Question

Read the poem. Write an appreciation of the poem in about 12-15 lines with the help of the given points.

• Title
• Poet
• Rhyme scheme
• Favourite line
• Theme/Central idea
• Figures of speech
• Special features - Type of the poem, language, tone, implied meaning, etc.
• Why I like/ dislike the poem

Answer 1

‘Where the Mind is Without Fear’ is an excellent poem of ‘Naivedya’ a collection of poems. It is a free English translation of Rabindranath’s Bengali poem, ‘Chitta Jetha Bhayshunya’. The translation was done by the poet himself.

In this poem, the poet breathes a prayer that comes out from the depth of his heart. The poet is a preacher of freedom of every sort. He pleads for the spiritual emancipation of his own motherland. He prays for the uplift of his countrymen, wants them to reside in heaven where the mind is free from all sorts of narrowness, the head is held high with full dignity achieved through pure knowledge and relentless strivings for perfection. The poet does not pray for his own personal gains. His prayer is sincere and imbibed with lyrical emotion chanted with full-throated ease.

Rabindranath composed this sonnet only in one sentence. The structure of the Sonnet is suitable for expressing the theme of the poem. The poem has been divided into three parts (8 + 4 + 2). The poem has no specific pattern of the rhyming scheme because it is free verse. The poem comprises several figures of speech like metaphor, personification, repetition, alliteration. The poet conveys strong feelings for the progress of the country; an extremely patriotic poem. The line “Where the world has not been broken into fragments, By narrow domestic walls” is one of my favourite. In this line, he says the world has been divided into several fragments due to differences and disputes (which he refers to as narrow, domestic walls).  He wants people to rise above these differences. I like the poem as it is deeply sensitive, fresh, and beautiful.