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Karnataka State Syllabus Class 8 English Poem Chapter 6 Coromandel Fishers
Coromandel Fishers Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes
Textbook Questions and Answers
C1 Answer the following questions and share your responses with your partner.
Question 1.
What sort of sounds can one hear early in the morning?
Answer:
We hear the sound of the gentle breeze, the twittering of birds, the rustle of the leaves in the trees.
Question 2.
How is the wind described in line two?
Answer:
The wind is sleeping soundly in the arms of dawn like a child that has cried all night.
Question 3.
Why are the nets to be gathered?
Answer:
The nets are to be gathered so that they can catch fish.
Question 4.
What do you think is wealth to the fishermen?
Answer:
Fish is wealth to the fishermen.
Read and Write:
C2 Read and discuss your responses with your partner. Then write.
Question 1.
What do you understand from the first line of the poem “The wakening skies pray to the morning light”?
Answer:
At night the sky might be sleeping, so the poetess describes the sky is wakening in the morning light, and it seems to pray.
Question 2.
The poet says, “Let us set our catamarans free”. What does it mean?
Answer:
The fishermen tie their boats on the seashore. The fisherman asks his friends to untie them and row into the sea.
Question 3.
What happens if the fishermen are late in starting their work?
Answer:
They cannot catch fish as the day progresses.
Question 4.
Why does the poet say:
a) the sea is our mother
b) the cloud is our brother
c) the waves are our comrades all?
Answer:
a) The sea is their mother because it is the source of their livelihood.
b) If there are a lot of clouds and it starts raining they cannot go into the sea.
c) The waves also help them to go into the sea. If the sea is rough, they cannot venture into the sea.
C3. Answer the following in a paragraph.
Question 1.
The poet describes many things as sweet. What are they? Among them, what is considered to be the sweetest?
Answer:
The poet says that the shade of the coconut grove, the scent of the mango grove, and the sands on a full moon day with the voices of their loved on$s are sweet. But, the kiss of the spray, the dance of the wild foam on the seawater is sweeter.
C4. Name the figures of speech used in the following sentences.
1. The wakening skies pray to the morning light.
Answer:
Personification.
2. The wind lies asleep in the arms of the dawn like a child.
Answer:
Simile.
3. The sea is our mother.
Answer:
Metaphor.
4. The cloud is our brother.
Answer:
Metaphor.
5. The waves are our comrades all.
Answer:
Metaphor.
6. He who holds the storm by the hair will hide in his breast our lives.
Answer:
Personification.
7. But sweeter, 0 brothers, the kiss of the spray, and the dance of the wild foam’s glee.
Answer:
Personification.
8. The low sky mates with the sea.
Answer:
Personification.
9. Rise brothers, rise, the wakening skies pray to the morning light.
Answer:
Personification.
10. The wind lies asleep.
Answer:
Personification.
C5. List out the rhyming words in the poem, and read them out to the class.
e.g.
light – might
free – sea
a) call – all
c) grove – love
b) drives – lives
d) glee – sea.
Comprehension:
Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:
1. He who holds the storm by the hair will hide in his breast our lives.
a) Who says this?
b) Who is the ‘He’ referred here?
c) What is the figure of speech used here?
Answer:
a) This is said by the fishermen.
b) The Sea-God.
c) Personification.
2. Rise brothers, rise, the wakening skies pray to the morning light.
a) Who says this?
b) To whom does he say this?
c) Why is he waking them?
Answer:
a) The leader of the fishermen.
b) He says this to his fellow fishermen.
c) The early morning is the proper time for the fishermen to gather their nets and set out for fishing in their catamarans. So, the fisherman wakes up his fellow fishermen.
3. “We are the sons of the sea”.
a) Who said this?
b) Who are the sons of the sea?
c) Why are they called so?
Answer:
a) The leader of the fishermen said this.
b) All the fishermen are considered to be the sons of the sea.
c) Because they earn their living from the sea.
4. He who holds the storm by the hair will hide in his breast our lives.
a) Who said this?
b) Who hides the fishermen in his breast?
c) Why does he say so?
Answer:
a) This was said by the leader of the fishermen.
b) The Sea-God hides them in his breast.
c) He says so because he has faith in God and in his work.
5. Come, let us gather our nets from the shore,
and set our catamarans free,
To capture the leaping wealth of the tide,
for we are the sons of the sea.
a) Whom does ‘us’ in the first line refer to?
b) What are catamarans?
c) Why should they be set free?
Answer:
a) Coromandel fishers.
b) The word is from Tamil Kattu (binding) and Maram (wood). It is a raft made of a few logs of wood lashed together. It is propelled by sails and paddles. The fishermen handle this craft very dexterously.
c) Catamarans have been drawn up on the beach arid tied to stakes driven into the ground. When the fishermen go fishing they have to be set free.
