Keep Going
Edgar Albert Guest
Objectives
To show to the learners how the path
ahead may have thorns as well
To equip the learners with means to convert
those threats into opportunities
To prove to the learners how words work as a
wand of magic filling
minds and souls with inspiration inexhaustible
Appetizer
You have heard your friend saying that the speech by Shri V.V.
Lakshminarayana
garu was electrifying. You couldn't believe it. You also heard elsewhere that
words heal, comfort, console, inspire, motivate, make peace etc. You
thought it
was an exaggeration. Here is a chance to find out for yourself how words can
charge
Hey! Running already! Come on! Keep going ..
ABOUT THE POET
Edgar Albert Guest was born in England on 20 August
1881. But soon after, their family moved to the U.S.A. His
father lost his job when Edgar was just 12, and so he had to
work as a copy boy in Detroit Free Press. At 14, Edgar lost
his father. That forced Edgar toquit schooland work in that
press as a full-time employee. He composed his own
experiences as rhymes. For about 30 years he went on
writing a poem a day, which were published in that paper.
All his poems were later published as 20 +volumes. He is regarded as a people's
poet who wrote easy-to-read poems. He died on 5 August 1959.
ABOUT THE POEM
The poem, Keep Going, by Edgar Albert Guest, has unanimously been
acclaimed as one of the classic inspirational poems. This 24-lined rhymed easy-to
read verse isundoubtedly a people's poem. Edgar Guest proclaimed once: "Itake
simple everyday things that happen to me -which also happen to everyone -and
make simple rhymes of them." This tells us in Edgar's own words, how Keep
Going took its, shape. With each word working as a capsule of inspiration, the
poem can dispel depression in tons instantly and permanently.
2 INTERactive ENGLISH
GIST
This simple sounding poem speaks volumes about the need to keep goino
despite difficulties in scores. The poem opens with a warning that the path ahead
Troublas
has many thorns. It keeps on advising the reader NEVER TO QUIT.
may come and stay. Goals may stand beyond your reach. Funds may be low
nos
Needs may be more. Yet, give up not! March ahead! Rest if need be. But stop
Not
in efforts. One more blow may turn failure into success. Fall is excusable,
trying to rise is unpardonable. Winners never quit. Quitters never win. Keep going.
Success is thine, sure! This is the plain but invaluable message of the poem.
THE POEM - SEGMENT 1/2
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must - but don't you quit. 1
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow. 2
Questions that help and check understanding
a) List four difficult situations mentioned in the first five lines of the poem.
b) What may be permitted and what is not allowed to aman facing such problemts
according to the first stanza?
c) What is the essential quality of life that everyone learns at times?
d) What is the hope the speaker offers one to go ahead?
Keep Going 3
GLOSSARY
trudging (vting) /'tradz1n/ walking wearily (in a tired way) with
heavy, slow steps
queer (adË) /kwr(r)/
odd, strange
stuck (past tense of stick) /stAk/
remained attached to
THE POEM - SEGMENT 2/2
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and
faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the
And he learned too late, when the
victor's cup,
night slipped down,
How close he was to the
golden crown. 3
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar:
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit. 4
Questions that help and check understanding
a) Who sees the goal at a far off place, though it is
much nearer?
b) When does a struggler learn that he/she has missed the
victor's cup?
c) What does the speaker mean by the golden
crown?
d) How does the narrator describe success in the
last stanza?
e) When shouldn't one particularly quit?
GLOSSARY
faint (adj) /fernt/ weak, lacking energy and courage
faltering (vting)/'fo:ltYrin/ wavering, moving unsteadily
captured (v-pt) /kæptfY(r)d/ took control of:won
tint (n) /t1nt/ : colour
Happiness
Carl Sandburg
Objectives
To help the leaners understand the true meaning of the much-talked about but
the less-understood emotion, HAPPINESS
Toprove to the learners that 'living' and 'experiencing' matter a lot
To tell them the value of examples as against precepts
Appetizer
We quite often hear people say, 'I am happy; I am not happy'. Are many of us
really clear about what happiness is? Haveyou ever thought that EXPERIENCE
is the best teacher?
