Chapter-7 The Children’s Song

by Joseph Rudyard Kipling

B. Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that
follow:
1.  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.
a.  What yoke is the speaker referring to in the first line?
Ans. The speaker is referring to the yoke that children would
strengthen the nation by firmly standing by the truth.

b.  What does the speaker mean by ‘careful truth’?

Ans.  ‘Careful truth’ means the truth which id unbiased, focused and
builds a strong, prosperous and developed nation.
c.  What does the phrase ‘in our time’ in line 3 refer to?
Ans. The phrase ‘in our time’ refers to the time when children
become grownups and take the responsibility to serve their
motherland.
d.  Explain: ‘The Truth whereby the Nations live’.
Ans. ‘The Truth whereby the Nations live’ means that children who
are the future citizens of the country pray to God to make them
honest, responsible and truthful. They also pray to give them the
strength to always stand by the truth as it is a strong foundation of a
country’s progress and prosperity.
2.  Land of our Birth, or 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!
a.  Why does the speaker call their motherland ‘Land of … …. faith,
…pride’?
Ans. The speaker calls his motherland the land of faith….pride
because it comprises of the customs, beliefs and traditions which he
 believes in and it has given him his identity and recognition. He is
proud of his cultural heritage.
b.  How does the speaker wish to serve their motherland?
Ans. The poet wished to serve his motherland by being sincere,
honest, hardworking, responsible and loving. He wishes to do good
deeds and contribute to the betterment of human race. He is willing
to make supreme sacrifices for his motherland.
c.  What do the words ‘head’, ‘heart’ and ‘hand’ refer to?
Ans. ‘Head’ refers to intelligence and knowledge. ‘heart’ refers to
love and patriotism and ‘hand’ refers to hard work. This reference
has been made to signify that children should have intelligence, love
and  sincerity towards their motherland.
d.  What purpose is served by the repetition of the word ‘our’ in line
1?
Ans. In line 1, the repetition of the word ‘our’ creates a sense of
belongingness to the motherland. It gives a feeling that all the
countrymen are equal for the motherland.
C. Explain the following.
1. …we pledge to thee
Our love and toil in the years to be.
Ans. The children pledge to serve their motherland woth sincerity
and devotion when they grow up. They want to do their best possible
for their country and make necessary sacrifices.
2.That we may bring, if need arise,
No maimed or worthless sacrifice.
Ans. The children wish to grow as disciplined and upright human
beings capable of making sacrifices which are not half-hearted and
worthless.
3.That we, with Thee, may walk uncowed
By fear or favour of the crowd.
Ans. The children pray to God to make them fearless and face any
situation courageously and with faith in Him. They wish to be
 courageous so that they may be able to walk in any sphere of life
without any fear, criticism or favour of the people around them.
4.Mirth that has no bitter springs.
Ans. The children pray to God to teach them to find happiness in
small things of life and they should  not have any ill feelings against
anyone. They should take life as it comes.

E. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Ans. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ‘aabb’.
II. HOTS
Why is the poem titled ‘The Children’s Song’?
Ans. The poem deals with children’s wishes. They are making a
prayer before God and the entire poem is in the form of a song
offered to God. The poem is also very musical. Hence, it is titled ‘The
Children’s Song’.
The poem deals with the children's wish to be the best  of the
capabilities . Acquiring virtues like truth,fearlessness , compassion
,self control and selflessness they would like to leave behind an
unpolluted heritage.They want to enjoy the innocent joys of life, heal
the bleeding soul and have no malice in their heart.

III. Life Skills

A. ‘The Children’s Song’ has a definite message for the people of
every country in every age. What is that message?
Ans. The poem conveys a patriotic message that the children will
serve their motherland with all their strength and hardwork. For that,
one needs to be a perfect human being of great virtues. Only an
upright man with moral character can fulfil the responsibility of
serving the motherland.

B. How can we comfort a man in distress?

Ans. We can comfort a man by being sympathetic, helpful and by
treating him/ her as our near and dear one. We must put ourselves in
their shoes to understand their problems and feel their pain equally.
We must patiently hear his/ her problems and should not hurry to
give their suggestions. We must be careful about dealing their
problems with lots of patience.

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

Ans. A friend can only help us according to his mortal limits.
However, when we find ourselves entangled in any situation or when
we are at loss to find a solution and courage to face the ordeals of
life, only God can help us come out of our trials and tribulations. So
we should trust God more than our friends.

IV Almost all values find expression in the poem the children's

song-love for the country, shouldering responsibilities,
selfness, compassion, forgiveness, etc. Throw light on the
humanitarian aspect of the poem in light of the above
observation.
Ans. Rudyard Kipling's song "The Children's Song" depicts all ideal
values that children of a land (must) possess.  In this song the
children pray the God for helping them, giving them noble qualities,
and teaching them various ways of life. They finally take a pledge to
their motherland.

   They are selflessness, truthfulness, compassion for the land, taking

pledge to work for the country, forgiving even those who harm them
and shouldering responsibilities to inherit the heritage from ancestors
and continue same traditions further on.

   Forgiving even those who did evil to them is a high valued

humanitarian aspect. Poem indirectly emphasizes that political rule
be impartial, nice and brave. It says children respect their ancestors'
traditions and not destroy them. It says God should give them
strength to help people in distress. The strength is not to hurt the
weak. The spring season should invoke joyous feelings in all people. 
   Further the children pledge to their motherland by their hearts,
minds and actions that they will serve their country.

V. Taking hints from the poem, 'The Children's Song' 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 teachers and my dear friends good morning I am

-----------, from class 8. Today I am here to share my views on topic
‘The role of youth in our nation's development.’
The term nation building or national development is usually used to
refer to a constructive process of engaging all citizens in building
social cohesion, economic prosperity and political stability in a nation
in an inclusive and democratic way. Going by the definition, it is seen
that all citizens are to be involved in building or developing a nation.
Thus, the involvement of youth in national development is a must. In
fact, youths play one of the most important roles in nation building.

Youth are not only the leaders of tomorrow, but also the partners of
today. Young people are social actors of change and progress. They
are a crucial segment of a nation's development. Their contribution,
therefore, is highly needed.
Youth always has been the key to any of the activities in the world be
it war, politics, construction works; you name it youth. Proper
guidance and direction can bring the youth in forefront of national
development .
Youth is that period in which revolutionary thoughts spring to mind
and these thoughts shape the world we live in. There are a lot of
other revolutionary youth leaders around the world who have
changed the world towards the development. Youth through
organizing for a specific aim and positive direction can contribute
more towards the national development.

Thank You

Jyotsna Mishra

Dr. A. N. Khosla DAV Public School, Rourkela.