wandering singers of poet

Wandering Singers by Sarojini Naidu – Summary, Analysis and Questions and Answers

Table of Contents

Central Idea Of The Poem

The poem is about the wandering singers who engage their entire life in singing for others pleasure and never minds about his pleasure. The poet Sarojini Naidu is a great poet to paint the life of wandering singers in poetic words.

The poem “Wandering Singers” by Sarojini Naidu is about the band of folk singers wandering through their singing from town to town and from village to village to spread the message of love. They play the lute; as they wander from place to place, they play a musical instrument. The wind’s voice symbolises the welcoming tone of the song echoing through the streets and forests. All mankind, to the wandering singers, is like their extended family and their home is the world.

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The theme of the songs they sing goes back to ancient battle stories or ancient kings. They also have songs about women’s beauty and about things happy and sad. The wandering singers do not have their own dreams or hopes; they go wherever the wind calls them. No love can make them go slow, or they cannot be asked to wait with no joy. The wind’s voice is the voice of their lives and their destiny as well.

About the poet

Sarojini Naidu was an Indian political activist and poet. She was an important figure in India’s struggle for independence from colonial rule. Naidu’s work as a poet earned her the sobriquet Nightingale of India.

1. lutes – a lute is a kind of musical instrument with strings

2. kindred – family or relatives

3. lays – (old usage) songs

4. cities whose lustre is shed – cities which were once great and famous, but not anymore

They count the world as their home and all the people around their innate family and their relatives. They hold lutes in their hands, and they always sing about the city sheen and the past.

Their songs radiate the laughter and beauty of the women of the past, the legends of the sword and the old battles, and the crowns of the old kings.

Analysis of Wandering Singers

Wandering Singers is a lyric developed in three stanzas of four aa, bb, cc, ddd, ee, ff. In the first stanza wandering singers sing the song. The voice of the wind calls the wandering feet of singers through echoing forest and street with lutes in hands and singing the songs. All men are their relatives and the whole world is their home.

They sing about the cities lustre who is lost, laughter and beauty of woman who is dead, sword of old battles and crowns of old kings. They just depend upon their fate. There is no love that compares them to sit in a particular place and no joy can allow them to wait. The voice of wind is the voice of their fate.

‘Wandering Singers’ is a lyric song, in the very tune of the songs of the wandering singers in India. The main theme of the poem is philosophical attitude towards death, life, birth, love, sorrow, passion. The wandering singers sing of past and present and its glory and greatness. The ‘Wandering Singers’ sing about the community life, who wander from one place to another place like wind.

They always keep on singing and wandering ‘walls’ with their musical instruments in their hands, i.e. national, provincial, racial, caste, etc. biases do not separate them from their fellowmen. They regard all men as their brothers and the whole world as their home. In their outlook, they are cosmopolitan. They are believers in the unity of all men. They are world brotherhood voters. They are votaries of world brotherhood.

Their themes can be appreciated by all. They sing of cities which have lost the glory which they once enjoyed, for example, cities like Chittor or Golconda. They sing of women who have been dead for a long time, such as Jhansi ki Rani or Zeb-ul Nissa. They sing of battles which were fought in the past and of kings and warriors who fought those battles. They are these repositories of custom and tradition who keep alive a local and traditional legend and communicate it to the people. They thus perform a very useful social function, for it is they who make the common men conscious of their cultural heritage, of the glory and greatness of their past. Through their songs, they assert the cultural and historical continuity of the legacy of the past. Their themes are simple; sometimes they are happy and at other times sorrowful.

The wandering singers have no dream of the future and they have nothing to hope for in this respect they are like Shelley’s skylark which does not ‘look before and after and pine for what is not.’ Just as the skylark keeps on flying higher and higher, so also they wander on and on without any hopes and dreams. They live entirely in the present without any regrets for the past or hopes for the future. The urge to wander is strong in them and they are more along in obedience to the call of the wind. They have no objects of love relation, friends, wives etc. Hence, they do not stop but wander along singing continuously like so many singing birds. They follow only the path of wind. The society of the wandering singers is an absolutely free society, as free as is possible under the limitations imposed on us by our human condition.

