Table of Contents
Introduction:
The poem The Flower School was written by Rabindranath Tagore. The poem was published in the collection named “The Crescent Moon” in 1913. It was a part of twelve books translated by Tagore.The poem is about a child describing the nature.
About the Poet:
Rabindranath Tagore was a poet, writer, playwright, social reformer and educationist. Tagore was the first Indian to win the Nobel prize for his English translation Offerings in 1913. He gave importance to idea of schooling in an open environment. Even in this poem, the poet talks about the schooling system.
Form:
The poet Rabindranath Tagore has written the poem “The Flower School” in the form of free verse. It is a lyric poem.The poem consists of ten lines in total. It does not follow a rhyme scheme or meter.
Point of view:
The poet Rabindranath Tagore has writen the poem “The Flower School” from the perspective of a child.
Poem Analysis:
Lines 1-3:
When storm clouds rumble in the sky and June showers come down, The moist east wind comes marching over the heath to blow its bagpipes among the bamboos. Then crowds of flowers come out of a sudden, from nobody knows where, and dance upon the grass in wild glee.
The poem is written from the point of view of a child. The speaker in the very first line describes the rumbling sound of the storm clouds in the sky. The sound occurs in the month of June before the start of rain. During the south east monsoon, the wind starts to march over the uncultivated land and passes through the bamboo trees. When the wind passes through the bamboo trees it makes a hollow sound. This sound is compared to that of the bagpipes. This sound gives a wild call to the flowers. Hearing this music the flowers comes out and dance for the music.
Lines 4-5:
Mother, I really think the flowers go to school underground. They do their lessons with doors shut, and if they want to come out to play before it is time, their master makes them stand in a corner.
In these lines, the readers get to know that the child is conversing with her mother. So, the speaker says that she thinks the flowers are going to school underground. The speaker says that the flowers are attending the classes underground. Without the permission of the master they cannot leave the class. If they leave, they will get punished by the master. Here, the child is comparing her school experience to the flowers.
Lines 6-7:
When the rains come they have their holidays. Branches clash together in the forest, and the leaves rustle in the wild wind, the thunder-clouds clap their giant hands and the flower children rush out in dresses of pink and yellow and white.
The speaker says, similar to the holidays children get during the rainy season, she feels that the flowers also get holidays when it rains. The speaker talks about how the branches clash in the forest. It is followed by the leaves rustling in the wild forest. When the thunder starts to clap their hands, the flower children leave the school rushing out in the dresses of pink, yellow and white.
Lines 8-10:
Do you know, mother, their home is in the sky, where the stars are. Haven't you seen how eager they are to get there? Don't you know why they are in such a hurry? Of course, I can guess to whom they raise their arms: they have their mother as I have my own.
Now, the child speaker is asking her mother a question. She asks whether the mother knows where the flowers live. The child answers that the flowers have their home in the sky, among the group of stars. The child speaker imagines and says that the flowers are rushing to reach their homes. They always look upwards towards the sky. The speaker says this is because the flowers are raising their arms towards the sky and looking upwards to have a hug from their mother. The speaker is comparing her love towards mother to that of the flowers.