Read the poem to find out.
ABOUT THE POET
C¡rl August Sandburg (1878-1967) is a famous American
Poet. Winner of three Pulitzer Prizes, Sandburg is popular
for his Biography of Abraham Lincoln. Sandburg was an
excellent student but he had to leave school early to earn a
livelihood. He worked as apaper boy, delivered milk, assisted
in barber shops,washed dishes and painted houses. He took
up journalism and produced quite a few poems.
ABOUT THE POEM
This seemingly simple poem asks a pertinent question and answers it wisely.
Composed in free verse, the poem reads like an anecdote. It establishes that
experience matters more than education. It also shows that man is more comfortable
in the lap of nature.
GIST
The narrator wants to know what HAPPINESS is. He asks professors and
top executives to help him in this regard. But they express their inability. At last a
group of young Hungarians, beside ariver and beneath the trees, SHOW the narrator
what HAPPINESS is as they enjoy their food, drink, music and fun! Wisdom lives
in lives /1laivz/ but not in libraries!
10 INTERactive ENGLISH
THE POEM
Iasked the professors who teach the meaning of lifeto tell
me what happiness is.
And Iwent to famous executives who boss the work of
thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
I wastrying to foolwith them.
And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along
the Desplaines river.
And Isaw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with
their women and children and a keg of beer and an
accordion.
Questions that help and check understanding
a) "What is happiness?" Who did the speaker ask the question?
b) How did he get an answer?
c) Did he ask them?
GLOSSARY
professors (n-pl) /prYfesY(r)z/ senior teachers in a university
executives (n-pl) /ig'zekjYt1vz/ top level administrators
boss (v) /bos/ order others to work / supervise
others' work
shook head (v-phrase) /fuk hed / moved head either way as to say 'no'
wandered (v-pt) /'wondY(r)d/ walked around without any particular
purpose
Desplaines (Proper noun) a river that flows through Southern
Wisconsin and Northern Illinois (US)
keg (n) /keg/ a container
accordion (n) /Y'ko:diYn/ a portable, box shaped musical
instrument
9 Playing the Game
Arthur Mee
Objectives
Toshow to the students that helping the old and being polite to them is a
rewarding experience
To make the learners know how exciting it would be to reacha destination
in time for a particular purpose
To make the students know how suspense teaches a lesson to all
Appetizer
When you love cricket, you become fascinated to play the game. And it's
something more when you are selected for a match in a team. But things
sometimes turn differently without our knowledge.
Read the story to know what happens to Alan, a schoolboy...
ABOUT THE WRITER
Arthur Henry Mee (1875 -1943) was an English
writer, journalist and educator. Mee was the editor
of his My Magazine. He is best known for The
Harmsworth Self-Educator, The Children 's
Encyclopedia, The Children's News Paper and
The King's England.
ABOUT THE STORY
The story, Playing the Game is taken from My
Magazine. This
incident, narrated by Mee, is about a schoolboy, Alan. Narrated in a touching
style, it is at once engaging and gripping. simple, racy
GIST
Alan, a schoolboy, was a cricket buff. The story talks about the
had to play in the school cricket team. On day Alan
his way to school, he met an old man
whom he helped to reach his place. He
was very proud of him and his
sacrificed the cricket match. His father
classmates cheered him for his kind gesture. Note
howdramatic the whole piece is. Though it is in
like aplay. the form of a short story, ît reads
64 INTERactive ENGLISH
STORY IN ONE SEGMENT
Alan's mother came to the gate to see him off,
"Goodbye, Alan, do your best," she called out.
"Rather, Mummy," answered Alan, and, waving his hand, he ran out of
gate and up the road.
Do his best! Of course he would. For,
Alan was playing in the school cricko
match and was mightily proud of being chosen to play. He
with his father for weeks now, and Daddy said he was had practised bowling
shaping well. Daddy was
nearly as excited as Alan over the match and he promised that if
he would buy him a bicycle.