In the ‘face of modernity’, Naidu affirms the Indian identity through wandering singers. Wandering singers belong to the cultural heritage of India and Naidu is not ready to lose this Indian tradition under the threat of modernity.

The poem rightly reveals the search for cultural identity of the Indians. It gives expression to the distinct Indian folk personality, in order to reintegrate the Indians with their rich cultural heritage.

A. Answer these questions

1. What is the song Wandering Singers about? Ans. The song is about a band of folk singers who wander from city to city and from village to village to spread the message of love through their singing. They play the lute; as they roam from place to place, they are a musical instrument.

2. Do the singers stay at one place or do they wander about? What determines where they go? Ans. They wander about from one place to the other. The call of the wind determines where they go.

3. What do the singers sing about? Ans. The Wandering Singers’ song is about tales of ancient battles or of ancient kings. They also have songs about women’s beauty as well as happy and sad things. All mankind is like their extended family and their home is the world.

4. How do the singers sing? Ans. The singers sing songs with lutes in their hands and travelling from place to place.

5. Are the singers homeless travellers? Why do you think so? Ans. No, the singers are not homeless. They think that the world is their home and people are their brothers and sisters.

6. What do the singers sing about? Ans. They sing about the stories of the cities whose beauty has long passed away; the women’s happiness and beauty that was robbed either by the wars or by the time. They sing about ancient battles as well or about old kings. They have songs about life’s simple, happy and sad things, too.

7. What has happened to the cities? Ans. It has been ravished by wars, famine etc., so, the beauty has gone.

8. What does, “The laughter and beauty of women long-dead” mean? Ans. The laughter and beauty have died because of wars or because of famine.

9. What songs do the singers sing of the sword of old battles? Ans. They sing about the brave warriors who fought bravely with the sword.

10.Why do the singers feel nostalgic of the crown of old kings? Ans. They feel nostalgic because, during the kings’ period, these singers used to get rewards which made them lead a comfortable life.

Reference to context

1. “What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow?” Explain these lines. Ans: The poet tells us that because of their wandering nature, wandering singers can not have any hope or dream of a bright future.

B. Extra Questions and Answers

Q.1. Which line tells us that the singers sing as they travel?

Ans. ‘with lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam’

Q.2. The wandering singers have no permanent homes and families. Do they show any sadness about it? Or do they have a different notion of family and home?

Ans. Although the wandering singers do not have any permanent home or family, they do not show any sadness about it. In the line ‘All men are kindred, the world is our home,’ the wandering singers tell us that they consider everyone their family and the whole world their home. So they feel a bond with everyone and at home anywhere and everywhere.

Q.3. What do the wandering singers sing about? What might their listeners get from their songs in terms of –

(a) Knowledge (b) Mood?

Ans. The wandering singers sing about cities which were once great and famous, about the laughter and beauty of women who died long ago, old battles and kings of past, happy, simple and sad things.

(a) In terms of knowledge, listeners can learn something of history and folklore from the wandering singers ‘songs, as they sing of cities, battles, women and kings from the past.

(b) In terms of mood, the listeners can feel fascination, curiosity, admiration, sadness and excitement as they hear about cities that used to be grand, women who were happy and beautiful, battles that were bravely fought and kings who were great, but none of whom exist anymore.

Q.4. Why do the wandering singers not wait anywhere? Why do they keep travelling?

Ans. The wandering singers do not wait anywhere because no close ties or loving relationships make them stay at any particular place. Their happiness is not associated with a particular place where they might want to wait. Instead, the wind as it moves freely from one place to another, calling out to them to travel to one place one day and another place the next day. Their destinations keep changing, like the wind. So they keep moving from one place to another.

Appreciating the poem

Q.1. Why do you think the speaker uses, the words, ‘wander’ and ‘roam’ and not ‘march’?

