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The poem 'The Gift of India' expresses a tone of lament and pride as Mother India mourns her fallen sons while honoring their sacrifices during the First World War. The title emphasizes the immense value of Indian lives lost in the war, highlighting the exploitation of India by the British. Mother India questions the British about her sacrifices, stating that the lives of her sons are far more precious than any material wealth she has provided.

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6 views2 pages

WhatsApp Image 2025-02-13 at 16.33.27 - 4ddbfe39

The poem 'The Gift of India' expresses a tone of lament and pride as Mother India mourns her fallen sons while honoring their sacrifices during the First World War. The title emphasizes the immense value of Indian lives lost in the war, highlighting the exploitation of India by the British. Mother India questions the British about her sacrifices, stating that the lives of her sons are far more precious than any material wealth she has provided.

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priyankadas12monai
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© © All Rights Reserved
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B SOUTH CITY:

Zora’? Scapls INTERNATIONA


SCHOO Fi

THE GIFT OF INDIA

4 Tone: The tone is a blend of lament and pride, as the mother figure mourns her
fallen sons while
honouring théir valour and contributions. id See Bllen sors

4 Relevance of the title: The title The Gift of India is profoundly meaning
highlights the immeasurable worth of Indian lives tes sits to es the
First World War. It begins with the voice of Mother India, sorrowfully declaring
that buy
British have seized her land and exploited her wealth—whether in the form of
garments, grain, or
gold—these losses are negligible when compared to the heart-wrenching sacrifice of
her a
These valiant men, compelled by duty, laid down their lives for the British, who
had appointed
themselves as the sovereign rulers of India.

« EXPLANATION PERTAINING TO THE STANZAS:

LINES:
Is there aught you need that my hands withhold,
Rich gifts of raiment or grain or gold?

Lo! I have flung to the East and West

Priceless treasures torn from my breast,

And yielded the sons of my stricken womb

To the drum-beats of duty, the sabres of doom.

Gathered like pearls in their alien graves


Silent they sleep by the Persian waves,

Scattered like shells on Egyptian sands,

They lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands,


They are strewn like blossoms mown. down by chance
On the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France.

Explanation:
Mother India addresses the British, who have colonized her land, and questions
whether she has ever

withheld her resources like clothing, grain, or gold from them. She emphasizes that
more valuable than
these material treasures are the lives of her beloved sons, whom she has sacrificed
to the East and West.
She mourns the loss of these precious sons, given to serve the British cause during
the First World War.

Mother India mourns the unendurable loss of her beloved sons, the Indian soldiers
who were dispatched
by the British to distant lands to wage war on their behalf. She vividly mentions
Persia (modern-day
Iran), Egypt, Flanders (in Belgium), and France —lands where these courageous
soldiers were deployed.
The sons of India answered the relentless “drumbeats of duty” and fearlessly faced
the “sabers of doom,”
sacrificing their lives. These valiant souls, who fought alongside the Allies
during the First World War}

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