Wind
1. What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?
A. When the wind blows violently, it destroys everything. It breaks the shutters of windows,
scatters the papers, throws the books down from the shelves, tears their pages and brings
along a lot of rain.
2. What does the poet say the wind god winnows?
A. The wind God winnows means that nature sifts the weak things from the strong ones.
Everything that is weak is tossed by the powerful wind and gets destroyed. Just like the
winnower separates the grains of wheat from the chaff, similarly, the wind god separates the
weak from the strong.
3. What should we do to make friends with the wind?
A. We must make ourselves strong to face the violent wind. When we will be strong, the wind
will not harm us, instead it will become a friend and help us to grow and flourish.
4. What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?
A. The last four lines of the poem carry an important message that the strong people emerge
stronger and victorious in the face of adversities. We must make ourselves strong like a burning
fire which grows and flourishes in the violent wind, we also prosper in the face of challenges.
Poetic Device:
Rhyme scheme – The entire poem is written in free verse. There is no rhyme scheme in the
poem.
The literary devices used are as follows
Anaphora – When a word is repeated at the start of two or more consecutive lines, it is the
device of [Link] 2, 3, 4 begin with ‘don’t’.Lines 6, 7, 8 begin with ‘you’.
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.
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.
Alliteration – the repetition of a consonant sound in close connection. ‘wind winnows’.‘won’t
want’
Symbolism – Symbolism means that the thing refers to some other thing. the wind is a symbol.
It refers to the challenges in life. He is using wind as a symbol for the adversities in our life.
HOT's
How does the poet use wind as a symbol in relation to human beings?
Or
Human life is full of hardships. How does the poet reveal it?
Answer: In relation to human beings, the wind has been used by the poet as a symbol of the
hardships that life is dotted with. Men have to encounter terrible suffering, sorrows, difficulties,
and failures. So powerful are these troubles that only very strong people are able to overcome
them and move ahead. Weak, infirm and indecisive people surrender in front of hardships and
accept defeat. But, strong people with patience, unwavering minds and firm will fight against the
hardships and emerge even stronger. Human lives can never be devoid of struggle. One only
needs physical and mental strength to overcome unfavourable circumstances. The winds of
trouble cannot harm those who have the power to stand firm. Strong people can turn their
difficulties into opportunities and learn lessons from them. They know how to turn the tides in
their favour.
How can you say that friendship with the strong wind is good? Explain with reference to the
poem ‘Wind’.
Answer: When we have a friendship with the strong, we learn several new things. We learn that
we may become strong when we fight with difficulties. The people say that if we are strong, the
wind may be our friend. Because the wind likes strong friends. So, if we desire to have the
strength to be our friends, we have to show courage. This is the main reason that the poet talks
about the steadfast heart in the poem.