Ans. The words ‘wander’ and ‘roam’ mean walk or move in a relaxed, unhurried manner, with no fixed purpose. The words ‘march’ and ‘stride’ mean to walk quickly with a purpose in a specific direction. The first two words have been used instead of the others because the wandering singers are never in a hurry, they have no fixed destination or place to reach. They move in a relaxed pace, going wherever they feel like going, free to change direction as often as the wind.

Q. 2. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Ans. The rhyme scheme of this poem is aa bb cc dd ee ff.

Q. Write a summary of Wandering Singers .

The Wandering Singers have no fixed abode. They are forever on the road, led to ever new places by the voice of the wind. Whether they are travelling through streets or forests, the places echo with their songs. These songs have many themes: cities that were once glorious but no more; happy and beautiful women who died a long time ago; old battles and old kings. As can be seen, all these themes have something pleasant-beauty, happiness, glory or bravery- and something sad about them- they belong to the past.

The wandering singers have no family and no home, but they consider everyone their family and the whole world their home. They do not dream and plan the way other people do, for their lives do not follow a fixed, regular pattern, their destiny is as changeable as the changing direction of the wind. They are not held back by love or happiness, yet they love their wandering lifestyle and are happy to keep travelling forever.

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Wandering Singers

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Table of Contents

Introduction

The poem Wandering Singers by Sarojini Naidu is about a group of people who keep wandering from villages to towns and from towns to forests. While on the way, they keep singing.

According to the poet, these wandering singers do not have any hopes or desires. They go where the wind goes. In other words, they seem to either nomads or some nature lovers who are Romantic and do not have any love for materialistic things. Instead, they love following the nature.

In the first stanza, the wandering singers say that they roam where the voice of the wind calls their feet . The word wind is symbolic here. It perhaps refer to changing seasons or even the changing times. Calling the wandering feet means asking them to accompany it (the wind). In other words, they wander wherever the wind goes.

The wandering singers travel through the echoing forest and the echoing street with lutes in their hands and always keep singing . Here, echoing forest mean the villages which are full of hustle and bustle. Similarly, echoing street refers to the cities which are again full of life.

According to the wandering singer, all the humans on earth are their family and the whole world is their home. In other words, they do not have a family of their own or even a home. They rather consider themselves to be the citizen of the world.

In this stanza, the wandering singers tell us what they exactly sing about. According to them, their lays (songs) are of cities whose lustre i.e. glory is shed i.e. gone. They also sing of laughter and beauty (i.e. cheerful life) of women who died long ago.

They sing of sword of old battles (i.e. wars and battles) and also the crown of the old kings (i.e. kings, their rule and their time). And also, they sing of happy (joyful), simple and even sorrowful things which means they sing of past as well as of present. They sing of those who are gone long ago and also of the present.

The wandering singers then raise a rhetorical question. They wonder what hope and dreams they should have. Hope and dreams are for those who think of achieving something (worldly things). But they (wandering singers) do not have any desire. Hence they do not have dreams.

They go wherever the wind goes. No love bids them tarry i.e. the love never leaves them. They always feel loved by the nature. And no joy bids them wait i.e. the joy never makes them for it. They always enjoy because the voice of the wind is the voice of their fate i.e. the fate of the wind is their fate as well.

Read important questions and answers of this poem.

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Analysis of Wandering Singers

Sarojini naidu 1879 (hyderabad) – 1949 (lucknow).

WHERE the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet, Through echoing forest and echoing street, With lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam, All men are our kindred, the world is our home. Our lays are of cities whose lustre is shed, The laughter and beauty of women long dead; The sword of old battles, the crown of old kings, And happy and simple and sorrowful things. What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow? Where the wind calls our wandering footsteps we go. No love bids us tarry, no joy bids us wait: The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate.

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu, born as Sarojini Chattopadhyay also known by the sobriquet as The Nightingale of India, was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist and poet. Naidu served as the first governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1947 to 1949; the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state. She was the second woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress in 1925 and the first Indian woman to do so.  more…

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Where the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet, Through echoing forest and echoing street, With lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam, All men are our kindred, the world is our home.

