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Song of the Flower (Khalil Gibran), 1.Who is the speaker in the poem?, Answer: The Flower, 2.What do the expression ‘blue tent’ and ‘green carpet’ refer to?, Answer:, ‘Blue tent’ refers to the sky and the ‘Green carpet’ refers to the earth full of, vegetation., 3.How are the seasons related to the life of the flower?, Answer:, The life of the flower is related to the season. Winter conceived it, spring gave, birth to it, summer reared it and in autumn it passed away., 4.What does the flower do at dawn and at dusk?, Answer:, The flower joins the breeze and announces the arrival of the light in the morning., In the evening it joins the birds in bidding the light farewell., 5.How does the flower make the world beautiful?, Answer:, lt decorate the plain and fills the air with its fragrance., 6.What is described as ‘the eye of the day’?, Answer:, The sun, 7.How does the flower become a part of joy and sorrow?, Answer:, The flower is used to make wreaths on both joyous and sorrowful occasions like, wedding and death respectively. Thus it becomes the part of joy and sorrow., 8.Why does the flower consider itself as ‘the last gift of the living to the dead’?, Answer:, Because it is used as a wreath to be placed on a dead body., 9.What, according to the flower, is the wisdom that man should learn?, Answer:, The flower always looks up to see only the light. It never looks down to see the
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shadow. Similarly, man should see the brighter side of life and never brood over, its darker side., 10.What does the flower symbolize? Explain., Answer:, The flower symbolizes kindness, beauty, fragrance, love – all the bright things in, nature. It also symbolizes the experiences we have in our life – joy, sorrow,, failure, victory, etc., 11.Quote some instances in which the flower becomes part of joy and sorrow., Answer:, Wedding (Joy), Funeral (Sorrow), 12.Read the last stanza of the poem once again. What are the two contrasting, ideas presented in it? Do you think the poet is optimistic? Why?, Answer:, The light is contrasted with the shadow. Yes, the poet is optimistic. The attitude, of the flower represents the poet’s optimism. The flower likes to see only the light, and not the shadow., 13.Pick out the lines and expressions that impressed you the most. Give, reasons., Answer:, But I look up high to see only the light And never look down to see my shadow I, like these lines the most because here the poet says that man should see the, brighter side of life and never brood over their darker side. I appreciate the poet’s, optimistic view of life., 14.What do you think is the mood of the poem – happy, sad, humorous or, philosophical?, Answer:, The mood of the poem is happy and philosophical. The poem reflects upon the, themes of life and death and imparts the wisdom that man must look always for, light., Activity 1., Read the poem again and complete the following notes. One hint is given for, you., , i) What does the flower say about itself?
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1. a kind word uttered and repeated by the voice of nature., 2. ………………………………, 3. ………………………………, Answer:, 1. ‘a star fallen from the sky’, 2. ‘daughter of the elements’, 3. ‘was conceived by winter, , ii) What are the everyday activities that the flower is engaged with?, 1. announce the coming of light, 2. ………………….., 3. ………………….., Answer:, 1. ‘announce the coming of the light’, 2. ‘bid the light farewell’, 3. ‘decorate the plains with beautiful colors’, iii) Who watches over the flower?, ……………………, Answer:, Eyes of night’, iv) How does the flower enjoy nature?, 1. I drink dew, 2. ……………….., 3. ……………….., Answer:, 1. ‘listen to the voice of the birds’, 2. ‘dances to the rhythmic swaying of the grass’, v) What is the flower used as, 1. as the lover’s gift, 2. …………………., 3. …………………., 4. …………………., Answer:, 1. as the lover’s gift, 2. wedding wreath, 3. wreath for the dead body, 4. memory of a moment of happiness
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vi) What is the flower’s vision?, 1. see only the light, 2. ……………….., Answer:, 2. ‘never look down to see my shadow’, Activity 2., Read the following lines., I am a kind word uttered and repeated By the voice of Nature. Here the flower is, considered as a word uttered by Nature. This is an example of a metaphor. A, metaphor is a figure of speech that develops a hidden comparison between two, objects that share something in common. It is different from a ‘simile’ where the, comparison is drawn using ‘like’ or ‘as’., Pick out few more examples of metaphors from the poem., 1. …………………………………., 2. …………………………………., 3. …………………………………., Answer:, 1. I am a star., 2. I am the daughter of the elements., 3. The eyes of the night, 4. The eyes of the day
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Write what the following metaphors imply. One is done for you., , Answer:, , Attempt writing your own examples of metaphors, 1. ………………….., 2. …………………., 3. …………………., 4. …………………, Answer:, 1. Her eyes were fireballs.
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2. I was lost in a sea of nameless faces., 3. He is a rolling stone, 4. The wheels of justice turn slowly, Activity 3., Read the poem again and complete the following spider diagram., , Now, can you prepare an appreciation of the poem ‘Song of the Flower’ using the, spider diagram?, ………………………………………., ………………………………………., ………………………………………., Answer:
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**Appreciation of the poem., , Song of the flower is a beautiful poem about nature and its relationship with living, beings. This poem was written by Khalil Gibran, the famous Lebanese poet. The, poem speaks about the life cycle of a flower and its experience. The flower in the, poem is a representative of every aspect of nature. The flower claims that it is a, kind word uttered and repeated by nature’s voice. It is a star fallen from the sky., The sky is referred as ‘the blue tent’. All the four seasons play vital roles in the, life of the flower. The flower is conceived by winter, given birth by spring, reached, by summer and eternal sleep by autumn. The flower heralds the coming of the, light in the dawn. It bids farewell to the light in the evening., The plains are decorated with beautiful flowers. The air is filled with the lovely, fragrance of the flower. Days and nights shower love, care and affection on the, flower lavishly. The flower enjoys nature as much as it can. To the flower dew is, wine. It sings with- the birds and dances according to the rhythmic swaying of, grass. The poet is impressed by the beautiful image of nature. The flower, becomes a part of joy as well as sorrow because it is used on occasions of, wedding and funeral. The last two stanzas make the reader to glimpse on his
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past experiences. The poem teaches us how to deal with life’s struggles, to learn, from our past and face the future with confidence and hope. The poet uses, appropriate similes, metaphors, alliterations and poetic images in the poem, that, makes the poem more beautiful., , **Prepare a profile of the famous writer KHALIL GIBRAN using the hints given, below., Birth: 1883, Nationality: Lebanese, Famous as: Artist, poet, writer, philosopher, Considered as third most popular, poet in history., Works: ‘ The Prophet’ (1923), Death: 1931, , Answer:, Khalil Gibran was born on January 6, 1883 in Labanon. He was a LabaneseAmerican writer, poet and a philosopher. He is most famous for his work ‘The, Prophet’ which has been translated into over 20 foreign languages. He is, considered as the third most popular poet after Shakespeare and Laozi. He died, on April 10, 1931, in New York.
