JKBOSE 9th Class English Solutions chapter – 17 THE CHILD ‘S PRAYER

This poem is in the form of a child’s prayer to God. The child prays that his life may serve as a candle light for others. He wishes the darkness and ignorance of the world to vanish. He wishes to fill every corner of the world with the light of knowledge and goodness. He also wants to love his land and make it beautiful in the same way as blossoms make a garden beautiful. He wants God to develop in him such love of knowledge which is as intense as the love of a moth for a shining light. In other words, he is prepared even to sacrifice his life in the pursuit of knowledge. The mission of his life would be to love and serve the poor, the weak and those who are in pain. He wants his heart to be full of sympathy for the poor and the suffering. He prays to God to save him from all snares of evil. He prays for a strong determination so that he can always keep to the ways of virtue.

यह कविता एक बच्चे की ईश्वर से प्रार्थना के रूप में है। बच्चा प्रार्थना करता है कि उसका जीवन दूसरों को एक मोमबत्ती की भाँति रोशनी दिखाए। वह चाहता है कि इस संसार से अज्ञानता का अन्धकार दूर हो जाए और सब तरफ ज्ञान और अच्छाई का प्रकाश फैल जाए। वह अपनी धरती से प्यार करना चाहता है और उसे उसी तरह से सुन्दर बनाना चाहता है जैसे कि फूल एक बाग़ को सुन्दर बनाते हैं। वह चाहता है कि ईश्वर उसके दिल में ज्ञान की उतनी ही तीव्र इच्छा पैदा करे जितनी कि एक पतंगे की चमकती हुई रोशनी के प्रति होती है। दूसरे शब्दों में, वह ज्ञान प्राप्त करने के लिए अपना जीवन बलिदान करने के लिए भी तैयार है। उसका उद्देश्य निर्धनों, कमज़ोर और दुःखी लोगों के प्रति प्रेम और उनकी सेवा करना होगा । वह ईश्वर से प्रार्थना करता है वह उसे सब तरह की बुराइयों से बचाए। वह सदा अच्छाई के मार्ग पर चलने के लिए दृढ़ संकल्प की प्रार्थना करता है।

This poem is in the form of a child’s prayer to God. The child prays that become a candle light for others. He wishes that through him the darkness world may vanish. He wants to make his motherland as beautiful as a gardenwants to serve the poor, the weak and those who are in pain. He wants to keep from all evils. He prays that he may always follow the path of goodness in his life.

My tender hopes arise to the lips I pray :

Kindly candle light may my life be !

May through me world’s darkness vanish away

And every corner fill with light of day !

Explanation : The child has some tender hopes. These hopes arise to his lips when he prays. He prays that his life may become a candle light for others. He prays that the darkness of ignorance in the world may vanish through the candle light of his life. He wants every corner of the world to be filled with the light of knowledge and goodness.

(A) (i) Name the poem and the poet.

(ii) What kind of life does he pray for ?

(iii) What arises to the poet’s lips ?

(B) Choose the most appropriate options:

(i) ‘Kindly candle light may my life be !’ The figure of speech used here is ……… .

(a) metaphor            (b) simile

(c) allegory               (d) personification.

(ii) Who is the speaker in these lines ?

(a) A man.                (b) A child.

(c) The poet.            (d) A teacher.

(iii) What is world’s darkness ?

(a) Ignorance.          (b) Knowledge.

(c) Dullness.             (d) Distress.

(C) Who is the speaker in the poem and to whom it is addressed ?

(A) (i) The name of the poem is The Child’s Prayer’ written by Sir Muhammad

Iqbal.

(ii) He prays for a life that can serve as a candle light for others.

(iii) Tender hopes arise to the poet’s lips.

(B) (i) (a) metaphor (ii) (b) A child (iii) (a) Ignorance.

(C) A little child is the speaker in the poem. This poem is addressed to God.

May I adorn my land, to me so dear

The told bo Even as the blossoms make the garden fair!

As the moth goes round the shining light in zest

So let me love the candle of knowledge best!

Explanation : The poet prays that he may make his country beautiful in the same way as blossoms make a garden beautiful. A moth loves a shining light passionately and keeps going round and round it. The poet wants to love his country with the same passion. And to make his country beautiful and to serve it passionately, the poet prays for the love of knowledge from God.

(A) (i) Write the name of this poem and the poet.

(ii) Identify one simile and one metaphor in the lines above.

B (i) The speaker wishes to decorate his ……… .

(ii) The …………… moves round the shining light.

(C) Choose the most appropriate options:

(i) What is ‘so dear’ to the speaker ?

(a) The shining light. (b) The blossoms.(c) His motherland.   (d) The candle of knowledge.

(ii) How do the blossoms help the garden ?

(a) They give knowledge to the garden. (b) They make the garden look beautiful. (c) They clean the garden. (d) They give light to the garden.

(D) Write the meaning of the word ‘blossoms’.

(E) Write from the passage a word that means ‘enthusiasm and enjoyment.

(A) (i) The name of this poem is The Child’s Prayer’ written by Sir Muhammad

Iqbal.

(ii) Metaphor: ‘the candle of knowledge.’ Simile As the moth goes round the shining light in zest

(B) (i) motherland (ii) moth.

(C) (i) (c) His motherland. (ii) (b) They make the garden look beautiful.

(D) flowers on a tree = blossoms.

(E) Zest.

Ans.— The speaker in the poem is a child. The poem is addressed to God.

Ans.— The child wishes to become a candle light for others. He wishes that through him the darkness of the world may vanish. He wants to make his motherland as beautiful as a garden. He wants to serve the poor, the weak and those who are in pain. He wants to keep away from all evil. He wants to follow the path of goodness in his life always.

Ans.— He wants to be all these; a candle of light, a moth of love and a blossom of beauty.

Ans.— The child’s mission is to love and serve the poor. He wants to give his sympathy for those who are weak and those who are in pain.

My tender hopes arise to the lips I pray:

Kindly candle light may my life be !

As the moth goes round the shining light in zest

So let me love the candle of knowledge best !

Save me, my God, from all shares of evil:

1. My tender hopes arise to the lips.

2. The candle of knowledge.

3. Snares of evil.

4. Kindly candle light may my life be !

Simile : As the moth goes round the shining light in zest.