Beehive (Grade - 9)

Unit – 2 Poem

Wind
By Subramania Bharati
ABOUT THE POET
Subramania Bharati, in full
Chinnaswami Subramania Bharati, (born December 11,
1882, Ettaiyapuram, Madras Presidency, India—died
September 12, 1921, Madras (now Chennai)), was an
outstanding Indian writer of the nationalist period who
is regarded as the father of the modern Tamil style.
He was a great poet, novelist, journalist, freedom
fighter, patriot, teacher and polyglot.
INTRODUCTION
OF THE POEM
We all know that wind is a natural phenomenon. In this poem, the
poet talks to the wind. The power of wind has been described and the
poet says that wind is destructive. He has linked the destructive
power of wind to the adversities of life and says that the weak people
break down, but stronger people emerge out of adversities, stronger.
The poem gives an important message that we should be mentally
tough and physically strong in order to survive the hardships of life. A
weak person breaks down like a weak building and crumbles. We
must make these destructive forces our friends, with our strength and
determination.
 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.

The poet is talking to the wind. He asks the wind to come softly. So, he
says that the wind should not be very strong. It should be soft and
subtle. He requests the wind not to break the shutters of the
windows, not to scatter the papers and throw down the books from
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.

poking fun = making fun of something

weaklings = persons who are weak

Then he says that the wind is very powerful. It is destructive, it breaks the
shutters of windows and scatters the papers. When the wind is very powerful,
all the books which are kept on the shelf fall down and torn. So here, the poet
is describing the power of the wind. Then he says to the wind to look at the
destruction that it had done. Whenever there is a strong wind all the things
that are weak, like small plants, tiny children, etc., they all get scared and they
can even fall and get hurt. We can say that in the initial part of the poem, the
poet is referring to wind as a young child. He says that it should come softly
just like a small child does. In the later part, we come to know that the wind is
destructive just like a youth. Just like a young boy or a young girl who is full of
energy, violence and destruction.
 Frail crumbling houses, crumbling doors, crumbling rafters,
crumbling wood, crumbling bodies, crumbling lives,
crumbling hearts —

crumbling = falling or to cause something to break

rafter = sloping beam which support the roof of the building

Here, the word ‘Crumbling’ is repeated so many times to lay stress that
everything crumbles in the face of a strong wind. So, the poet says that
when wind is very powerful, it is very strong, it leads to breakage of
everything. Houses which are weak, fall, doors which are weak fall, the
beams on which the roof of the buildings are supported, they also fall, all
the wooden structures fall, all bodies of people fall, animals, lives, hearts.
So, he is saying that everything crumbles. Everything that is weak reacts by
falling down and breaking in the face of adversity. So, the poet is saying
that whenever a weak person faces any adversity or challenge in life he
breaks down and falls.
 The wind god winnows and crushes them all.

(winnows: to break grain free of chaff, separate grain from husk by

blowing on it.)

The poet is addressing to wind as ‘wind god’, and he is saying that the
powerful god of wind winnows, that means he sifts all the people and
those people who are weak fall down and get crushed. So here, a
comparison is made between wheat and people. Just like we winnow the
wheat to separate the grain from chaff, the wind god separates the strong
people from the weak people. When there is a strong wind, all the things
that are weak fall and get crushed.
 He won’t do what you tell him.
So, come, let’s build strong homes,
Let’s joint the doors firmly.
Practise to firm the body.
Make the heart steadfast(=firm).
Do this, and the wind will be friends with us.

The poet wants us to make friends with the wind i.e. the adversities in our
lives. He says that the problems will not listen to us. They will come, so we
should be prepared. In preparation, we should build strong homes and close
the doors of our house firmly so that the wind cannot get into. And then he
says that we should also make our bodies strong and hearts firm to face these
challenges. And then once we are strong enough all the challenges will be like
friends. We will not feel that they are troublesome.
 The wind blows out weak fires.
He makes strong fires roar and flourish (= grow).
His friendship is good.
We praise him every day.

The poet has kept the wind on a pedestal. He is comparing the wind to
god. He says that wind is god and we praise wind every day. He adds that
everything that is weak gets finished off in the face of the strong wind.
And all the things that are strong flourish and grow to become stronger.
He is giving us a very important message, that we should not feel bad
that we are facing so many challenges and adversities in life. We should
make our self physically and mentally strong to face these challenges.
And once we are strong enough, we will overcome the challenges, we will
become friends with them and then we will be happy that we had these
challenges in our life because they help us become stronger and better.
LITERARY DEVICES
IN THE
POEM
1. ANAPHORA - When a word is repeated at the start of two or
more consecutive lines, it is the device of Anaphora.

Lines 2, 3, 4 begin with ‘don’t’.

Lines 6, 7, 8 begin with ‘you’.

2. PERSONIFICATION – wind has been personified. When the

poet says ‘you are’, he is referring to wind as ‘you’ that means he is
treating wind as a person.

3.REPETITION - ‘crumbling’ is repeated many times to lay

emphasis. The poet wants to say that the wind crushes everything that is
weak. That is why he repeats the word crumbling.
4. ALLITERATION - the repetition of a consonant sound in close
connection. ‘wind winnows’.
‘won’t want’

5.SYMBOLISM - Symbolism means that the thing refers to some

other thing. wind is a symbol. It refers to the challenges in life. He is
using wind as a symbol for the adversities in our life.
RECAP
The first part of the poem describes the action of the wind. The poet asks the
wind to come softly. He requests the wind not to break the shutters of the
windows, not to scatter the papers and throw down the books from the shelf.
But the wind throws the books and tears the pages. The poet says that the wind
makes a mockery of weaklings. It brings down frail houses, crumbling doors,
rafters, and even weak hearts. It crushes everything that is weak.
The poet advises us to be strong. Only then can we save ourselves from the
wind. We should build strong homes with firm doors. Our bodies and hearts
should also be strong. It is the way of the world to kick the weak and to be
friends with the strong. The wind blows out the weak fires but makes the strong
fires roar and flourish. Thus, the poem conveys the idea that nobody cares for
the weak. Even the wind is on the side of the strong people. We must make
ourselves strong to become successful and overcome the challenges in life.
Extract Questions:

Q.1 The wind blows out weak fires

He makes strong fire roar and flourish His friendship is good
We praise him everyday

I. How does the wind affect the weak fires.?

ii. What is the effect of the wind on strong fire?
iii. Trace a word from the extract that means “prosper’.
Extract Questions:

Q 2.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.

i. Whom does the poet request in the above lines?

ii. Write one action of the wind.
iii.Trace a word from the extract which means ‘thrown in
different directions’.
Extract Questions:

Q3. He won’t do what you tell him

So, come, let’s build strong homes
Let’s joint the doors firmly practise to firm the body.
Make the heart steadfast.

i. What does the poet advise?

ii. ‘He won’t do what you tell him’ What does it mean?
iii. Find a word from the extract that means ‘loyal/faithful’.
Extract Questions:

Q 4. He won’t do what you tell him

So, come, let’s build strong homes
Let’s joint the doors firmly practise to firm the body.
Make the heart steadfast.

i. What does ‘he’ stand for?

ii. What should we do to save our homes?
iii. Which word stands for ‘to fix’ ?
TEXTUAL QUESTIONS
1. What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?

2. What does the poet say the wind god winnows?

3. What should we do to make friends with the wind?

4. What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?