2.4 Have You Earned Your Tomorrow?

2.4 Have You Earned Your Tomorrow?

Read the extract (poem) and do all the activities given below.

A1. State whether the following statements are true or false.

a. Somebody should be happier because you passed his way.

b. Someone should remember you for speaking to him.

c. There should be none to utter a kind word of you.

d. You should give cheerful greetings to the friend.

A2. "Is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?" Explain the meaning.

A3. Write your ideas about tomorrow's goal.

A4. 'toiling time' . Name the figures of speech. Find one more example of the same.

A5. Compose a short poem by using words ' today, tomorrow and yesterday'.

Write a poetic appreciation of the poem 2.4 ‘Have You Earned Your Tomorrow’ with the help of the following points.

·       About the poem / poet and the title

·       The theme

·       Poetic Style

·       Language /Poetic devices

·       Special features

·       Message, values, morals in the poem

·       Your opinions about the poem

Answers :

A1

a. Somebody should be happier because you passed his way. True

b. Someone should remember you for speaking to him. True

c. There should be none to utter a kind word of you. False

d. You should give cheerful greetings to the friend. True

A2. The poet insists that one should perform good deeds in such a way that people should feel grateful for the deeds.

A3. I believe in as you sow so shall you reap. I will behave politely. I will help friends, family and

neighbours. I will invest the happiness to earn tomorrow's happiness.

A4. Alliteration: The consonantal sound 't' is repeated pleasingly.

Another example of alliteration : sorely spent

A5.

Forget past and yesterday

Work today with gay

And earn tomorrow

B Poetic Appreciation

Edgar Guest is known as ‘people’s poet’ for his simple style and optimistic tone of writing. The poem ‘Have You Earned Your Tomorrow’ is an inspirational poem.

          The poet is concerned about the readers. He asks them if they have done anything to improve the life of the other people. We are responsible for our good days and bad days.

          The poem is divided into four stanzas of quatrains. The first line rhymes with the second line and the third with the fourth in each stanza. He has used the consistent rhyme scheme throughout the poem.  The first two lines of the first stanza are rhymed with last two lines of the second and the fourth stanzas. The poet raised questions in the poem. There are eleven questions in the poem. It shows the unique style of the poem. Alliteration and interrogation are the poetic devices in the poem.

The poem has the underlying message that it is up to us whether we will have a better future or not. Therefore, we should consider our actions and deeds carefully and plan accordingly for a better future.