Poem – 04
PALANQUIN
BEARERS
(Memorization)
Sarojini Naidu
I. Answer the following in one or two sentences each:
1) Pick out the words from the poem which describe the movement of the bride.
Ans: Sway, skim, float, spring, glide are the
words from the poem which describe the movement of the bride.
2) How do the palanquin bearers carry the bride?
Ans: The palanquin bearers carry the bride in
a light and smooth way.
3) Why do you think the palanquin bearers are carrying
the palanquin?
Ans: They would prefer not to hurt the bride
by moving the palanquin generally. They convey her alongside a ton of care.
4) What are the emotions that the bearers feel as they
carry the palanquin?
Ans: The bearers are upbeat. They sing tunes
and move along.
5) Why is the bride compared to a flower and a bird?
Ans: The
bride is as delightful as a blossom and as light as a winged creature. She is
fragile,
6) Explain the image in “She sways like a flower”.
Ans: The bride in the cart moves from one
side to the next as the bearers walk. It looks as though a bloom is swinging
from side to side in the delicate breeze.
7) Why is the bride referred to as “a pearl on a string”?
Ans: The bride is as valuable as a pearl on a
string.
8) Why has she been compared to a star?
9) Why do you think the poetess has used two
contradictory feelings of “laugh” in the fourth line of the first stanza and “tear”
in the second line of the third stanza?
Ans: The two words express the feelings of
the bride. Toward the starting she is glad as she is headed to her better
half's home. She feels dismal to go out.
10) Why do the palanquin bearers sing while carrying the
bride? What do you think this song is about?
11) The poem is full of similes. Why do you think the
poet has used so many similes in the poem?
Ans: The poet uses so many similes to emphasize
the beauty and the emotions of the bride.
12) Pick out the rhyming words from the poem and mention
the rhyme scheme.
Ans: along
– song
stream
– dream
sing –
string
tide –
bride
The
rhyme scheme is :
a a b b
c c a a
d d c c
13) Pick out the examples of alliteration from the poem.
Ans: a) She sways like a flower in the mind
of our song.
b) She
skims like a bird on the foam of a stream.
c) She
floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.
d)
Gaily, O gaily we glide and sing.
e) She
hangs like a star in the dew of our song.
14) Some words and lines are repeated in the poem. Work
in pairs and list the words and lines that are repeated. Why do you think the
words are repeated?
Ans: The lines and words are repeated to
emphasize a point and increase the effect.
a) Lightly, O lightly we bear her along.
b)
Gaily, O gaily we glide and sing.
c)
Softly, O softly we bear her along.
d) We
bear her along like a pearl on a string.
II. Appreciation:
a) Rhyming words:
The use of words in a poem that have the same sound,
especially at the end of the lines:
Rhyme scheme:
A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme. In other words, it is the pattern of end rhymes. Lines which rhyme with each other are denoted by the same letter.
1) “O haste thee haste! the lady cries.
Though tempests round us gather:
I’ll meet the raging of the skies
But not an angry father”.
cries – a
gather – b
skies – a
father – b.
Therefore, the rhyme scheme is a b a b.
Can you find the rhyme scheme of the poems in your text?
Ans:
Lightly, O lightly we bear her along (a)
She sways like a flower in the wind of our
song (a)
She skims like a bird on the foam of a
stream, (b)
She floats like a laugh from the lips of a
dream, (b)
Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing, (c)
We bear her along like a pearl on a string,
(c)
along (a), song (a), stream (b), dream (b), sing
(c) and string (c) Rhyme scheme is aa bb cc.
Pick out the rhyming words and mention the rhyme scheme
of this poem:
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Rhyming words:
wood – a; both – b; stood-a; could-a; undergrowth – b.
Similes are a way to compare two things using “like” or “as”.
In a simile, one person or thing is compared to another.
Like : verb + like + noun
eg: She looks like an angel.
He walks like a duck.
She acts like a fool.
As: as + adjective + as + noun
eg: He is as tall as a giant.
He is as fast as a rocket.
She is as graceful as a swan.
air, ice, night, snail, coal, rose, ox,
lightning, butter, lamb, mouse, ditch-water, ocean, snow
a) As white as snow.
b) As wide as the ocean.
c) As light as air.
d) As slow as a snail.
e) As cold as ice.
f) As timid as a mouse.
g) As smooth as butter.
h) As dark as the night.
i) As black as coal.
j) As strong as an ox.
k) As quick as lightning.
l) As beautiful as a rose.
m) As dull as ditch.
n) As meek as a water
ii. Complete these lines with similes using
your imagination. One has been done as an example:
eg: When I am happy, I am as beautiful as a
flower.
Ans:
a) When I am sad, I am as gloomy as
the evening.
b) When I am lonely, I am as lonely
as a star.
c) When I am angry, I am as angry
as a demon.
d) When I am tired, I am as sleepy
as a baby.
e) When I am embarrassed, I am as
cool as a cucumber.
f) When I am attacked, I am as
aggressive as a lion.
g) When I am praised, I am as proud
as a peacock.
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