The Blind Boy
- Colley Cibber
About the Poet:
Colley Cibber (1671–1757) was a noted English dramatist, actor and poet. He wrote twenty-five plays and a number of poems.
কলি সিবার (১৬৭১-১৭৫৭) একজন প্রখ্যাত ইংরেজী নাট্যকার, অভিনেতা এবং কবি ছিলেন। তিনি পঁচিশটি নাটক এবং বেশ কয়েকটি কবিতা লিখেছিলেন।
Stanza 1
The speaker in the poem is blind boy himself. He asks the others to help him understand what is “Light” which he has often heard other saying. It is something which he can never enjoy. Nor all those blessings which light has.
Stanza 2
In stanza 2, the blind says that people often “talk of wondrous things” which they see with their eyes. The people often say that “the sun shines bright”. However he can only feel it (which is warm). But he wonders how a sun can “make it day or night. The lines are quite profound and express a blind person’s unfamiliarity with the day and dark as everything is dark for him.
Stanza 3
The blind boy says that unlike others, he himself makes his day as well as night. When he sleeps, it is night for him and whenever he awakes and plays, it becomes his day. The day never goes away until he keeps awake or playing.
In these lines for the first time, the blind boy seems to be proud of his blindness rather than sorry for his condition.
Stanza 4
The blind boy says that he feels quite sorrowful and grieved when he listens to the cries of others for his miserable condition (It is through their mourns, he comes to know that he is miserable).
According to him, he has patience and hence will be able to bear a loss (of his eyesight) which he can never imagine or experience as he has never seen light or the world.
Stanza 5
In the final stanza, the blind boy requests others not to destroy his happiness by taking and mourning about something which he can never have (i.e. eyesight). He asks them to let him sing that he is a king of his little dark world though in reality he just “a poor blind boy”.
Let's read:
O say, what is that thing called light,
ও বল, আলো নামের ঐ জিনিসটা কি,
Which I can ne'er enjoy?
যেটি আমি কখন উপভোগ করতে পারি না?
What is the blessing of the sight?
দৃষ্টির আশীর্বাদ কী?
O tell your poor blind boy!
হে তোমার দরিদ্র অন্ধ ছেলেকে বল!
You talk of wondrous things you see,
তুমি যে বিস্ময়কর জিনিসগুলি দেখ সে সম্পর্কে কথা বল
You say the sun shines bright;
তুমি বল সূর্য উজ্জ্বল কিরণ দেয়;
I feel him warm, but how can he
আমি তাকে উষ্ণ বোধ করি, তবে সে কীভাবে পারে
Then make it day or night?
তাহলে দিন অথবা রাত বানায়?
My day or night myself I make
আমার দিন বা রাত আমি নিজেই তৈরি করি
Whene'er I sleep or play;
আমি যখন ঘুমাই অথবা খেলি;
And could I ever keep awake
এবং আমি কি কখনও জেগে থাকতে পারি
With me 'twere always day.
আমার সাথে সর্বদা দিন দিন।
With heavy sighs I often hear
ভারী দীর্ঘশ্বাস নিয়ে আমি প্রায়শই শুনি
You mourn my hapless woe;
তুমি আমার অসহায় দুঃখে শোক কর;
But sure with patience I can bear
তবে অবশ্যই ধৈর্য সঙ্গে আমি সহ্য করতে পারি
A loss I ne'er know.
একটি ক্ষতি আমি জানতেই পারি নি।
Then let not what I cannot have
তাহলে আমার যা নেই তা যেন না ঘটে
My cheer of mind destroy;
আমার মনের প্রফুল্লতা ধ্বংস;
Whilst thus I sing, I am a king,
যদিও আমি এইভাবে গান করি, আমি একজন রাজা,
Although a poor blind boy.
যদিও দরিদ্র অন্ধ ছেলে।
Textual Question and Answer:
Activity 1
Tick in the correct alternative:
(a) In the poem, 'I' refers to
(i) the blind boy
(ii) the sun
(iii) the light
(b) The blind boy cannot enjoy the blessings of
(i) taste
(ii) sight
(iii) speech
(c) The blind boy identifies the sun by its
(i) shape
(ii) light
(iii) warmth
(d) The boy is
(i) happy
(ii) sad
(iii) angry
Activity 2
Complete the following sentences with information from the text:
(a) The poor blind boy wants to know what light is.
(b) The blind boy feels the difference between day and night by feeling warmth.
(c) The boy often hears mournings about a loss he ne'er knows.
(d) The boy does not want his cheer to be destroyed.
Activity 4
Fill in the chart with information from the text. One is done for you:
Blind person | Person with vision |
(a) twenty four hours of night | twenty four hours of day and night |
(b) feels its warmth | sees the sun and feels its warmth |
(c) anytime plays or sleeps | plays during day and sleeps at night |
(d) doesn't realize the loss of sight | realize the loss of sight |
Activity 6 (a)
Fill in the blanks with suitable articles or prepositions:
There was once a little girl who lived in the middle of a deep, dark forest with her parents.
Activity 7 (a)
Add a suitable prefix or suffix to each of the words given in brackets and fill in the blanks accordingly:
(i) My mother spent many sleepless (sleep) nights when I was unwell.
(ii) I was impatient (patient) to know the result of my examination
(iii) It was an enjoyable (enjoy) moment.
(iv) The brightness (bright) of the day made me happy.
Activity 7(b)
Write the antonyms of the following words:
(i) poor - rich
(ii) warm - cool
(iii) awake - asleep
(iv) destroy – create
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