ENGLISH LEARNING

  Casabianca  The boy stood on the burning deck, Whence all but he had fled; The flame, that lit the battle's wreck, Shone round him o'er the dead. Yet beautiful and bright he stood, As born to rule the storm; A creature of heroic blood; A proud though childlike form! The flames rolled on he would not go,  Without his father's word; That father, faint in death below, His voice no longer heard. He called aloud: 'Say, 'father! Say If yet my task be done?' He knew not that the chieftain lay Unconscious of his son. 'Speak, father!' once again he cried, 'If I may yet be gone! And' but the booming shots replied, And fast the flames rolled on. Upon his brow he felt their breath, And in his waving hair, And looked from that lone post of death, In still, yet brave despair. And shouted but once more aloud, 'And father! Must I stay?' While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud, The wreathing fires made way: They caught the flag on high  And str

What is common about these names?   Abraham Lincoln           Martin Luther King    Nelson Mandela               Mahatma Gandhi Look up a dictionary for the meaning of APARTHEID  Now read this poem.  YOUNG, GIFTED BUT BLACK When Mebula Ramsandra Was three years old His mother told him, that if he wanted To be a big strong man He'd have to drink all his milk -  And he did.  When Mebula Ramsandra Was five years old His teacher told him  That of he wanted  To go to a grammar school  He'd have to try harder with his homework- And he did.  When Mebula Ramsandra Was fifteen years old His lecturer told him That if he wanted to be lab technician  He would have to go to University -  And he did.  So ten years later When Mebula Ramsandra Was twenty-five years old,  A big, strong, clever, educated postgraduate -  The man on the other end of the telephone said,  If he wanted to work for him.  He'd have to be big, strong, clever, postgraduate and white.  For solved exercises of t

Two's Company They said the house was haunted but  He laughed at them and said, 'Tut, tut! I've never heard such tittle-tattle As ghosts groan and chains that rattle; And just to prove I'm in the right,  Please leave me here to spend the night.' They winked absurdly, tried to smother Their ignorant laughter, nudged each other, And left him just as dusk was falling With a hunchback moon and screech owls calling -  Not that this troubled him one bit; In fact he was quite glad of it. Knowing it's every sane man's mission. To contradict all superstition. But what is that? Outside it seemed As if chains rattled, someone screamed! Come, come, it's merely nerves, he's certain (But just the same, he draws the curtain) The stroke of twelve, but there's no clock! He shuts the door and turns the lock (Of course, he knows that no one's there, But no harm's done by taking care!) Someone's outside- the silly joker, (Might as well pick up the poker!

LEISURE What is this life if, so full of care,  We have no time to stand and stare? No time to stand beneath the boughs  And stare as long as sheep or cows: No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass: No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night: No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance . No time to wait till her mouth can  Enrich that smile her eyes began? A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.                                                        -William Henry Davies For Solved Exercises of this poem, click on the link below: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJTgYmbQGweWg7n1IMh3PCA/join

Village Song   Full are my pitchers and far to carry,  Lone is the way and long,  Why, O why was I tempted to tarry Lured by the boatmen's song?  Swiftly the shadows of night are falling,  Hear, O hear, is the white crane calling,  Is it the wild owl's cry?  There are no tender moon beams to light me,  If in the darkness a serpent should bite me,  Or if an evil spirit should smite me,  Ram Re Ram! I shall die.  My brother will murmur, 'Why doth she linger? ' My mother will wait and weep,  Saying, 'O safe may the great gods bring her,  The Jamuna's waters rush by so quickly,  The shadows of evening gather so thickly,  Like black birds in the sky.......  O! if the storm breaks, what will betide me?  Safe from the lightning where shall I hide me?  Unless Thou succour my footsteps and guide me,  Ram Re Ram! I shall die.                    - Sarojini Naidu For Solved exercises of this poem, click on the link below:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJTgYmbQGweWg7n1IM

The Wise Men and the Elephant It was six men of Hindustan To learning much inclined Who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation Might satisfy his mind. The first approached the elephant, And, happening to fall Against its broad and sturdy side, At once began to bawl: Why, bless me! but the elephant Is very like a wall!' The second feeling at the tusk, Cried, 'Ho! What have we here So very round and smooth and sharp? To me' its might clear This wonder of an elephant Is very like a spear!' The third approached the animal, And, happening to take The squirming trunk within his hands Thus boldly up he spake: 'I see,' quoth he, 'the elephant Is very like a snake!' The fourth reached out his eager hand, And felt about its knee 'What most this wondrous beast is like Is mighty plain,' quoth he; 'It is clear enough the elephant Is very like a tree!' The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said, 'E'

Flowery Birth During King George VI's and Queen Elizabeth's tour of Canada in 1939, Her Majesty sent the bouquets presented to her in Toronto to patients in the city hospitals. In the maternity ward of St. Michael's where I was that day,  each  patient received a tiny white rosebud from a special bouquet in memory of her visit. Many years later, I gathered presents for my son's birthday, and set out to have dinner with him, his wife, and small daughter in the suburbs. The young taxi-driver was curt to the point of surliness and began driving at a dangerous speed. To slow him down without appearing cross, I said, 'Could you take it a little easier? I've got some presents for my son's birthday today, and a few are breakable.' 'It's my birthday, too,' he said, 'and nobody's giving me any presents.' The tone was bitter. I started to talk, and discovered that he was separated, broke, and generally fed up with life. I asked his age.