Our lays are of cities whose lustre is shed, The laughter and beauty of women long dead; The sword of old battles, the crown of old kings, And happy and simple and sorrowful things.

What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow? Where the wind calls our wandering footsteps we go. No love bids us tarry, no joy bids us wait: The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate.

– Sarojini Naidu

– Sarojini Naidu Poems

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• Song Of A Dream
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Exclusive children’s edutainment magazine, wandering singers – by sarojini naidu.

Where the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet, Through echoing forest and echoing street, With lutes in our hands ever-singing, we roam, All men are our kindred, the world is our home. Our lays are of cities whose lustre is shed, The laughter and beauty of women long dead; The sword of old battles, the crown of old kings, And happy and simple and sorrowful things. What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow? Where the wind calls our wandering footsteps we go. No love bids us tarry, no joy bids us wait: The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate.

Sarojini Naidu, the poet, freedom fighter and patriot was also known by the sobriquet The Nightingale of India. She was a sensitive poet and wrote poetry based on the beauty of simple joys and sorrows of life. Her poetry included children’s poems, nature poems, poems on love and death etc. Sarojini Naidu is a poet of Indian thought and culture and her poems described Indian flora and fauna, Indian customs and traditions, festivals, men, and women, places legends of kings and queens etc.

The poem “Wandering Singers” by Sarojini Naidu is about a band of folk singers who wander from town to town and from village to village to spread the message of love through their singing. They play the flute; a musical instrument as they roam from place to place. The voice of the wind symbolizes the welcoming tone of the song that echoes through the forests and streets. To the wandering singers, all mankind are like their extended family and the world is their home. The theme of the songs that they sing goes back to stories of ancient battles or of old kings. They also have songs about the beauty of women and about happy and sad things.

The wandering singers have no dreams or hopes of their own; they go wherever the wind calls them. No love can make them go slow or no joy can make them wait. The voice of the wind is the voice of their life and also their destiny.

Courtesy: Beaming Notes, Cultural India

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Sarojini Naidu | Wandering Singers | An Analytical Study

Sarojini Naidu’s Poem ‘Wandering Singers’-An Analytical Study

The poem “Wandering Singers” by Sarojini Naidu portrays a group of wandering singers who travel freely wherever the wind calls them.

The main theme of the poem is the nomadic nature of the wandering singers and their connection to the world around them. The poem celebrates their itinerant lifestyle, emphasizing their sense of belonging to a larger human family. It also highlights the transient nature of life and the acceptance of fate.

The poem mentions the subjects of their songs, which include cities that have lost their former splendor, the beauty of women from the past, the glory of ancient battles, the crowns of kings, and a mix of happy, simple, and sorrowful things. This imagery suggests that the singers draw inspiration from a wide range of experiences and emotions.

The wandering singers are portrayed as free spirits who don’t stay in one place. They are driven by the voice of the wind, and no love or joy compels them to stay or wait. The wind’s voice is presented as their fate, guiding their footsteps and shaping their journeys.

The poet uses vivid and evocative language to convey the essence of the wandering singers’ existence. The wind is personified as it calls out to their wandering feet, leading them through forests and streets. The singers carry lutes and sing as they roam, considering all people as their kindred and the world as their home.

To say in brief, “Wandering Singers” celebrates the nomadic life of the singers and their connection to humanity. The poem explores the idea of embracing fate and finding inspiration in a variety of experiences. It encourages a sense of openness to the world and the ever-changing path that lies ahead. 0 0 0 .

Sarojini Naidu Wandering Singers An Analytical Study

N.B. The article ‘Sarojini Naidu Wandering Singers An Analytical Study’ originally belongs to the book ‘ Analytical Studies of Selected Poems of Sarojini Naidu ‘ by Menonim Menonimus.

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Wow it is very useful

it was really amazing and it was very usefull

really useful !!!!!!!!!

