Lesson 7

THE CHILDREN’S SONG

-Joseph Rudyard Kipling

I. MEANINGS:

1. undefined : unpolluted; pure

2. yoke : responsibility
3. steadfastness : firmness or resolution
4. maimed : half-hearted; trivial
5. uncowed : unafraid

II. EXTRACTS:

1. Teach us to bear the yoke in youth,

With steadfastness and careful truth,
That, in our time, they grace may give
The truth whereby the Nations live.

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

A) The poet is referring to the responsibility that one has to bear in his youth like defending the
country, helping the needy and exercising self-control.

b) What does the poet mean by ‘careful truth’?

A) By ‘careful truth’, the poet means that bearing the responsibility of Nation building with truth
and sincerity.

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

A) The phrase ‘in our time’ refers to the time when will children grow up to the change and take
charge of their Nation.

d) Explain ‘The Truth whereby the Nations live’?

A) The poet requested God to give the children knowledge of the reality and moral values on
which the Nation could live forever.
 2. Land of our Birth, our faith, our pride,
For whose dear sake our fathers died;
Oh, Mother land, we pledge to the
Head, heart and hand through the years to be!

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

A) The poet calls his motherland land of faith and pride because he considers his love for his
country as his religion and feels proud to be the son of his motherland.

b) How does the speaker wish to serve his motherland?

A) The poet wishes to serve his motherland with all his heart, hard work and soul.

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

A) ‘Head’ refers to mind, ‘heart’ refers to love and ‘hand’ refers to hard work. In other words, the
poet submits himself totally in the service of his motherland.

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

A) The repetition of the word ‘our’ stresses the fact that nation belongs to the children instilling
the feeling of patriotism and ownership.

III. EXPLAIN THE FOLLOWING:

1. …. We pledge to thee
our love and toil in the years to be.
A) They pledge to love and work hard for their motherland.

2. That we may bring, if need arise, No maimed or worthless sacrifice.

A) They wish to sacrifice when required when they come of age. If need arises they will sacrifice
anything and everything. Not withholding even their lives.

3. That we, with the, may walk uncowed by fear or favor of the crowd.

A) They want to walk, with head held high with confidence, not fearing or favoring the crowd.

4. Mirth that has no bitter springs.

A) They pray to God to teach them to be unconditionally happy.

 5. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

A) aabb.

EXTRA QUESTIONS:

1) What pledge do the children take? Why do they pledge to love and toil in the years to be?

A) The children pledge to love the motherland with all heart and soul. They promise to put in their
best efforts to serve the motherland. They pledge to do so in the times to come as being children
because they cannot do as much as they do as adults.

2) Why do the children want to be judged by God rather than by general Public in all their actions?

A) Children wish to be judged only by God and they always wish to have a clear conscience. They
don’t wish to get any false appreciation from the people around.

3) What is the poet’s concept of ‘delight and mirth’?

A) The poet wishes delight to spring from simple and innocent things of life. He doesn’t want to be
amused by the sufferings of others. He does not wish joy to have roots in malice.

4) What idea do you get about the children who are singing ‘The children’s Song’?

A) The children are very patriotic and they are proud of their nation. They have full faith in God. So
they invoke his blessings and ask him to make them virtuous and upright citizens of the country.

5) What impression of the poet’s country do you form in the poem ‘The children’s song’?

A) The poet’s country has an unpolluted heritage. The devoted citizens, with firmness of will,
greatness of character and an ardent desire for values, take pride in her and pledge to serve her with
sincerity.

LITERARY DEVICES/POETIC DEVICES/FIGURE OF SPEECH:

1. Alliteration: It is repetition of usually consonant sounds in a sequence of words only when the
recurrent sound occurs in a conspicuous position at the beginning of the word or of a stressed
syllable of a word.

Ex: Head, heart and hand through the years to be.

‘H’ sound occurs repeatedly.