The Last Bargain, Class 8 CBSE English Poem Summary, Explanation

by | Sep 13, 2022 | General | 0 comments

 

The Last Bargain, Class 8 English Honeydew Book Poem 4 Explanation, Summary, Difficult words

 The Last Bargain Class 8 English Honeydew Book Poem 4 – Detailed explanation of the poem along with meanings of difficult words and literary devices used in the poem. Given here is the complete explanation of the Poems, along with summary. All the exercises and Question and Answers given at the back of the lesson

 

Class 8 English (Honeydew Book) Poem 4 – The Last Bargain

By Rabindranath Tagore

 

poem 4 the last bargain

The Last Bargain- Introduction

 

A bargain is an agreement in which both parties promise to do something for each other. In the poem “The Last Bargain” by Rabindranath Tagore, the speaker looks for a suitable bargain in exchange for a job. He turns away the offers from the King, an old man and a young maiden who offered to hire him with their power, wealth and fake happiness. In the end, he found himself a suitable bargain when a child who offered to hire him for nothing as it made him a free man. 

The Last Bargain- Summary

 

The poem “The Last Bargain” is about a man who is in search of a job. He was made the first offer by a King who wanted to hire him with his power. The power meant nothing to the man and thus, he rejected the offer. In the mid-day when all the doors of the houses are shut, he is offered a job by an old man with his wealth. The gold coins did not convince him enough and he turned away the second offer too. Furthermore in the evening, he gets an offer from a young woman who wanted to hire him with her smile. Her happiness was just sorrow in disguise and she ran away into the dark. Lastly, the man goes to the seashore where he finds a child who looks at him with a sense of familiarity and offers to hire him for nothing. The speaker accepted the offer happily as it made him a free man.

The Last Bargain- Summary in Hindi

कविता “द लास्ट बार्गेन” एक ऐसे व्यक्ति के बारे में है जो नौकरी की तलाश में है। उसे एक राजा द्वारा पहला प्रस्ताव दिया गया था जो उसे अपनी शक्ति से काम पर रखना चाहता था।
शक्ति का आदमी के लिए कोई मतलब नहीं था और इस प्रकार, उसने प्रस्ताव को अस्वीकार कर दिया। मध्याह्न में जब घरों के सभी दरवाजे बंद हो जाते हैं, तो उसे एक बूढ़ा व्यक्ति अपनी संपत्ति से नौकरी की पेशकश करता है। सोने के सिक्कों को उस ने पर्याप्त नहीं समझा और उसने दूसरा प्रस्ताव भी ठुकरा दिया।
इसके अलावा शाम को, उसे एक युवती से एक प्रस्ताव मिलता है जो उसे अपनी मुस्कान के साथ काम पर रखना चाहती थी। उसकी खुशी सिर्फ गम के वेश में थी और वह अंधेरे में भाग गई।
अंत में, वह आदमी समुद्र के किनारे जाता है जहाँ उसे एक बच्चा मिलता है जो उसे परिचित की भावना से देखता है और उससे बिना कुछ लिए काम पर रखने की पेशकश करता है।
वक्ता ने इस प्रस्ताव को सहर्ष स्वीकार कर लिया क्योंकि इसने उसे एक स्वतंत्र व्यक्ति बना दिया।

The Last Bargain- Poem and Explanation

 

Poem
“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. 

Word Meaning:
Stone-paved – a road, path covered with a suitable surface suitable for travel
Chariot– a carriage drawn by horses
Naught– nothing

Explanation of the Poem – A man in search of work made an announcement to let people know he is available for work. As he was walking on the stone-paved road, the King came in his chariot with a sword in his hand. The King stopped and offered the man a job with his power as he held the man’s hand. But the power meant nothing to the man and thus, he refused the King’s offer. And the King went away in his carriage.

 

Poem
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.

Word Meaning:
Crooked– not straight
Pondered– think about something carefully, especially before making a decision or reaching a conclusion

Explanation of the Poem – It was now midday and everyone was in their houses with the doors shut due to the heat. As the man roamed around during that time along the not-so-straight pathway, he received an offer from an old man. The old man offered to hire him with money as he counted his gold coins one by one. The man turned the old man’s offer away as he was not satisfied with it.

 

Poem
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.

Word Meaning:
Hedge– a fence or boundary formed by closely growing bushes or shrubs
A flower– flowering; in bloom
Fair maid- a young unmarried woman
Paled– (here) fade; diminish; lessen 

Explanation of the Poem – It was now evening when the man was near a garden fence covered with flowers. It was only then that a young woman offered to hire him with her smile but her smile faded away and tears started coming from her eyes. Thus, she went into the dark all alone.  Her happiness was just sorrow in disguise.

Poem
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.

Word Meaning:
Glistened– shine with a sparkling light
Waywardly– difficult to control or predict

Explanation of the Poem – The sun rays fell on the sand as waves began to arise. He saw a child playing with shells at the seashore. The child looked at the man with a sense of recognition and familiarity as he offered to hire him with nothing. The man accepted the bargain and indulged himself in child’s play because it made him a free man as he worked in exchange for nothing. 

 

The Last Bargain- Literary Devices

 

1. Alliteration- the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

“The sun glistened on the sand, and the sea waves broke waywardly”, “made me a free man”

2. Symbolism- the use of symbols to represent ideas or qualities

Eg- King with sword symbolises power, old man with a bag of gold symbolises wealth

The Last Bargain- Question and Answers

 

Working with the Poem

1. Who is the speaker in the poem? 

A. The speaker in the poem is a man looking for a job.

 

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. 

A. (ii) power  

 

3. The old man offered the speaker a lot of money. Why did he turn down the offer? 

A. The man in search of the job was not really convinced by the old man’s offer. Although he himself was not aware what he was looking for in a job but the old man’s offer surely did not convince him enough. He considered wealth, power and happiness as temporary things. Moreover, in the end he realised that he desired freedom over being enslaved to power or wealth.

 

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. 

A. The line in the poem that matches the above statement is “I hire you with nothing.”

(ii) Her happiness was no more than sorrow in disguise. 

A. The line in the poem that matches the above statement is “Her smile paled and melted into tears, and she went back alone into the dark.”

(iii) The king’s might was not worth much. 

A. The line in the poem that matches the above statement is “But his power counted for naught”

 

5. How did the speaker feel after talking to the child on the beach?

A. After talking to the child on the beach, the man realised why he was not attracted by the previous job offers. The child hired him with nothing and the speaker felt as if he was a free man, not enslaved by the virtues of power, wealth and fake happiness.
 

 
Also See : 

Honeydew Book Poems

Honeydew Book Lessons

It so Happened Book Lessons

 

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