Alan's side won
No wonder Alan was excited!
On his way to the sports ground, Alan had to
pass the little three-cornered
meadow, and as he reached it, he saw a very old man leaning
As Alan passed, he called out to him.
heavily on his stick.
"Can I helpyou?" asked Alan kindly, going up to him.
"Perhaps you will let me take your arm, little boy," said the old man in a thin,
cracked voice.
"This road is so hilly, and the wind is almost to0 much for me."
"Rather" said Alan, for he knew he could easily make up what time he had
lost byrunning when he left the old man.
But the p0or old gentleman leaned heavily on Alan's sturdy little arm, and
tottered along like a baby. So slowly did he walk that five minutes had gone before
they were half-way up the road.
Alan explained to the old man that he was on his way to acricket match. and
that he must not be late, but he seemed not to hear him.
"Where do youlive, sir?" called Alan at last in the old man's ear.
"Up the road and some way round the corner," he answered in his thin, weak
voice. "I should be so much obliged ifyou could see me home. You look avery kind
little boy."
See him home? And they were still a long way off! If only he could walk a
little faster. Why,the teams would be already on the field, and the captain would be
wondering why he did not come.
Suddenly the old man stumbled over aloose paving-stone, and fell heavily on
the ground.
Playing the Game 65
Don'tleave me, little boy," murmured the old man.
"No. Iwill stay here," said Alan, and he sat down beside him, for he felt
that someone would come that way soon.
sure
Alan stared anxiously up and down the road during the minutes that followed.
Tha minutes almost seemed like hours. Then, at last, turning the
corner came a
jolly-looking| policeman..Alan could have shouted for joy.
"TIlsee this gentleman home, little boy," he said after Alan explained what
had happened.
Then Alan ran off, and flew as fast as his legs would carry him to the sports
ground. But the game had started whern he arrived.
"Why, it's Alan," said the teacher, who was standing out just inside the
entrance.
"You're not much good if you can't come up to time. We have put in young
Harold Banks in your place. Fortunately, he's putting some good balls over."
Alan bit his lip. How could he explain? He turned away and made his way
slowly home.
His father opened the door.
"Bravo, Alan," he said, patting his little son on the back.
"But, Daddy," began Alan. But his father interrupted him.
"It's all right,old man," he said. "You see, Icame up behind that policeman
and he told me what had happened. So I knew you were playing the game although
it wasn't on the cricket pitch. So I went back into the High Street and bought the
bicycle I promised you. It's a beauty. And, Alan, we're proud of you, your Mother
and J "
And in the classroom next morning the boys gave Alan three loud cheers, as
only schoolboys can, for in some mysterious fashion they too had learned all about
his kind act.
Questions that help and check understanding
a) Why was Alan excited?
b) What was the old'man's problem? Why did Alan decide to help him?
c) Whatdid the teacher tellAlan on his late arrival?
d) Explain the significance of the sentence, So Iknew you were playing the
game although it wasn't on the cricket-pitch.
10) The Five Boons ofLife
Mark Twain
Objectives
importance of makingright choices in
Tomake the students understand the
life
between short-lived pleasures and
To show to the students the difference
long-lived values
leads to one's downfall
To let the learners know how vanity
riches alone can't make one happy
To make the students realize that
Appetizer
choices and the choice you make helps
Doyou know that life offers many
and offers you a choice between
YOUbecome an absolute man? IfGod appears the invaluable.
wisdom and wealth, what would you prefer? Of course
happens if someone makes a wrong choice? Anxious? So read on to
What
find. D
ABOUT THE WRITER
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 ->
April 21, 1910)is popularly known by his pen name Mark
Twain. He was an American writer, humorist and lecturer.
He is greatly praised as the greatest humorist of the United
States. He is rightly called the father of American literature.
Among his notable works are The Adventures of Tom
Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(1884).
