Page 166 - DENG105_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_II

Unit 12: Indian Weavers by Sarojini Naidu

The Expression break of day refers to the time of dawn. It stands for the beginning of life, the Notes
birth of a new life.. The word blue is symbolic of the depth and colour of the sea. The
emergence of the white swan and white lotus symbolizes the ocean of eternity which marks
the birth of the soul.
(ii) Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill? . . .
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man’s funeral shroud.
Explanations: In the cold midnight, the poetess observes the weavers still seriously involved
in the process of weaving. There is a pin –drop silence prevailing in the work-place. Presently,
they are weaving a white cloth which is as white as a bird’s feather or a cloud. They inform
the poetess that they are weaving it for the funeral shroud of a dead man.

The final stanza shows the concluding stage of man’s life on earth. The mood is one of
mourning which precedes man exit from the mundane world.
The earth–like atmosphere is symbolically presented in the closing phase of the poem. The
expression moonlight chill is the symbol of death and white shroud is also suggestively
correlated with the occasion of death . The colour white stands for purity, of unity and the
possibility of regeneration.

12.7 Keywords

Glad : Happy and pleased about something.
Delighted : Very happy, especially because something good has happened.
Excited : Very happy and enthusiastic because something good is going to happen,
especially when this makes you unable to relax.
Joyous : Causing happy feelings
Cheerful : Behaving in a happy friendly way.
Jubilant : Extremely happy because something good has happened

Thrilled : Very pleased and excited
Sad feeling : Unhappy, especially because something bad has happened.
Depressed : If you are depressed, you feel very unhappy because of a difficult or
unpleasant situation that you feel you cannot change.
Gloomy : Feeling sad and without hope.
Dejected : Someone who is dejected has lost all his hope or enthusiasm, especially
because he has failed at something.
Downcast : Sad or upset
Miserable extremely unhappy or uncomfortable
Annoyed, feeling slightly angry or impatient.

Answers: Self Assessment-1

1. a newly born child; halcyon’s wings
2. (a) 3. Both signify the start of something new

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