Lesson No. 18 - A Little Word

A Little Word
(Anonymous)


A little word in kindness spoken,
A motion or a tear.
Has often healed the heart broken
And made a friend sincere.
A word, a look has crushed to earth,
Full many a budding flower.
Which had a smile but owned its birth,
Had blessed life's darkest hour.
Then deem it not an idle thing,
A pleasant word to speak.
The face you wear, the thoughts you bring,
A heart may heal or break.


Words - Meaning
deem - Think
Motion - an action, a move
a budding flower - in the earliest stage of flowering.
a blessed life - A life of goodness and peace.
darkest hour - worst moments
pleasant word - a kind and loving word.

Notes:
Always think before you speak because your words can either break a heart or heal IT. So always choose your words before speaking.

EXERCISES

Answer the following questions.

Q: 1 Write a summary of the poem.

Ans: The poet is of the view that a kind and sympathetic word spoken can bring comfort to a broken heart. A gesture or a tear shed in sympathy can also win us a sincere friend. At the same time a harsh word and severe look has caused many hearts to wither away as the fresh blooming flowers which die on being mishandled. Otherwise they would have brightened our life's darkest periods. Hence a pleasant word and a pleasant look are not ordinary things. They heal many hearts and save them from breaking.

Q: 2 Find the rhyming words in the poem.

Words - Meaning
Spoken - Bolay Gaye /// Broken - Totaoy huay
Tear - Aansoo /// Sincere - Mukhlis, sacha
Earth - Zameen /// Birth - Paydaish
Flower - Phool /// Hour - Ghanta
Thing - Cheez/baat /// Bring - Lana
Speak - Bolna /// Break - Torna

Q: 3 What effect does a kind word have upon the others?
Ans: A kind of word has healing effect on the people whose feelings have been hurt. It gives them comfort.

Q: 4 How can harsh words break a person's heart?
Ans: A harsh word breaks a person's heart as the blooming flowers wither away on hard touch or mishandled.

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DUA AND WAZAIF enter