Notes of Wander Thirst-English

WANDER THIRST (POEM)

WORD GALAXY:

a. journey - travelling from one place to another

b.  voyage - travel to a distant land by sea or air

c.tour- an extended journey, taken for pleasure

d. excursion - a short outward and return journey, for relaxation,

sightseeing, etc.

e.   yonder-over there

Answer the following questions

Q1. What is the poet thirsting for?

Ans: The poet has the urge to travel because he wants to see new places and have new experiences. He feels as if the sun, the sky, etc. (nature) is urging him to explore.       

Q2. Why does this wanderer mention two directions, East and West?

Ans:  The wanderer mentions ‘The East’ as it stands for the rising sun and a new day.  He mentions ‘the West’ and the sea as it stands for the unknown and unexplored places.

Q3. What does the poet mean by the line- ‘The old ships draw to home again, the young ships sail away’?

Ans: The old ships are experienced people who are coming home after a long journey, and trade, for retirement and rest. The young ships are young people who are beginning their journey in life and career. They are ready for new adventures and experiences.

Q4. The poem is about people who are always looking for new places to explore and new faces to meet. Do you like such people? Why?

Ans –student’s specific.

Q5. The title ‘Wander Thirst’ is very appropriate. Give reasons.

Ans: The poet has an inner urge to travel and go to new places, i.e. ‘wander’. He likes to explore the unknown places and looks forward  to  gaining  new experiences. He feels that the sun, the sky and nature in general is calling out to him for the same. Hence the title ‘Wander Thirst’ is very appropriate for the poem.

Write with reference to context.

1) ‘It works in me like madness, to bid me say goodbye’

a. Who does ‘me’ refer to?

Ans- The word ‘me’ refers to the poet.

b. What is he bidding good bye to?

 Ans. He is saying goodbye to family and friends.

c. What is he mad about?

Ans. The poet is responding to the call of the seas, the stars and the sky and is mad about it.

Additional Questions:

Q1. “…When once the voice is heard” —What voice is referred to here?

Ans 1-The voice referred to here is the call of every object of Nature that tempts the poet to set out for a journey. Actually the poet’s inner urge is reflected in this call.

Q2.Who is the ‘man’ that the poet is referring to as?

Ans 2- The man that the poet is referring could be a voyager or an explorer.

Figures of Speech

Personification: The objects personified in the poem are the ‘wander-thirst’, ‘the stars’, ‘the sky’, ‘the sea’, ‘the blue hills’, ‘the white roads’, ‘the bird’, ‘the sun’, ‘the river’ and the ‘voice’ which are given the human quality of ‘calling

Alliteration: The consonant sounds are repeated in the second stanza in a series of words.

•      ‘I know not where the white road runs, nor what the blue hills are;’

•      ‘And there’s no end of voyaging when once the voice is heard,’

•      ‘For the rivers call, and the roads call’

Repetition:

‘beyond the’, ‘call’, ‘ships’, ‘sea’ have been repeated in few lines of the poem.

•      ‘Beyond the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea’

•      ‘For the seas call, and the stars call, and oh! the call of the sky’

•      ‘The old ships draw to home again, the young ships sail away’

Antithesis :

opposite or contrasting ideas expressed in the poem.

•      BEYOND the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea,

•      The old ships draw to home again, the young ships sail away;

•      And come I may, but go I must, and, if men ask you why,

HOMEWORK

Give the rhyming words of the following:

1.    Heard

2.    Sea

3.    Guide

4.    Are

5.    Sky