Your Space (Poem)

Unit 3: Your Space

Poem: Speak Gently

Warm Up

Look at the pictures given below. Fill in the blanks according to the cues given.

Situation	With your head master	With your parents
Formal / Informal	Formal / Informal	Formal / Informal
Conversation	Conversation	Conversation
Your own sentences ___ _____ ________	Your own sentences ___ _____ ________	Your own sentences ___ _____ ________

Poem: Speak Gently

by David Bates

Speak gently! – It is better far
To rule by love, than fear
Speak gently – let not harsh words mar
The good we might do here!

Speak gently! – Love doth whisper low
The vows that true hearts bind;
And gently Friendship’s accents flow;
Affection’s voice is kind.

Speak gently to the little child!
Its love be sure to gain;
Teach it in accents soft and mild:-
It may not long remain.

Speak gently to the young, for they
Will have enough to bear –
Pass through this life as best they may,
‘T is full of anxious care!

Speak gently to the aged one,
Grieve not the care-worn heart;
The sands of life are nearly run,
Let such in peace depart!

Speak gently, kindly, to the poor;
Let no harsh tone be heard;
They have enough they must endure,
Without an unkind word!

Speak gently to the erring – know,
They may have toiled in vain;
Perchance unkindness made them so;
Oh, win them back again!

Speak gently! – He who gave his life
To bend man’s stubborn will,
When elements were in fierce strife,
Said to them, ‘Peace, be still.’

Speak gently! – ’tis a little thing
Dropped in the heart’s deep well;
The good, the joy, which it may bring,
Eternity shall tell.

Glossary

Word	Meaning
harsh	rough
doth	does
whisper low	voice
accents	emphasise
anxious	feeling worried or showing worry
grieve	be sorrowful
depart	leave / go
endure	suffer patiently
toiled	worked hard
vain	producing no results
stubborn	one refusing to change one’s opinion
strife	disagreement
eternity	endless, no end

Read and Understand

A. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

1. Why should we speak gently?
2. What do you infer about speaking with others from this poem?
3. What are the disadvantages of speaking harshly?
4. Why does the poet tell us to speak gently to young children?
5. How should you speak with old people?

B. Read the poem and fill in the blanks with the correct option.

soft vain fear joy love heard toiled mild good sand life harsh

1. It is better far to rule by _____, than _____.
2. Teach it in accents _____ and _____.
3. Let no _____ tone be _____.
4. They may have _____ in _____.
5. The _____, the _____, which it may bring.
6. The _____ of _____ are nearly run.

C. Pick out the words which rhyme with the given words and write similar rhyming words on your own.

1. far – _____ – _____
2. fear – _____ – _____
3. low – _____ – _____
4. kind – _____ – _____
5. remain – _____ – _____
6. they – _____ – _____

Rhyme Scheme

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. We can find it with the help of rhyming words.

Example:
- do and go, lost and post look as if they are rhyming but they aren’t.
- Sometimes the letters will not be same at the end but they rhyme:
- poor – endure
- know – so
- bear – care

In a verse we mark the words that rhyme with the same letter, using a new letter for each set of rhymes. If there is a regular pattern to the rhymes it forms the rhyming scheme.

Example:

Lines from the poem	Rhyme scheme
Speak gently to the little child!	a
Its love be sure to gain	b
Teach it in accents soft and mild	a
It may not long remain	b

So the rhyme scheme is abab.

Exercise

D. Take a stanza from the poem. Write it in the blanks and find the rhyme scheme.

Lines from the poem	Rhyme scheme (a/b/c/d)

Practice Practice Exercises

Situation: Formal InFormal

Conversation: Formal InFormal

Your own sentences

Situation: Formal InFormal

1. Why should we speak gently?

2. What do you infer about speaking with others from this poem?

3. What are the disadvantages of speaking harshly?

4. Why does the poet tell us to speak gently to young children?

5. How should you speak with old people?

1. It is better far to rule by than .

2. Teach it in accents and

3. Let no tone be .

4. They may have in .

5. The , the , which it may bring.

6. The of are nearly run.