meaning
Undefiled	Pure
Yoke	Responsibility
Steadfastness	Firmness
Maimed	Trivial
Uncowed	Unafraid
Land of our birth	Motherland
Father in heaven	God
Thy	Your
Heritage	Culture
Toil	Hard work
Delight	Happiness
Possess	Own
Thee	You

 

Q – Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow –

(a)   Teach us to bear the yoke in youth,

With steadfastness and careful truth;

That, in our time, Thy Grace may give

The Truth whereby the Nations live.

i)                 What yoke is the speaker referring to in the first line?

The poet is referring to the responsibility of youth as a good citizen towards the nation.

ii)               What does the speaker mean by ‘careful truth’?

It means that everyone should follow the path of truthfulness without having any kind of biasness. Everyone would behave responsibly while making any comment towards others.

iii)             What does the phrase ‘in our time’ in line 3 refer to?

In this phrase, the poet is referring to the time when the children of today would be grown up citizen of the nation and shoulder the responsibilities towards the nation.

iv)              Explain : ‘The truth whereby the Nations live.’

Through this line the children pray to build a nation where people live and follow the path of truthfulness, honesty. In this way, truth will develop in the people of the nation.

(b)   Land of our Birth, our faith, our pride,

For whose dear sake our fathers died;

Oh, Motherland, we pledge to thee

Head, heart and hand through the years to be!

i)                 Why does the speaker call their motherland ‘Land of…., … faith, …. pride’?

The poet calls his motherland ‘Land of our birth, our faith and our pride’. He is deeply attached to his motherland. He is expressing his respect and honour for her.

ii)               How does the speaker wish to serve their motherland?

The poet wishes to serve his motherland by sacrificing his life for the betterment of the people of his motherland.

iii)             What do the words ‘head’, ‘heart’ and ‘hand’ in line 4 refer to?

The words ‘head’, ‘heart’ and ‘hand’ in line 4 refer to the whole hearted devotion and dedication of the children towards their motherland. They make a promise to serve their country physically, emotionally and spiritually.

iv)              What purpose is served by the repetition of word ‘our’ in  line 1?

The repetition of the word ‘our’ emphasizes the love and sense of possessiveness.

Q – What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Ans – The rhyme scheme of the poem is aabb.

Q – Write the message conveyed by this poem.

Ans – The poem conveys a patriotic message that in order to serve the motherland with zest and zeal (warm enthusiasm) one needs to be a perfect human being of great virtues. Only an upright (honest) man with a moral character can fulfill the responsibility of serving the motherland with sincerity.

Q – Write the theme of the poem ‘The Children’s Song.’

Ans – The poem deals with the children’s wish to serve their motherland to the best of their capabilities. Acquiring virtues like truth, self – control, selflessness, fearlessness and compassion, they would like to leave behind an undefiled heritage. They want to enjoy the innocent joys of life, heal the bleeding souls and have no ill will in their hearts.

VALUES

A)    Almost all values find expression in the poem ‘The Children’s Song’ – love for the country, shouldering responsibilities, selflessness, compassion and forgiveness etc. Throw light on humanitarian aspect of poem in the light of the above observation.

   Ans- In the poem, the poet shows his wish to shoulder the responsibilities, selflessness,       compassion and forgiveness but human beings generally remain busy in their own personal   jobs and they do not think it important to serve their nation.

LIFE SKILLS

B)     How can we comfort a man in distress?

Ans- With our inner strength we wish to provide solace (comfort) to those in misery rather than crush the weak ones.

C)     Why should we have more trust in God than in our friends.

Only God should be the judge of our actions because ‘He’ is our ultimate friend. He is always with us whenever we need ‘Him’.

HOTS

Why is the poem titled ’The Children’s Song’?

Ans- The entire poem deals with children’s wishes. They are doing prayer before God in the form of a hymn (song). The entire poem is very musical, hence it is rightly titled ‘The Children’s Song’.

WRITING SKILLS

Taking hints from the poem, prepare a speech to be delivered in the morning assembly on the topic: The Role of the Youth in Our Nation’s Development.’

Ans- Respected Principal Sir, worthy teachers and my dear friends good morning to all of you. Today, I am standing before you to express my views on ‘The Role of the Youth in Our Nation’s Development.’ Youth are the backbone of a nation. They are the best hope of mankind. If any future goals of success, prosperity, peace and safety are to be accomplished their participation is a must. Similarly, if a country wants to achieve the goal of national development it will have to involve the youth in the development programme. Today’s growing children  will be tomorrow’s leaders and responsible citizens. The youth can rid all the social evils like corruption, nepotism etc. The youth should do their best in the respective field. Nation’s progress lies in their progress. They must develop iron will and determination to check invasion on their motherland. Let us take a pledge to serve motherland with full devotion to make her a wonderful place by having love and peace all around.

Thanks

Have a nice day!