NCERT Solutions Class 8 English (Honeydew)
The NCERT Solutions in English Language for Class 8 English (Poetry) (Honeysuckle) Poem – 4 The Last Bargain has been provided here to help the students in solving the questions from this exercise.
NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English (Honeydew – Poem)
- Poem – 1 : The Ant and the Cricket
- Poem – 2 : Geography Lesson
- Poem – 3 : Macavity: The Mystery Cat
- Poem – 5 : The School Boy
- Poem – 6 : When I Set Out for Lyonnesse
- Poem – 7 : On the Grasshopper and Cricket
Poem – 4 (The Last Bargain)
“Come and hire me,” I cried, while in the morning
I was walking on the stone-paved road.
Sword in hand the King came in his chariot.
He held my hand and said, “I will hire you with my power,”
But his power counted for naught, and he went away in his chariot.
In the heat of the mid-day the houses stood with shut doors.
I wandered along the crooked lane.
An old man came out with his bag of gold.
He pondered and said, “I will hire you with my money.”
He weighed his coins one by one, but I turned away.
It was evening. The garden hedge was all aflower.
The fair maid came out and said, “I will hire you with a smile.”
Her smile paled and melted into tears, and she went back alone into the dark.
The sun glistened on the sand, and the sea waves broke waywardly.
A child sat playing with shells.
He raised his head and seemed to know me and said, “I hire you with nothing.”
From henceforward that bargain struck in child’s play made me a free man.
– RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Working with the Poem
1. Who is the speaker in the poem?
Answer – A daily wage earner who is looking for a job is the speaker of the poem.
2. “The king, sword in hand” suggests
(i) wealth
(ii) power
(iii) more power than wealth.
Mark the appropriate item in the context of stanza 1.
Answer – (ii) power
3. The old man offered the speaker a lot of money. Why did he turn down the offer?
Answer – Offering of a lot of money did not seem attractive to the speaker. He was not happy in accepting it.
4. Find in the poem, lines that match the following. Read both one after another.
(i) I have nothing to give you except goodwill and cheer.
Answer – “I hire you with nothing.”
(ii) Her happiness was no more than sorrow in disguise.
Answer – “Her smile paled and melted into tears.”
(iii) The king’s might was not worth much.
Answer – “But his power counted for naught.”
5. How did the speaker feel after talking to the child on the beach?
Answer – When the speaker met the child who was playing with sea shells near the beach, he talked with the little one. After talking with the child, the speaker realised that he might not earn a penny, but this made him extremely happy and free and gave him great satisfaction.