ABOUT THE STORY
Mark Twain's short story, The Five Boons of Life, is a parable with his
characteristic twist at the end. The main theme of the story isthe deceiving nature
of human life. This theme is enhanced through the motifsof Fame, Love, Riches,
Pleasure and Death. These five metaphorical gifts are actually five human
experiences which are more or less universal. The story conveys the pessimistic
message of the writer that there is nothing pure in life and every good thing one
experiences is shadowed by its reverse. According to him, Death is the only eternal
truth which becomes a gift when one transcends the fear of death.
The Five Boons of Life 71
GIST
Afairy offers a young man one of her five gifts: Fame, Love,
Riches.
Pleasure and Death. The fairy tells him that only one of these gifts is valuable, so
Lashould choose wisely. But each time he seems to make the wrong choice. The
Grst four choices he makes are Pleasure, Love, Famne and Wealth. None of
hese is found to be valuable. Pleasure is followed by pain, Love by grief, Fame by
envy and decay, and Wealth by poverty. He seeks for Death last of all realizing
that he has nothing to Iive for. But the fairy gives her gift of Death to a child
leaving
the man in a miserable state,
THE STORY - SEGMENT NO, 1/2
CHAPTER I
Inthe morning of life came a good fairy with her basket, and
said:
"Here are gifts. Takeone, leave the others. And be wary, choose wisely; oh,
choose wisely! For, only one of themis valuable."
The gifts were five: Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure and Death. The youth
said, eagerly:
"There is no need to consider"; and he chose Pleasure.
He went out into the world and sought out the pleasures that youth
delights
in. But each in its turn was short-lived and disappointing, vain and empty; and
each,
departing,mocked him. In the end he said: "These years I have wasted. If I could
but choose again, I would choose wisely.
CHAPTER II
The fairy appeared, and said:
"Four of the gifts remain. Choose once more; and oh, remember-time is
flying, andonly one of them is precious."
The man considered long, then chose Love; and did not mark the tears that
rose in the fairy's eyes.
After many, many years the man sat by a coffin, in an empty home. And he
communedwith himself, saying: "One by one they have gone away and left me:
and now she lies here, the dearest and the last. Desolation after desolation has
Swept over me; for each hour of happiness the treacherous trader, Love has sold
me I have paid a thousand hours of grief. Out of my heart of hearts I curse him."
72
INTERactive ENGLISH
CHAPTER III
"Choose again." It was the fairy speaking.
Ine years have taught vou wisdom -- surely it must be so. Ihree gifts
remain. Only one of them has anv worth -- remember it, and choose warily."
The man reflected long, then chose Fame: and the fairy, sighing, went her
way.
Years went by and she came again, and stood behind the man where he sat
solitary in the fading day, thinking. And she knew his thought:
"My name filled the world. and its praises were on every tongue, and it
Seemed wellwith me for a little while. How little a while it was! Then came envy;
then detraction; then calumny; then hate: then persecution. Then derision, which is
the beginning of the end. And last of all came pity, which is the funeral of fame.
Oh, the bitterness and misery of renown! target for mud in its prime, for contempt
and compassion in its decay."
uestions that hep and. cheek understanding
. a) How many gifts did the fairy offer? What are they?
b) What was the condition laid dowa by the fairy?
c) What prompted the youth tochoose Pleasure at first? Was he right in doing
so?
d) When the youth chose Love, there were tears in the fairy's eyes. Why?
e) Why did the youth curse Love?,
f) If you were in the place of the youth, what would you choose?