Nice summary but you should have included the rhyme scheme also.

Really help me to understand the poet. Thanks

?This is very very useful for me in my final exam

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Wandering Singers by Sarojini Naidu

Wandering Singers are but in reality the singers of the lore of love; the cultural ambassadors moving from place to place, spreading the message of love, bonding and affection.

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Wandering Singers

By sarojini naidu.

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WHERE the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet, Through echoing forest and echoing street, With lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam, All men are our kindred, the world is our home. Our lays are of cities whose lustre is shed, The laughter and beauty of women long dead; The sword of old battles, the crown of old kings, And happy and simple and sorrowful things. What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow? Where the wind calls our wandering footsteps we go. No love bids us tarry, no joy bids us wait: The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate.

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6. Explanation of the poem

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Build your english conversation skills by talking with sarojini naidu about their works, their lives and anything else you wish, download the app now, back questions - wandering singers | wings of poesy | literature | english | class 7, the singers have ________________ in their hands. a. flutes b. lutes c. guitars d. trumpets.

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According to the poet, the world is the wandering singers’ ________________. a. home                                b. family                               c. house     d. relative

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The singers sing about happy, simple and ______________ things. a. Merry b. joyful c. sorrowful d. sad

The voice of the wind is the voice of the singers’ _______________. a. hope                                 b. love                                   c. sorrow                             d. fate

Where do the wandering singers roam? According to the poet, what calls their wandering feet?

What tales do the songs depict?

What does the poet mean by ‘echoing forest’ and ‘echoing street’?

Do the singers sing about stories that happened in the past? Explain using examples from the poem.

How do the singers decide their next destination?

Discuss what ‘wind’ stands for in the line. ‘The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate’.

‘With lutes in our hands ... world is our home.’

a. Who are the ‘we’ in the first line? b. What is the poet trying to say when she says, ‘All men are our kindred’? c. Can the whole world be one’s home? Why or why not?’

‘What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow?’

a. What does this line mean? b. Why does the poet ask these questions? c. What is the mood of the poet?

‘No love birds us tarry, no joy bids us wait: The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate.’

a. What does the first line mean? b. Why does the poet use the word ‘bids’? c. Is the poet complaining about feeling alone? Give reasons for your answer.

What kind of life do musicians have today? What do you think their life was like in earlier times?

Do you think the poem has a melancholic tone or a happy tone? Explain your answer using examples from the poem.

Music and lyrics have been used for various purposes. Songs have been used to spread awareness about issues, protest injustice and violence, propagate peace and equality and so on. If you had to sing a song for such a purpose, what would you sing about? What issue or quality would you wish to highlight in your song?

Find Synonyms for these words from the poem.

Find antonyms for these words from the poem.

Extra Questions - Wandering Singers | Wings of Poesy | Literature | English | Class 7

Where the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet, through echoing forest and echoing street, with lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam, all men are our kindred, the world is our home. a. explain, ‘all men are our kindred, the world is our home.’ b. what do they carry in their hand c. explain ‘echoing forest and echoing street.’.

a. "All men are our kindred, the world is our home" means that the wandering singers consider all people as their family, regardless of their background or origins. They see the entire world as their home, without any specific attachment to a particular place or community.

b. They carry lutes in their hands, a stringed musical instrument that they use to create their music as they roam around.

c. "Echoing forest and echoing street" refers to the natural and urban environments through which the wandering singers travel, highlighting that their journey is vast and covers various landscapes. The word "echoing" implies that their music resonates and is heard throughout the different locations they visit, spreading their songs and experiences with others.

Our lays are of cities whose lustre is shed, The laughter and beauty of women long dead, The sword of old battles, the crown of old kings, And happy and simple and sorrowful things.

a. Explain ‘Our lays are of cities whose lustre is shed’. b. What else did they sing?