6. No longer delay, let us hasten away
in the track of the seagull’s call;
The sea is our mother, the cloud is our brother,
the waves are our comrades all.
a) What does the first line convey to you about the coromandel fishers?
b) Why is the seagull’s call referred to?
c) Explain the attitude of the fishermen towards the sea.
Answer:
a) Their eagerness to go out to sea.
b) A seagull is a large, strong seabird with a loud cry. Fishermen usually follow the path of the seagull and its cry as this is likely to lead them to that part of the sea where there will be fish in plenty.
c) The fishermen take the sea as their mother and the waves as their friends. They consider the clouds as their brother.
7. What though we toss at the fall of the sun
where the hand of the sea-god drives?
He Who holds the storm by the hair
will hide in His breast our lives.
a) Why will the fishermen toss?
OR
What will toss the fishermen?
b) Explain ‘the fall of the sun’.
c) What is meant by ‘drives’?
Answer:
a) When the waves rise and fall, so will the fishermen rise and fall.
OR
The rising and falling waves will toss them.
b) It means the sunset.
c) Rules.
8. But sweeter, 0 brothers, the kiss of the spray,
And the dance of the wild foam’s glee:
Row, brothers, row to the blue of the verge.
a) Who is addressed here as ‘brothers’?
b) What is less sweet than the kiss of the spray?
c) Where does the speaker want them to go? Why does he wish to do so?
Answer:
a) Fishermen.
b) The shore is less sweet than the kiss of the spray. It can also be said that life on the shore is less sweet than the adventure on the sea. The pleasures offered by land and home are less sweet than the joy of work.
c) The speaker wants them to go to the edge of the sea, i.e., the horizon, which looks blue from a distance, where the sea and the sky seem to meet and touch each other.
Memorisation:
Rise, brothers, rise; the wakening skies pray to the morning light, The wind lies asleep in the arms of the dawn like a child that has cried all night.
Come, let us gather our nets from the shore and set our catamarans free, To capture the leaping wealth of the tide, for we are the sons of the sea!
No longer delay, let us hasten away in the track of the sea gull’s call, The sea is our mother, the cloud is our brother, the waves are our comrades all.
What though we toss at the fall of the sun where the hand of the sea-god drives?
He who holds the storm by the hair, will hide in his breast our lives.
Sweet is the shade of the coconut glade, and the scent of the mango grove and sweet are the sands at the full o’ the moon with the sound of the voices we love;
But sweeter, 0 brothers, the kiss of the spray and the dance of the wild foam’s glee;
Row, brothers, row to the edge of the verge, where the low sky mates with the sea.
Coromandel Fishers Additional Questions and Answers
Question 1.
To whom do the fishermen pray?
Answer:
The fishermen pray to the morning light.
Question 2.
How is the early morning wind described?
Answer:
The calm early morning wind is described as a child that has cried all night fallen asleep in the arms of the mother in the morning.
Question 3.
In what sense are the fishermen the sons of the sea?
Answer:
Just as the mother provides food to children, the sea gives
Question 4.
What do fishermen consider as their mother, brother and comrades?
Answer:
The fishermen cannot think of any life without the sea. The sea is everything to them. They look upon the sea as their mother. They consider the clouds as their brother and the waves as their comrades.
Question 5.
Why is the storm described as having hair? Does the storm have life like a human being?
Answer:
The storm has no life. But, the poet personifies it. She speaks of the storm as a wild beast full of hair.
Question 6.
Who hides the life of the fishermen in his heart?
Answer:
The sea-god who controls the storm also controls the life of the seamen.
Question 7.
What are sweet to the fishermen? What are sweeter? Why?
Answer:
The coconut glade and the moonlit beach are sweet to the fishermen. But, the spraying waters and the wild foams of the sea are sweeter to them. Being the sons of the sea, the fishermen like the sea more than the earth. For the fishermen, the joy on the shore lies in the shade of the coconut glade, the scent of the mango groves, the sweetness of the sands shining in the beams of the full moon and the voice of their dear ones.
Question 8.
Why are the fishermen not afraid of the sea?
Answer:
The fishermen think that they are the sons of the sea. Why should the child be afraid of its own parents? So, the fishermen are not afraid of the sea.
Question 9.
What do fishermen urge their fellow fishermen?
Answer:
The fishermen urge their fellow fishermen to get ready for fishing. The wind is calm and the time is suited for setting out. So, they ask their brothers to gather their nets and set their boats free.
Question 10.
What joys do the fishermen look forward to on the shore?
Answer:
to fishermen the fish on which they live, in other words, the fishermen are completely dependent on the sea for their living. In this sense they may described as the sons of the sea.
Question 11.
How does Sarojini Naidu describe the life of the fishermen of Coromandel and their intense love of the sea?
OR
Describe the life of the fishermen of Coromandel.
OR
How does Sarojini Naidu describe a day in the lives of the fishermen?
