Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 3

SEMESTER I

Unit I

Life
- Sarojini Naidu
CHILDREN, ye have not lived, to you it seems
Life is a lovely stalactite of dreams,
Or carnival of careless joys that leap
About your hearts like billows on the deep
In flames of amber and of amethyst.

Children, ye have not lived, ye but exist


Till some resistless hour shall rise and move
Your hearts to wake and hunger after love,
And thirst with passionate longing for the things
That burn your brows with blood-red sufferings.

Till ye have battled with great grief and fears,


And borne the conflict of dream-shattering years,
Wounded with fierce desire and worn with strife,
Children, ye have not lived: for this is life.
About the Author:

Sarojini Naidu, originally called Sarojini Chattopadhyay, (born February 13,


1879, Hyderabad, India – died March 2, 1949, Lucknow), political activist, feminist,
poet, and the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress
(INC). She was sometimes called “the Nightingale of India”.

Glossory:

1. Ye - old English word which refers to ‘you’.


2. Stalactite - a pointed piece of rock that hangs down
from the roof of a cave and that is
formed by dripping water which
contains minerals.
3. Carnival - an event where many
people gather to celebrate
something.
4. Billow - a moving cloud or mass of
smoke, steam, Etc.
5. Leap – to jump from a surface.
6. Amber - a dark orange- yellow color
substance that Can be used for
some decorations.
7. Amethyst - a clear purple or bluish – purple
stone that is used as a gem.
8. Exist - to continue to be or to live.

Let us know some of the figures of speech used in the poem:

 Simile :
A Simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison, showing similarities
between two different things unlike metaphor, a simile draws resemblance
with the help of the words “like” or “as”. It is a direct comparison.

 Personification:
Personification is a form of figurative language in which something that is not
human is given human characteristics. This device is often used in poetry to
enhance the meaning and the beauty of poems.

 Metaphor:
A Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden
comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some
common characteristics.

 Anaphora:
Anaphora is the repetition of a certain word or phrase at the beginning of
successive lines of writing or speech. It can be used in novels and short stories,
but its most commonly seen in poetry.

Questions to be answered after reading the poem


thoroughly:

1. Whom does Sarojini Naidu refers to ‘ye’ in this poem?

2. Identify the rhyme scheme of the poem?


3. ‘About your hearts like billows on the deep’
The figure of speech used in this line is .

4. Pick out a line which contains alliteration.

5. Pick out the rhyming words in the poem.

6. ‘Life is a lovely stalactite of dreams’

The figure of speech used in this line is .

7. Why does SarojIni Naidu stress on the line “Children, ye have


not lived “repeatedly in every stanza?

8. The repetition of a same phrase in a poem is known as .

9. According to the poet life is a lovely dreams.

10. What does the poet tells about ‘Life’ in this poem to the children?

Answer in a paragraph:

1. What according to Sarojini Naidu is “Life”? Answer in a


paragraph related to the lines in the poem?
********

Вам также может понравиться