(i) The speaker in the poem is a little school-going child. In the poem, he meets three people- a hawker, a gardener and a watchman. He observed all three of them and saw that the hawker was selling bangles and was saying “Bangles, crystal bangles!” while selling. While returning from school, he saw a gardener, who was digging the ground. At night, when it got dark and his mother sent him to bed, he saw the watchman walking up and down, through his window.
(ii) The child in the poem wishes to lead his life as per his wish because being a child, he cannot do as he wishes. He has to follow particular rules which he does not like.
The child in the poem wants to be a hawker, a gardener, and a watchman. It is so because when he looks at the hawker, he wishes that he could also spend his day on the road crying “Bangles, crystal bangles!”. He feels that the hawker is in no hurry for anything. He can take any road he wishes; can go to any place he wants and have no fixed time to return home. Such freedom cannot be exercised by him as a child, and so he wishes to be a hawker so that he could do all these things. Next, he wishes to be a gardener because a gardener can do anything he likes with his spade. He can soil his clothes with dust. No one will scold him if he gets baked in the sun or gets wet. Therefore, to be able to dig anytime and do what he wants, the child if the little child wishes that he could be a gardener. Finally, when he sees the watchman, he wants to be like him so that he can roam around in the streets at night. He will be able to walk through dark and lonely streets all night with his lantern and chase shadows. This wish emerges when he is put to bed and is not allowed to roam outside by his mother. He even wonders that the watchman had never even once gone to bed in his entire life. Therefore, he wants to be a hawker, a gardener, and a watchman so that he will be able to do these things which are not possible for a little child like him to do.
(iii)
|
The Child Must |
The Child Must Not |
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Come home at a fixed time |
Get his clothes dirty in the dust |
|
Go to bed on time, when it got dark |
Get baked in the sun or get wet |
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Go to school every day |
Walk on dark and lonely street at night |