Answer:
The fishermen of Coromandel coast rise at dawn to the call of their leader. They gather their fishing nets from the shore, set their fishing boats free and sail away to capture the fish. They follow the call of the sea-gull where they can get plenty of fish.
They face the storms and rising tides bravely. They find pleasure in rowing to the verge of the sea where it meets the low sky. In this way their life is full of adventure. When they return in the evening they enjoy in the cool shade of the coconut glades breathing the scent of the mango grove. Surrounded by their wives and children, they relax on the sands of the beach on the full moon day while they are kissed by the drops of waves that scatter as the waves break and also enjoy the dance of the wild foam. In this way the sons of the sea lead an adventurous as well as happy life.
Question 12.
How does Sarojini Naidu express the relation between the fishermen and the sea?
How do fishermen express their deep love and respect for the sea in the poem?
OR
How does Sarojini Naidu depict the fishermen’s feelings about the sea?
Answer:
The vocation of the fishermen is the one filled with danger. Every time the fishermen set out to fish they do not know how turbulent the sea would turn out to be. Yet, the fishermen rise, gather nets and set their catamarans free and proceed cheerfully to capture the leaping wealth of the tide. This they are able to do because they have complete faith in the sea-God and believe strongly that he would protect them when the sea is disturbed and the waves rise high.
They can row without fear towards that point where the sky and the sea seem to meet because they know that he who raises and controls the storm will also protect their lives in his bosom. Their attachment to the sea is so great that they find the dancing movement of the white foam of the water sweeter than the pleasures of the shore: be it the scent of the mango groves and coconut trees or the sweet voices of the people whom they love.
Multiple Choice Questions
Four alternatives are given for each of the following questions/ incomplete statements. Choose the most appropriate one.
Question 1.
The poem ‘Coromandel Fishers’ is written by
A) Rabindranath Tagore
B) Fleur Adcock
C) Sarojini Naidu
D) James Kirkup
Answer:
C) Sarojini Naidu
Question 2.
‘Coromandel Fishers’ describes
A) the life of fishermen
B) dangers of the sea
C) how fishermen catch fish
D) the problems faced by fishermen
Answer:
A) the life of fishermen
Question 3.
“No looser delay, let us hasten away in the track of the seagull’s call”. Here ‘seagull’ is
A) a bird
B) a shark
C) a fish
D) a sea plant
Answer:
A) a bird
Question 4.
The fishermen consider the sea as their
A) comrade
B) brother
C) sister
D) mother
Answer:
D) mother
Question 5.
Who holds the storm by the hair?
A) the cloud
B) the sea-god
C) the fishermen
D) the seagull
Answer:
B) the sea-god
Question 6.
The poet describes many things as sweet. Among them, which is considered to be sweeter?
A) shade of the coconut grove
B) the scent of the mango grove
C) kiss of the spray
D) sands on a full moon day
Answer:
C) kiss of the spray
Question 7.
‘The leaping wealth of the tide’ refers to
A) the waves
B) the seagull
C) the storm
D) the fish
Answer:
D) the fish
Coromandel Fishers Summary in English
Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) was born in Hyderabad. After her early schooling in India she went to England and studied at King’s College, London and Girton College, Cambridge. She was a poet even while at school and had written a number of poems. After returning to India she was greatly attracted by the freedom movement and Mahatma’s call to the Indian women. Sarojini Naidu, popularly known as the ‘Nightingale of India’, joined the band of Satyagrahis and became a favourite of the Mahatma in his struggle for India’s freedom.
The Golden Threshold, The Bird of Time, and The Broken Wing are the titles of the three well-known collections of her poems. She died in 1949 when she was Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She was the first lady to become the Head of a State in Independent India. Coromandel Fishers is a vibrant presentation of the daily life of the fishermen at sea. It also presents a graphic description of the feelings of the sons of the sea towards their source of life and light – the sea.
At the beginning of the poem, we see the leader of the fishermen giving a call to his friends to start work early in the morning. He asks them to get up from their sleep. He says the wakening sky is offering prayer to the Sun God. And the wind which has blown throughout the night is sleeping soundly in the arms of dawn like a child that has cried all night.
It means that it is already morning, the wind is calm and it is the right time for them to go fishing. He tells them to collect their fishing nets, untie their boats, and venture into the sea to catch the leaping wealth (fish). He calls themselves as the sons of the sea. In his opinion sea is their mother, for it is the source of their livelihood.
He tells them not to delay, but to follow the seagull’s path. He considers the sea as their mother, the cloud as their brother, and the waves as their friends. He asks them to be brave and not be afraid even if the sea god drives them to a remote place when the night sets in. He is confident that God who has the power to control the storm will definitely protect them.
In the opinion of the fishermen the shade of the coconut grove, the scent of the mango grove, the sands on a full moon day with the sound of the people they love are all sweet. But, the kiss of the spray and dance of the wild foam are sweeter. He implores his comrades to row till they reach the horizon.
Coromandel Fishers Summary in Kannada
