Class 11 & 12 Reading Poem No-10. MOTHER INDIA (200 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

MOTHER INDIA

Is there aught you need that my hands withhold.

Rich gifts of raiment or grain of gold?

Lo! I have clung to the East and West

Priceless treasures tore from my breast.

And yielded the sons of my stricken womb

To the drum—beats of duty, the sabres of doom.

Gathered like pearls in their alien graves

Silent they sleep by the Persian waves,

Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands.

They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands

They are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance

On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France.

Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep

Or compass the woe of the watch I keep?

Or the pride that trills thro’ my heart’s despair

And the hope that comforts the anguish of prayer?

And the far and glorious vision I see

Of the torn red banners of victory?

When the terror and tumult of hate shall cease

And life be refashioned on anvils of peace,

And your love shall offer memorial thanks

To the comrades who fought in your dauntless ranks,

And your honour the deeds of the deathless ones,

Remember the blood of my martyred sons!

– S Nada

Word-Meanings

1.stricken : seriously affected by a feeling or disease or situation 2. womb : a female organ where babies develop before born, uterus 3. sabre : a heavy sword with a curved blade 4. doom : death or destruction 5. alien : strange and frightening 6. strewn : scattered 7. tumult: a confused situation with a lot of noise 8. martyred: one who undergoes great pain or suffering 9. raiment: clothing 10. aught: anything 11. blossoms: flowers 12. woe: grievous distress 13. thrills: to resound vibrantly 14. anguish: acute suffering 15. cease: to stop 16. anvil: a heavy iron block with a flat top and concave sides, on which metal can be hammered and shaped 17. comrades: companions, a person who shares in one’s occupations 18. dauntless: bold, courageous, fearless

Questions:

1. Choose the correct option:                              

 (a) Select the correct meaning of the word ‘raiment’ from the given options:

(i) clothing                   (ii) sheet

(iii) wall                       (iv) covering

(b) Select the synonym of the word ‘sabres’ from the given words:

(i) weapons                 (ii) arms

 (iii) swords                 (iv) pistols

 (c) She has parted ………..  her priceless possessions.

(i) for                           (ii) at

(iii) with                       (iv) down

(d) Select the word which is the ‘noun form’ of the given word ‘triumph’:

 (i) triumphing             (ii) triumphant

 (iii) triumphed            (iv) triumph

(e) Mother India sent her sons to the ………….  of death.

 (i) mouth                    (ii) womb

(iii) teeth                     (iv) jaws

 (f) ‘Dauntless’ here refers to:

(i) cowardly                 (ii) fearless

 (iii) cruel                    (iv) unstoppable

2.Answer the questions briefly:

 (a) Why is ‘Mother India’ desperate?

(b) What makes Mother India proud?

(c) What is Mother India’s vision of a new world?

 (d) Why are the banners of victory ‘torn and red’?

(e) What does Mother India expect?

(f) Why are these brave soldiers buried in “alien graves”?

 Answers:

1.(a) i          (b) iii          (c) iii          (d) ii            (e) iv

2./(a) Mother India is desperate because she has parted with her sons who are her priceless treasures.

(b) Mother India is proud of her sons’ supreme sacrifice that immortalises them forever.

 (c) Mother India envisions a new world based on peace, love and understanding.

(d) ‘Red’ stands for blood and ‘torn’ refers to sufferings. Thus, the banner of victory is red with the blood of suffering.

 (e) Mother India expects the world to remember the sacrifices made by her sons in the World War with gratitude.

(f) These brave soldiers have been fighting for the Royal British army during the World War. They are buried in different countries where they died while fighting.

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