Page 90 - English Expedition Class 4

13 Indian Weavers

Do you know who a weaver is? Have you seen how cloth is woven from thread and how
thread is produced by spinning cotton?

Weavers are talented artists who weave fine cloth from colourful thread. Even though most
of the cloth is produced in factories using machines nowadays, there are still many types of cloth
that are woven by hand. Some examples of hand-woven cloth are fine woollen shawls, silk and
cotton saris, etc. In this poem, the speaker is asking various questions to the weavers and they

are answering.

Weavers, weaving at break of day,

Why do you weave a garment so gay?

1
Blue as the wing of a halcyon wild,
2
We weave the robes of a new-born child.

Weavers, weaving at fall of night,

Why do you weave a garment so bright?
3
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
4
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.

5
Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill?

White as a feather and white as a cloud,
6
We weave a dead man’s funeral shroud .

Sarojini Naidu

1 halcyon: a type of kingfi sher; In Greek mythology, it is a 4 veil: a piece of cloth worn to hide the face
bright blue bird with purple and white feathers. 5 solemn: serious
2 robe: (here) cloth 6 shroud: a piece of cloth used for covering a dead body
3 plume: feather
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