Wandering Singers - Line by line explanation in Hindi | Wings of Poesy | Class 7 Literature | English

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Summary - Wandering Singers | Wings of Poesy | Class 7 Literature | English

"Wandering Singers" by Sarojini Naidu is a heartfelt ode to the wandering minstrels who travel the world without any fixed abode, driven by the call of the wind. This poem delves into the essence of wanderlust, human connections, and the ultimate fate of these nomadic souls.

The poem begins with the singers acknowledging the irresistible call of the wind as the force driving them through echoing forests and streets. With their lutes in hand, they perpetually sing while wandering, embracing the world as their home, and considering all of humanity as their kin. They constantly move, valuing the profound connections they make along the way and the experiences they share without needing to belong anywhere specific.

The singers' songs are infused with potent imagery drawn from bygone days. They sing of once-glittering cities, the beauty and laughter of long-deceased women, old battles swords, and ancient kings' crowns. Their music also touches upon relatable human emotions and experiences, from happiness to sorrow, evoking a timeless quality that listeners connect with.

The poem then enquires about the dreams and hopes that these wandering souls gather and sow throughout their journey. They go where the wind leads them, acknowledging that neither love nor joy can force them to stay in one place for long. The poet emphasizes that these wandering singers heed the voice of the wind as an external manifestation of their fate. It propels their endless journey and, in a broader sense, symbolizes the wanderlust that resides in the human heart.

In summary, "Wandering Singers" by Sarojini Naidu is a beautiful exploration of the nomadic spirit, inspired by the allure of wanderlust, human connections, and life's inherent unpredictability. The poem celebrates the resilience and determination of these souls who venture through life with open hearts, embracing fate and the voice of the wind to guide their paths.

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About the poet - wandering singers | wings of poesy | class 7 literature | english.

Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) was a prominent Indian poet, political activist, and freedom fighter. Born in Hyderabad, India, she was well-known for her exceptional intellect and prolific literary abilities from a young age. Naidu's work in poetry garnered her the moniker "The Nightingale of India," as her verses were characterized by their captivating lyricism, romantic themes, and expressive imagery.

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Themes - Wandering Singers | Wings of Poesy | Class 7 Literature | English

1. Wanderlust and Freedom:

In "Wandering Singers," the theme of wanderlust is explicitly portrayed through the depiction of the singers, who roam the world driven by the call of the wind. They have no permanent home, nor do they have any desire to be tethered to a single place. Their freedom to traverse the world symbolizes both the allure of the unknown and the unrestrained spirit of these...

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Symbols - Wandering Singers | Wings of Poesy | Class 7 Literature | English

In "Wandering Singers," Sarojini Naidu employs various symbols to convey deeper meanings and enhance the thematic elements of the poem. Some key symbols are:

1. The Wind: The wind represents both the driving force behind the singers' wanderlust and the embodiment of fate or destiny. By presenting the wind as the element that calls the wandering singers to their journey, Naidu emphasizes the transient....

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Poetic Devices - Wandering Singers | Wings of Poesy | Class 7 Literature | English

1. Imagery: The poem is filled with compelling images that help evoke the sensory experiences of the wandering singers and the various settings mentioned in their songs. For example, phrases like "echoing forest and echoing street" create a sense of the auditory landscape through which the singers move.

2. Repetition: Naidu uses repetition effectively, ....

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Vocabulary - Wandering Singers | Wings of Poesy | Class 7 Literature | English

Wandering : walking around or to a place slowly without any particular sense of direction or purpose I enjoy wandering around the new city without any specific destination in mind.

Lutes : musical string instruments that are played like the guitar used more in the past The minstrel entertained the court with a beautiful melody played on the lute.

Lays : (here) (old word songs that tell a story, narrative poems that are written to be sung The medieval tavern was...........................

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Wandering Singers

Sarojini naidu.

WHERE the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet, Through echoing forest and echoing street, With lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam, All men are our kindred, the world is our home. Our lays are of cities whose lustre is shed, The laughter and beauty of women long dead; The sword of old battles, the crown of old kings, And happy and simple and sorrowful things. What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow? Where the wind calls our wandering footsteps we go. No love bids us tarry, no joy bids us wait: The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate.

