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Bishop Devadass Ambrose Vidyalaya, Thanjavur Grade - Vi - English

The poem describes a child who envies the freedom and lack of routine of various laborers. The child sees a hawker selling bangles without any urgency or schedule to keep. The child also observes a gardener playing with his tools and enjoying the sun and rain without reprimand. Finally, the child is put to bed while a watchman begins his night of roaming the streets freely, chasing shadows with his lantern. The child wishes for this type of lack of structure in his own life rather than his regimented school schedule.

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339 views2 pages

Bishop Devadass Ambrose Vidyalaya, Thanjavur Grade - Vi - English

The poem describes a child who envies the freedom and lack of routine of various laborers. The child sees a hawker selling bangles without any urgency or schedule to keep. The child also observes a gardener playing with his tools and enjoying the sun and rain without reprimand. Finally, the child is put to bed while a watchman begins his night of roaming the streets freely, chasing shadows with his lantern. The child wishes for this type of lack of structure in his own life rather than his regimented school schedule.

Uploaded by

civilceeji
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BISHOP DEVADASS AMBROSE VIDYALAYA, THANJAVUR

GRADE – VI– ENGLISH

CHAPTER 8: POEM: VOCATION


NAME: _________________ DATE: _____________

A. QUESTIONS FROM TEXT BOOK

(i) Who is the speaker in the poem? Who are the people the speaker meets?
What are they doing?
A school-going child speaks in the poem. The speaker meets a hawker, a gardener
and a watchman. The hawker sells bangles. The gardener digs the ground. The
watchman keeps a watch in the street at night.

(ii) What wishes does the child in the poem make? Why does the child want to
be a hawker, a gardener, or a watchman? Pick out the lines in each stanza,
which tell us this.
The child in the poem wants to be a hawker, a gardener and a watchman.
The child wants to be a hawker because like the hawker he wants to spend ‘his
day on the road’. He wants to be a gardener because he ‘does what he likes with his
spade’ ‘Nobody takes him to task’ even when ‘he gets baked in the sun or gets wet’.
The child wants to be a watchman because he ‘never once goes to bed in his life’.
The child wishes to walk the street all night, like the watchman, chasing the shadows
with his lantern.

B. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Who is the author of the poem vocation?


The author of the poem is Rabindranath Tagore

2. What is the different between a bangle seller and a shop keeper?


A shopkeeper sells his goods in a shop. A hawker does not have a permanent place
to sell his goods. He can sell them at a weekly market or on a roadside stall.

3. Why is the poet attracted to the bangle seller’s life?


The poet feels that the bangle seller does not have to follow any definite schedule,
does not have to go to any office or attend any meetings. The poet finds this kind of life
attractive, in contrast to his own life which is controlled by a set of rules and do’s and
don’ts.
C. ANSWER IN DETAIL.

1. Write a summary of the poem, “Vocation.”


The poet is attracted by the freedom enjoyed by ordinary laborers like hawkers and
gardeners, while his life is regulated by a strict schedule. He wants to be free from the
routine forced upon him. He wants to bask in the sunshine and get drenched in the rain.
He wants to play with his shadow.
The child speaker leaves for school at the sound of gong when it strikes ten. He
walks in the same lane every day. He sees a hawker. The hawker sells bangles. He seems
to be in no hurry. Unlike the child speaker, the hawker does not have to be in any place
on time. No one will question the hawker for showing up late.
He also compares his life with a gardener who works in a house. When he returns
from school at four, the poet finds him playing with his tools. He basks in the sun. His
clothes get soiled with dust. He enjoys getting drenched in the rain too. No one takes
him to task for that. The child envies the life of the gardener.
He talks about the life and routine of a watchman. The watchman begins his work
late in the evening, when the child speaker is readied by his mother to go to bed. The
watchman roams the streets throughout the night, enjoying full liberty. The child wishes
to walk the street in the same way, like the watchman, chasing the shadows with his
lantern.

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