Theme of Poems for HSC Students



Ques. No.
Theme of the poems


Textual

1. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
Amidst killer speeds I stand
Facing the traffic, stretching my hand.
I am seen on kids’ books and as cartoons everywhere
Educating people and asking them to beware
Of the erratic traffic and the signboards
Seen on almost all the roads.
So that you’re safe I see each one of you
But my sweat, my plight on the road sees who?
Be it sunny or rainy,
For your safety I must be
Vigil and agile, on the middle
Standing erect, as fit as a fiddle.

Answer: The theme of the poem is about the hard work of a traffic policeman.  The work of a traffic policeman is praiseworthy. He works for the safety of the common people. Whether it is rainy or sunny, he must be always on duty. But he regrets that nobody sees his sorrows and sufferings.

2. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Ans: The theme of the poem is about friendship and love. To the poet, most friendship is not real and most love is fake.  Friends and lovers are always ungrateful. So the poet glorifies the winter wind and  the bitter sky. The poet thinks that the winter wind and bitter sky are not as unkind as man’s ingratitude.
3. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
I love to rise in a summer morn,
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the skylark sings with me:
O what sweet company!
But to go to school in a summer morn,
- O it drives all joy away!
Under a cruel eye outworn,
The little ones spend the day
In sighing and dismay.
Ans: Theme of the poem is about the innocence(সরলতা) and tenderness(কোমলতা)  of childhood. A child naturally loves a summer morning, birds’ chirping, huntsmen’s horns and skylarks’ songs. Going to school in the morning is unpleasant (অপ্রিয়) to a child because it drives all joy away. So, school should be a place of joy and sweet company.
4. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened: day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
Ans: The theme of the poem is about child labour. In the poem, a very young boy was doing a man’s work to earn money. But the boy died by an accident when he was working. Thus the poet shows a dreadful and real condition of child labourers around the world.
5. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
Because I have seen Bengal’s face I will seek no more;
The world has not anything more beautiful to show me.
Waking up in darkness, gazing at the fig-tree, I behold
Dawn’s swallows roosting under huge umbrella-like leaves. I look around me
And discover a leafy dome-Jam, Kanthal, Bat, Hijol and Aswatha trees-
All in a hush, shadowing clumps of cactus and zedoary bushes.
When long, long ago, Chand came in his honeycombed boat
To a blue Hijal, Bat and Tamal shade near the Champa, he too sighted
Bengal’s incomparable beauty. One day, alas. In the Ganguri,
On a raft, as the waning moon sank on the river’s sandbanks,
Behula too saw countless aswaths bats besides golden rice fields
And heard the thrush’s soft song. One day, arriving in Amara,
Where gods held court, when she danced like a desolate wagtail,
Bengal’s rivers, fields, flowers, wailed like strings of bells on her feet.
Ans: The theme of the poem is about the beautiful nature of Bangladesh. Very few countries in the world are as beautiful as Bangladesh. The poet has seen the beauty of Bangladesh. So he does not want to see any more country of the world.  He is proud of this country.
6. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
All people dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind,
Wake in the morning to find that it was vanity.
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people,
For they dream their dreams with open eyes,
And make them come true.
Answer: The theme of the poem is about different kinds of dreams. There are two kinds of dreams: real and fictional. The dream that is dreamt at night is a fictional dream. But the dreamers of the day are real people. They can do anything to materialize their dreams.


7. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
Ans: The theme of the poem is about the importance dream in human life. Without dreams, our life will be dull and hopeless. So we have to cherish dream to be successful in life. Ife we fail once, we should dream afresh. Dreams will bring success one day. So we must hold dreams firmly.
8. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee
And live alone in the bee loud glade.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings
I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
Ans: The theme of the poem is about the poet’s desire to live in nature with peace. Our living places are now full of war, conflicts, death and destruction. There is no peace. The poet is searching peace in nature. That’s why the poet wants to go to Innisfree to live peacefully.
9. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
I sit on one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire.
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.
Ans: The World War of 1939 is the main theme of the poem. During the war, there is an environment of uncertainty and fear. Because of the war, all the good hopes are gone. People live in despair. Waves of anger prevail all over. War brings about destruction and death of innocent people.
10. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death,
Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns” he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Ans: The theme of the poem is about the war in 1854 between United Kingdom and Russia. The light Brigade had 600 soldiers.  In the war, soldiers knew that they would be defeated and even die. But they never stopped fighting. Here, the poet glorifies the soldiers of the Light Brigade because of fighting bravely.


11. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

    One shade the more, one ray the less,        
Had half impaired the nameless grace    
Which waves in every raven tress,       
 Or softly lightens o'er her face;    
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,       
 How pure, how dear their dwelling-place

Ans: The poem ‘She Walks in Beauty’ is about the physical and inner beauty of the poet’s beloved. This is a romantic poem and ‘beauty’ is a common characteristic of romantic poetry. The woman is as beautiful as the cloudless and starry skies. All the beauty of day and night is found in her aspect and eyes.
12. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
I died for beauty, but was scarce
Adjusted in the tomb,
When one who died for truth was lain
In an adjoining room.
He questioned softly why I failed?
“For beauty,” I replied.
 “And I for truth - the two are one;
We brethren are,” he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a-night,
We talked between the rooms,
 Until the moss had reached our lips,
 And covered up our names.
Ans: The theme of the poem is about eternal condition of beauty and truth. The speaker has died for beauty.  Then another person who died for truth was buried in the next grave. The man told her that truth and beauty are the same and so he and the speaker are brethren.
Non-textual
1. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
Who doth ambition shun
And loves to live i' the sun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleased with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
Ans: The theme of the poem is about the peaceful environment of greenwood. Life is very happy and pleasant here because there is no enemy except winter and rough weather. So, the poet is calling the men without ambition to come under the greenwood tree to lead a pleasant and satisfied life.

2. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words
TIME, you old gipsy man,
Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
Just for one day?
All things I'll give you
Will you be my guest,
Bells for your jennet
Of silver the best,
Goldsmiths shall beat you
A great golden ring,
Peacocks shall bow to you,
Little boys sing,
Oh, and sweet girls will
Festoon you with may.
Time, you old gipsy,
Why hasten away?
Ans:  Time and tide wait for none. It goes and goes and never takes rest. To stop time for a while the poet offers things like bells for its jennet(মাদি গাধা), a golden ring, etc. The poet requests time to stop its journey just for one day. But time seems to be in a hurry as usual.
3. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky
So, was it when my life began
So is it now I am a man
So be it when I shall grow old
Or let me die!
The child is father of the man
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
Ans: The piece of the text nicely reveals the poet’s passionate love for nature. The poet Wordsworth, in ‘My Heart Leaps Up’ cannot think of his life away from nature. He grew a fascination for nature in his childhood and this will continue till his death.
4. Write down the theme of the following poem. (Not more than 50 words)
If you fail to see the person
But only see the disability,
Then who is blind?
If you cannot hear
Your brother’s
Cry for justice,
Who is deaf?
If you do not communicate
With your sister
But separate her from you
Who is the mentally handicapped?
If you do not stand up
For the rights of all persons.
Who is crippled?
You attitude
Towards persons with disabilities
May be our biggest handicap.
Ans: The people who only find faults with others and do not come forward to save humanity are in reality the physically disabled and mentally handicapped ones in our society. The blind, deaf and dumb are far better than those selfish and cowardly people.

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