• Turn, O Libertad ( Walt Whitman )
• Not all the singers of a thousand years ( Lord Alfred Douglas )
• Singers to Come ( Alice Meynell )
• The Green Singer ( John Shaw Neilson )
• The Indications ( Walt Whitman )
• We Are Coming, Sister Mary ( Henry Clay Work )
• Romulus and Remus ( Rudyard Kipling )
• Oppression ( Langston Hughes )

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Just read "Wandering Singers" and wow, what a journey! The emotion behind every line really resonated with me. This poem speaks to the traveler in all of us, the longing for both the thrill of new experiences yet a connection to something familiar too. “The world is our home” is such a powerful phrase. Beautifully written!

LOVE THIS POEM BY SAROJINI NAIDU!!! REALLY RESONATES WITH MY WANDERLUST HEART. IT'S LIKE SHE'S PAINTING A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE WITH WORDS. SO POWERFUL AND DEEP. REALLY MAKES YOU THINK ABT THINGS DIFFERENTLY. KUDOS TO THE POET. LIFE IS A JOURNEY INDEED!

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Summary and Question Answers of Wandering Singers by Sarojini Naidu

Published by sirafzal72 on december 18, 2020 december 18, 2020, wandering singers by sarojini naidu.

The poem “Wandering Singers” by Sarojini Naidu is about a band of folk singers who wander from town to town and village to village to spread the message of love through their singing. The poem depicts the carefree life of contented wandering singers who have no interest in the material world. They sing and play the lute, a musical instrument, as they wander from place to place. The voice of the wind symbolises the warm tone of the song that echoes through the woods and the streets. To them, all mankind is like an extended family, and the world is their home. The wandering singers are living in harmony with everyone around them. They don’t have any personal attachments.

They believe in universal brotherhood and are therefore far above the frustrations and sorrows experienced in human relationships. The songs they sing are about the great battles they once fought, the kings and their conquests, the laughter and the beauty of women long gone. They talk about the simple pleasures and pains of life, too. The wandering singers have no hopes or dreams of their own; they go wherever their life leads them. There is no bond of love that can slow them down. They remain detached from the joys of life. The voice of the wind is the voice of their life and of their destiny. They accept life as a whole and are open to all that fate has offered them.

Questions and Answers

Q.1 Which line tells you that the singers sing as they travel?

Ans-Line which tells us that the singers sing as they travel is ‘With lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam’.

Q. 2 The wandering singers have no permanent homes and families. Do they show any sadness about it? Or do they have a different notion of family and home?

Ans. Although the wandering singers do not have any permanent home or family, they do not show any sadness about it. In the line ‘All men are our kindred, the world is our home’, the wandering singers tell us that they consider everyone their family and the whole world their home. So they feel a bond with everyone and at home anywhere and everywhere.

Q. 3 What do the wandering singers sing about? What might their listeners get from their songs in terms of –

a)knowledge b) mood

Ans The wandering singers sing about cities which were once great and famous, about the laughter and beauty of women who died long ago, old battles and kings and of different happy, simple and sad things.

a. In terms of knowledge, listeners can learn something of history and folklore from the

wandering singers’ songs, as they sing of cities, battles, women and kings from the past.

b. In terms of mood, the listeners can feel fascination, curiosity, admiration, sadness and excitement as they hear about cities that used to be grand, women who were happy and beautiful, battles that were bravely fought and kings who were great, but none of whom exist anymore.

Q. 4 Why do the wandering singers not wait anywhere? Why do they keep travelling?

Ans The wandering singers do not wait anywhere because no close ties or loving relationships make them stay on at a particular place. Their happiness is not associated with a particular place where they might want to wait. Instead, the wind, as it moves freely from one place to another, seems to call to the wandering singers to follow it. The sound of the wind feels like a voice to the singers, calling out to them to travel to one place one day and another place the next day. Their destinations keep changing, like the wind. So they keep moving from one place to another.

