POEM - WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

Rabindranath Tagore prays for a world without fear— one world held together by freedom. Tagore's poem overflows with a deep sense of patriotism and the power in every Indian to create that freedom which he should enjoy.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

- Rabindranath Tagore

We should remember Tagore and recall his contribution made towards the English language. A Bengali poet, artist, novelist and educator, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 which was followed by a series of titles and awards during his carrer.

Synonyms:

Fragments - broken
domestic - country's internal affairs
tireless - putting a lot of hard work and energy into something over a long period of time
striving - working hard
dreary - dull
awake - wake up

In this poem, the poet dreams of an ideal world where everyone is truly free and liberated from all kinds of fetters.

Pick out the lines that mean the following and write below.

1 . fearlessness and dignity _________________
2. freedom of information _______________
3. equality and harmony ___________________
4. truthfulness ______________________
5. striving for excellence _______________