Rhyme Scheme: There is no rhyme scheme. The poem is written in free verse.
Stanza 1
Wind, come softly.
Don’t break the shutters of the windows.
Don’t scatter the papers.
Don’t throw down the books on the shelf.
There, look what you did — you threw them all down.
You tore the pages of the books.
You brought rain again.
You’re very clever at poking fun at weaklings.
Poetic Devices
i. Anaphora - It is the repetition of a word at the start of two or more consecutive lines:
The line two, three, and four begin with - Don’t.
The line six, seven and eight begin with - You.
ii. Personification - The poet has personified the wind by using the pronoun ‘you’ for it.
Explanation
The poet asks the wind to come softly. As he talks to the wind, he tells the wind to be soft. When
the strong wind comes the shutter of the windows break and the papers all scatter. The books
kept on the shelf fall down because of the wind’s violence. The poet is asking the wind to look at
what all it did. The wind tore the book’s pages and it even brought rain with it. Whenever the
wind is strong, all delicate things get scared and even get hurt. The poet describes the power of
wind.
Stanza 2
Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters,
crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives,
crumbling hearts —
the wind god winnows and crushes them all.
Poetic Devices
i. Repetition - The poet has repeated the word ‘crumbling’ throughout the stanza.
ii. Alliteration - It is the repetition of a letter at the start of closely placed words. The repetition of
the letter:
‘W’ in wind god winnows.
‘C’ throughout the stanza.
Explanation
During the initial part, the poet is telling the wind to come like a small child, but in the later part,
he compares the wind to the youth - full of violence and energy. The crumbling is used a few
times to lay emphasis on the fact that everything breaks and gets damaged when the wind
comes. The weak houses, doors, the beams which support the roofs of the houses fall. All
wooden structures, weak bodies and lives fall too. The poet says that no weak thing can
withstand the strong wind. The meaning behind it is that when a weak person faces any
adversity, s/he falls and breaks.
Stanza 3
He won’t do what you tell him.
So, come, let’s build strong homes,
Let’s joint the doors firmly.
Practice to firm the body.
Make the heart steadfast.
Do this, and the wind will be friends with us.
Poetic Devices
i. Alliteration - It is the repetition of a letter at the start of closely placed words. The repetition of
the letter:
‘W’ in won’t do what.
‘W’ in wind will be friends with.
ii. Assonance - There is a prominent sound of the vowel ‘i’ in - this, and the wind will be friends
with.
iii. Symbolism - Here, the poet has used the word ‘wind’ as a symbol of the challenges that we
face in our lives.
iv. Personification - The poet has personified the wind by using the pronoun ‘he’ for it.
Explanation
The poet addresses the wind as ‘wind god’ - all the weak people bow down and break in front of
it. They cannot withstand it. A comparison is made between wheat and people. Just like we
winnow the wheat to separate the grain from chaff, the strong wind separates the strong people
from the weak. The poet wants us to befriend the wind. The poet says that the wind will not
listen to us anyway, so we must build strong homes to protect ourselves. We must keep our
door shut tightly so that the strong cannot enter. The meaning behind the lines is that we must
always be strong and prepare ourselves to face the adversities and challenges of life.
Stanza 4
The wind blows out weak fires.
He makes strong fires roar and flourish.
His friendship is good.
We praise him every day.
Poetic Devices
i. Alliteration - It is the repetition of a letter at the start of closely placed words. The repetition of
the letter:
‘W’ in wind blows out weak.
‘F’ in fires roar and flourish.
ii. Consonance - There is a prominent sound of the consonant
‘R’ in - strong fires roar and flourish.
‘W’ in wind blows out weak.
iii. Symbolism -
1. Here, the poet has used the word ‘wind’ as a symbol of the challenges that we face in our
lives.
2. Here, ‘weak fires’ has been used as a symbol of people with weak will power.
3. Here, ‘strong fires’ has been used as a symbol of people with strong will power.
iv. Personification - The poet has personified the wind by using the pronoun ‘he’ for it.
Explanation
The poet wants us to know that all that is weak and timid gets blown away or damaged when
the strong winds comes. Wind is god and we praise wind everyday. While the weak gets blown
away, the strong remains, grows and flourishes. The poet gives us the message that we should
not feel bad about the problems in our life. Instead, we must take the challenges and adversities
as opportunities to grow and do better in life.