Saahithi Karanam · September 14, 2021 at 3:47 pm

Your presentation was awesome and thank you for the question and answers I rate this a 5 on 5

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Wandering Singers Questions & Answers

Hi Everyone!! This article will share Wandering Singers Questions & Answers. This poem is written by Sarojini Naidu. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of A Sea of Foliage , Homesickness , The Master Artist , Uncomfortable Bed and Maps Poem so, you can check these posts as well. I have also shared Wandering Singers Poem Summary so, make sure to check that post also.

Wandering Singers Questions & Answers

Question 1: the wandering singers have no permanent homes and families. do they show any sadness about it or do they have a different notion of family and home.

Answer: Although the wandering singers do not have any permanent home or family, they do not show any sadness about it. In the line ‘All men are kindred, the world is our home,’ the wandering singers tell us that they consider everyone their family and the whole world their home. So, they feel a bond with everyone and at home anywhere and everywhere.

Question 2: Which line tells us that the singers sing as they travel?

Answer: The line that tells us that the singers sing as they travel is ‘with lutes in our hands ever-singing we roam’.

Question 3: Why do the wandering singers not wait anywhere? Why do they keep traveling?

Answer: The wandering singers do not wait anywhere because no close ties or loving relationships make them stay on any particular place. Their happiness is not associated with a particular place where they might want to wait. Instead, the wind as it moves freely from one place to another, calling out to them to travel to one place one day and another place the next day. Their destinations keep changing, like the wind. So, they keep moving from one place to another.

Question 4: What do the wandering singers sing about? What might their listeners get from their songs in terms of – (a) Knowledge (b) Mood?

Answer: The wandering singers sing about cities which were once great and famous, about the laughter and beauty of women who died long ago, old battles and kings of past, happy, simple and sad things. (a) In terms of knowledge, listeners can learn something of history and folklore from the wandering singers ‘songs, as they sing of cities, battles, women and kings from the past. (b) In terms of mood, the listeners can feel fascination, curiosity, admiration, sadness and excitement as they hear about cities that used to be grand, women who were happy and beautiful, battles that were bravely fought and kings who were great, but none of whom exist anymore.

Question 5: Tell us the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Answer: The rhyme scheme of this poem is aa bb cc dd ee ff.

Question 6: Why do you think the speaker uses, the words, ‘wander’ and ‘roam’ and not ‘march’?

Answer: The words ‘wander’ and ‘roam’ mean walk or move in a relaxed, unhurried manner, with no fixed purpose. The words ‘march’ and ‘stride’ mean to walk quickly with a purpose in a specific direction. The first two words have been used instead of the others because the wandering singers are never in a hurry, they have no fixed destination or place to reach. They move in a relaxed pace, going wherever they feel like going, free to change direction as often as the wind.

Question 7: In what person has this poem been written? Why the poet did not use ‘I’ or ‘they’?

Answer: This poem is written in first person plural – ‘we’. The poet did not use ‘I’ because the poem is about a group of wandering singers – not any specific group, but any or all wandering singers. She does not use ‘they’ because she wants it to seem as if the wandering singers are speaking to the reader directly, telling the readers their own story in their own words rather than someone else talking about the singers.

Question 8: What do the following lines mean?

(a) all men are our kindred, the world is our home..

Answer:  All human-beings are like the extended family of the wandering singers and the world is their home.

(b) Where the voice of the wind calls our wandering feet.

Answer:  They go where the voice of the wind calls them.

(c) What hope shall we gather, what dreams shall we sow?

Answer:  Here the poetess tells us about their sadness related to their future. They do not stay at one place. So, they cannot gather hope and have dreams about their bright future.

(d) Our lays are of cities whose luster is shed.

Answer:  Their songs are about the cities whose glory has faded now.

(e) The voice of the wind is the voice of our fate.

Answer:  It means that the movements of wandering singers depend on the call of the wind. So, these were Wandering Singers Questions & Answers.

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