Thinking about the Poem
Question 1. (i) “Beneath all uniforms…” What uniforms do you think the poet is speaking about? (ii) How does the poet suggest that all people on earth are the same?Answer: (i) The poet is speaking about the various kinds of dresses and outfits people wear. (ii) The poet says that the uniforms (outfits) must be different but there is a human body beneath those uniforms and all of us will lie in the same earth when we die.
Question 2. In stanza 1, find five ways in which we all are alike. Pick out the words. Answer: The poet points out five ways in which we are all alike. Here are the words from the poem:
– no men are strange
– no countries foreign
– a single body breathes
– the land our brothers walk upon (the same planet)
– (the same earth) in which we all shall lie
Question 3.
How many common features can you find in stanza 2? Pick out the words.
Answer:
The following common features are given in the stanzas:
- sun
- air
- water,
- Peaceful harvests required for human survival
- same hands
Question 4.
“… whenever we are told to hate our brothers….” When do you think this happens? Why? Who ‘tells’ us? Should we do as we are told at such times What does the poet say?
Answer:
Sometimes some selfish people instigate the innocent to harm others. They do it for their own benefit. The common or ordinary man does not understand their tricks and starts hating his fellow human beings. They tell them to cause riots. The poet says that one should not follow anybody’s advice without brooding over it. The poet repeatedly says that there is no difference in them and the foreigners. The people of the entire world are the same.
MRN Creator 