Educational Galaxy

Chapter 11: Harvest Hymn — EG's own notes, in simple words

Book: Poorvi (CBSE, Class 8)  |  Chapter 11  |  Unit 4: Environment  |  Medium: English

Diagram (labels are printed on the image): Diagram (labels are printed on the image): Farmers harvesting golden wheat with baskets and sheaves. A general picture about harvest; it is not a scene from the book.

A village celebrating harvest with baskets of grain. A general picture about harvest joy, not a book scene.

What the lesson is about

This poem, by Sarojini Naidu, is a hymn sung at harvest time, and its voices take turns. Men's voices praise Surya first: Lord of the lotus, lord of the harvest, bright and munificent lord of the morn, whose bounty prospered the sowing and nurtured the corn. The singers bring songs and garlands for tribute, the gold of their fields and the gold of their fruit, and hail the giver of mellowing radiance with cymbal and flute.

Men's voices then praise Varuna: Lord of the rainbow, lord of the harvest, great and beneficent lord of the main, whose mercy cherished the furrows and fostered the grain. Again the singers bring thanks and garlands for tribute — the wealth of their valleys, new-garnered and ripe — and hail the sender of rain and dewfall with cymbal and pipe.

Women's voices praise Prithvi, Mother Earth: Queen of the gourd-flower, queen of the harvest, sweet and omnipotent mother, whose plentiful bosom feeds us and whose womb is where our riches have birth. They bring love and garlands for tribute, with gifts of the earth's own opulent giving, and hail the source of manifold gladness with cymbal and drum.

All voices join for the close, praising the Lord of the Universe, Lord of our being, Father eternal, ineffable Om — the Seed and the Scythe of the harvests, our Hands and our Heart and our Home. They bring their lives and their labours for tribute, asking for succour, counsel and care. The poem's idea is gratitude that moves outward: from sun and rain and earth to the one life behind them all, and from gifts received to lives offered back.

Chart / Table: The four voices of the hymn

Item	Detail
Men's voices (1)	Surya, lord of the morn — bounty that prospered sowing and corn.
Men's voices (2)	Varuna, lord of the main — mercy that cherished furrows and grain.
Women's voices	Prithvi, mother Earth — bosom that feeds, womb where riches have birth.
All voices	The Lord of the Universe — Seed and Scythe, Hands and Heart and Home.

Language focus — Let us learn

• Farming implements: match implements to their uses and complete their names — a tool with a long handle and metal teeth for collecting hay or leaves is a rake; a small hand tool for digging shallow furrows is a trowel; a hand tool with a curved blade on a short handle for harvesting is a sickle; a tool pulled by oxen for turning soil is a plough; a tool with a flat rectangular blade on a long handle for digging is a spade; and a long curved blade on a long handle for cutting tall grass is a scythe.
• Synonyms from context: choose the correct synonym for underlined words in lines from the poem, circling the words or phrases in the sentence that helped you infer the meaning, and checking the choice against the poem's tone of praise.
• Repetition: notice how repetition works in the poem — repeated praise, repeated tribute, repeated instruments — and how it builds a chorus effect, as if many voices sing together.

Listen, Speak, Write, Explore

• Listen: a talk about paddy cultivation; number the events in the correct order in which they happen, from preparing soil to harvest.
• Speak: silent letters — letters not pronounced in certain words, such as the first k in knife, knowledge and know. Read lists aloud, marking the silent letter each time.
• Write: creative slogans that spread a message and capture attention — short, memorable, and true to the cause they serve.
• Explore: millets — small-seeded grasses with more fibre and minerals than other cereals, long part of Indian food. Find out which millets grow near you.

Practice set — try it yourself

1. Why do the farmers hail the God of rain as well as the God of the sun?
   Hint: Think about what a crop needs: light alone does not make grain.
2. What is meant by 'the wealth of our valleys'?
   Hint: Think about harvest: what is gathered, ripe and new, from valley fields?
3. Why does everyone offer their 'labours for tribute' at the end?
   Hint: Think about the final stanza: what is offered when gold is not enough?
4. How does repetition make the poem feel like a chorus?
   Hint: Think about many voices saying the same praise together.
5. Why is the poem presented as a hymn?
   Hint: Think about address, offering and praise: what makes a song a hymn?

Questions with Answers

1. Whom do the men's voices praise first, and for what?
   Surya, lord of the lotus, lord of the harvest and lord of the morn, whose bounty prospered the sowing and nurtured the corn, and who gives mellowing radiance.
2. Whom do the men's voices praise second, and for what?
   Varuna, lord of the rainbow, lord of the harvest and lord of the main, whose mercy cherished the furrows and fostered the grain, and who sends rain and dewfall.
3. Whom do the women's voices praise, and how is she described?
   Prithvi, queen of the gourd-flower and queen of the harvest, sweet and omnipotent mother, whose plentiful bosom feeds us and whose womb is where our riches have birth.
4. What do all voices praise together at the close?
   The Lord of the Universe, Lord of our being, Father eternal, ineffable Om — the Seed and the Scythe of the harvests, our Hands and our Heart and our Home.
5. Why is the poem called a harvest hymn?
   Because it is a song of praise offered at harvest time, with each voice bringing tribute — songs, garlands, gold of fields and fruit, and finally lives and labours — to the powers that made the harvest possible.

Extension questions — go further

1. Which instrument accompanies the praise of Surya?
   Cymbal and flute.
2. Which instrument accompanies the praise of Varuna?
   Cymbal and pipe.
3. Which instrument accompanies the praise of Prithvi?
   Cymbal and drum.
4. Match the implement to its use: a curved blade on a short handle for harvesting.
   A sickle.
5. Match the implement to its use: a tool pulled by oxen for turning soil.
   A plough.
6. Match the implement to its use: a long curved blade on a long handle for cutting tall grass.
   A scythe.
7. Complete the name: S __ C K L __.
   SICKLE.
8. Complete the name: P L __ __ G H.
   PLOUGH.
9. What does 'the gold of our fields' mean in the poem?
   The ripe harvest itself — grain and fruit, golden in colour and precious in value.
10. Write a four-line hymn of thanks of your own for one thing nature gives you.
    Open answer — checked for address, praise and an offering, in the poem's shape.

• Read the summary and say the Key Terms in your own words.
• Try the practice set without looking.
• Check yourself with the Questions with Answers.
• Attempt the extension questions for full NCERT coverage.
• Ask your teacher or parent to check your answers.

How to use this page: Read the summary, say the Key Terms in your own words, then try the practice set without looking. Use the Questions with Answers to check yourself afterwards. Ask your teacher or parent to check your answers.