Page 137 - English Expedition Class 6

No longer delay, let us hasten away in the track of the seagull’s call,
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Th e sea is our mother, the cloud is our brother, the waves are our comrades all.
What though we toss at the fall of the sun where the hand of the sea-god drives?
He who holds the storm by the hair, will hide in his breast our lives.

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Sweet is the shade of the cocoanut glade , and the scent of the mango grove,
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And sweet are the sands at the full o’ the moon with the sound of the voices we love;
But sweeter, O brothers, the kiss of the spray and the dance of the wild foam’s glee;
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Row, brothers, row to the edge of the verge , where the low sky mates with the sea.
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Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949) was a prolifi c poet apart from being actively
involved with India’s struggle for independence. Her poems are noted for their
lyrical description of Indian scenes and themes.

Comprehension

A. Write whether the following statements are true or false.
1. Everyone sleeps in the arms of the dawn.

2. The fi sherman calls his fellow fi shermen to awake, arise and go fi shing early in the morning.
3. The wind is the king of the sea.
4. The fi sherman fears the elements of weather.

5. The fi shermen believe in the sea-god who will do them no harm.
6. The sun is the sea-god.

7. The fi shermen prefer the smell of the coconut and mango groves to that of the sea.
8. The true happiness of the fi shermen lies in sailing amidst the foam and spray of the sea.

B. Answer the questions with reference to the context.

1. Come, let us gather our nets from the shore and set our catamarans free,/To capture the
leaping wealth of the tide, for we are the kings of the sea!
a. Who is the speaker of these lines?
b. Who are the kings of the sea?

c. What is the ‘leaping wealth of the tide’?

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comrade: friend verge: brink; margin. Here it refers to the horizon.
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cocoanut: old-fashioned spelling of coconut mates: (here) meets
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glade: a small, open area of grass without trees in a forest
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