GEOSSARY
wary (adj) /weer1/ cautious, careful
mocked (v-pt) /mokt/ laughed at somebody in an unkind
way
coffin (n) kofn the box in which a dead body is buried
or cremated
communed (v-pt) /kY'mju:nd talked
desolation (n) /desY'lerfYn/ misery combined with a feeling of
being lonely
treacherous (adj) /'tretfYrYs/ intending to betray somebody
curse (v) /k3:s/ : to say offensive words about
somebody in an angry way
solitary (adi) /'sol1tYri/ without company, being alone
TheFive Boons ofLife 73
detraction (n) /di'trækfon/ astate of having lower value
calumny (n) kælYmni/ a false statement about somebody
made to damage his/her reputation
persecution (n) /ps:s1'kju:fYn/ a state ofbeing treated in a cruel way
derision (n) /dr'r1gYn/
contemptuous laughter
contempt (n) /kYn'tempt/ : lack of respect
compassion (n) /kYm' pæ•Yn/ pity for the sufferings of others
fER
READ FURTHER SEGMENT NO 22
CHAPTER IV
"Choose yet again." It was the fairy's voice.
"Twogifts remain. And do not despair. In the beginning there was but
one
that was precious and it is still here "
"Wealth -- which is power! How blind I was!" sajd the man. ""Now, at last,
life will be worth living. Iwill spend, squander, dazzle. These mockers and
despisers
willcrawl in the dirt before me, and I will feed my hungry heart with their
envy. I
will have all luxuries, all joys, all enchantments of the spirit, all contentments of the
body that man holds dear. I will buy, buy, buy! deference, respect, esteem, worship
- every pinchbeck grace of life the market ofa trivial world can furnish forth. I
have lost much time, and chosen badly heretofore, but let that pass;Iwas ignorant
then, and could but take for best what seemed so."
Three short years went by, and a day came when the man sat shivering in a
mean garret; and he was gaunt and wan and hollow-eyed, and clothed in rags; and
he was gnawing a dry crust and mumbling:
"Curse all the world's gifts, for mockeries and gilded lies! And miscalled,
every one. They are not gifts,but merely lendings. Pleasure, Love, Fame, Riches:
they are but temporary disguises for lasting realities -- Pain, Grief, Shame,
Poverty. The fairy said true; in all her store there was but one gift which was
precious, only one that was not valueless. How poor and cheap and mean I know
those others now to be, compared with that inestimable one, that dear and sweet
and kindly one, that steeps in dreamless and enduring sleep the pains that persecute
the body, and the shames and griefsthat eat the mind and heart. Bring it! Iam
weary, I would rest."
CHAPER V
The fairy came, bringing again four of the gifts, but Death was wanting.
She said:
74
INTERactive ENGLISH
"I
gave it to a mother's pet, a little child. It was innocent, but trusted
dSKing me to choose for it. You did not ask me to choose." me,
"Oh, miserable me! What is left for me?"
"What not even you have deserved: the wanton insult of Old Age."
Questions that help and check understanding
a) What gift did the man choose the fourth time?
b) What did he want to do with the gift? Did he succeed?
C) Describe the condition of the man after he chose the fourth gift.
d) Why did he want to choose Death finally?
e) Was IGNORANCE bliss to the child?
How?
GLOSSARY
despair (v) /d1s'peY/ : to stop having any hope at all
squander (v) /'skwpndY/ : to waste something foolishly or
carelessly
dazzle (v) /'dæzl/ impress somebody greatly
despisers (n-pl) /d1s'pazYz/ persons who treated one with
contempt
deference (n) 'defYrYns/ yielding to the views, wishes of others
because of respect
esteem (n)/1s'tim/ : high regard
garret (n) /'gærat/ a small, dark, unpleasant room
gaunt (ad) /go:nt/ made exceptionally thin by suffering
or hunger (also means 'old')
wan (adj) /won/ pale and tired
gnawing (v-ing) /no:n biting
crust (n) krast/ the hard, outer surface of bread
gilded (adj) gld1d/ coated with gold, false
inestimable (adi) /n'est1mabl/ too great to calculate,priceless
weary (adi) /'wiYri/ : very tired
wanton (adj)/'wontYn/ excessive
1. Answer the following questions in about 100 words each. The first one
has been answered as a model.
a) The young man feels that the five boons are not gifts, but merely
lendings.
Justify his opinion with reference to his experiences.
