Wednesday 27 May 2020

Wind Class 9


Wind
                                  by Subramanyam Bharti


Analysis of the poem:

§  The poem ‘Wind’ is composed by Dr. Subramania Bharati who is a Tamil poet and better known for his revolutionary poems with patriotic themes. The poem is translated into English by A. K. Ramanujam who is a Kannada and English poet.
§  The entire poem is an extended metaphor for life as the wind stands for hardships and challenges in life.
§  The poem is composed as a monologue or direct talk of the poet to the wind. 
§  Towards the end the poet brings out the central idea of the poem strong people are not affected by adversities but the weak are. The poet conveys that we should not be scared of fire rather make it their friend.
§  The poem is set in backdrop of pre independence era. It is composed to arouse patriotic emotions in the freedom fighters of India during freedom struggle.


Summary / Synopsis

·       The poem opens with a scene of destruction caused by wind. The poet asks the wind not to break the shutters of the windows, scatter the papers and throw down the books from the shelf. He asks the wind to blow softly and not to create destruction.
·       The wind brings rain and again. It crumbles weak houses, breaks the weak doors, uproots the weak trees and scares weak hearts. This way it makes fun of weak people and fragile things. the important thing to learn is that it is the friend of strong people..
·       The poet says that it is up to the wind god whether it brings destruction or shows mercy on humanity. The poet suggests the reader that to make friends with the wind we need to build strong homes with firm doors. He also suggests people be strong, both physically and mentally to combat and resist the ill effects of the wind. The last four lines of the poem tell us about the nature of the wind.
·       It blows out the fires which don’t have force, but the strong fires turn stronger by the wind. It means that the wind is supportive of those who are already strong and powerful but crushes the weak people, fragile things and infirm mind.
·       A very significant message is hidden in these four lines that strong people are not affected by adversities but the weak are. So, it is good to be a friend of the wind, which is a symbol of hardships and obstacles, because only then we will be able to face tough times.


Theme & Message

The theme is reflected in the central idea of the poem that stamina to face the hardships and challenges builds a tough character and strong personality brings revolutionary changes in his life and society.
A very significant message is conveyed through the poem that strong people are not affected by adversities and hardships whereas the weak minds get scared of strong winds of adversities. It is advisable to be a friend of wind, which is a symbol of hardships and obstacles, because only then we will be able to face tough times. The poet conveys that we should not be scared of fire rather make it their friend.


Background

The poem is set in backdrop of Pre Independence Era. It was composed to arouse patriotic emotions in the freedom fighters of India during freedom struggle. The poet tried to inspire them to let the fire of patriotism burn in their hearts and let it not be extinguished by the brutality of the British.


Poetic Devices

Wind, come softly – Personification
He won’t do what you tell him – Personification
His friendship is good – Personification
The wind blows out weak fires – Symbolism
He makes strong fires roar – Symbolism
Don’t break the shutters of the windows
  Don’t scatter the papers                                -- Anaphora                      
Don’t throw down the books                                        
crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters – Repetition
crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives – Repetition
look what you did – you threw them all down – Repetition
wind will be friends with us – Assonance
wind god winnows – Assonance
His friendship is good – Assonance  
The wind blows out weak out weak fires – Alliteration
Wind god winnows – Alliteration

Video on Road not Taken


Questions – Answers

Q1, What do the last four lines of the poem convey?

Ans. A very significant message is hidden in the last four lines that strong people are not affected by adversities but the weak are. Through the last four lines, the poet inspires us to be strong, firm and determined so that we may face all the hardships or obstacles in the life to come. He tells us that the wind can only extinguish the weak fires but intensifies the stronger ones. In the same way, people who do not fight against the challenges coming in their lives, they have to face the failure. On the other hand, those who stay determined and make sincere efforts to meet their goals, come out to be successful.

Q2. What does the poet mean when he says, “the wind god winnows”?

Ans. Winnowing is a process which is performed by the farmers to separate husk from the grains. The poet says that the wind god winnows the crumbling houses, weak doors, rafters and trees, frail bodies and infirm hearts from stronger ones. In the harsh winds weak things are blown away just like husk or hay but the strong things like grains stay there. This way wind separates weak people and things from the stronger ones.

Q3. What should we do to make friends with the wind?

Ans. We need to make ourselves stronger if we wish to be friend of wind. We must build strong homes with firm doors. We should also practise to make our bodies and hearts stronger not complain about harsh wind of difficulties in life. On the contrary we should thank God for giving difficulties and challenges that help us grow and make us learn how to face them.

Video on the poem 'Wind'

https://youtu.be/NDiJL-Lu-dM



No comments:

Post a Comment