Harvest Hymn: NCERT Class 8 English Poem (Poorvi)

etmantra3 Nov 20267 min read

At harvest time, villages across India sing songs of thanks. In this poem by Sarojini Naidu, farmers raise their voices to thank the Sun, the rain, the Earth and the Creator for the crops they have grown. Students enjoy its musical, repeating lines and learn how old words like thou, thee and thine work.

Open now: the CALP Class 8 English course (Poorvi)
Every chapter of Poorvi, NCERT’s new Class 8 book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, listening, grammar, speaking and writing with feedback. ₹1,599 for the whole year, and “Start here” and the first chapter’s notes are free to try.
See the free lessons and enrol →

From NCERT’s new English book Poorvi for Class 8, unit “Environment”. Unit 4.

What your child learns

Rich words of praise: munificent, beneficent, bounty, tribute, radiance, succour
Archaic words and what they mean today: thou, thee, thy, thine, art, morrow, yonder
Poetic devices in the hymn: personification, imagery, metaphor, alliteration and repetition
Saying words with silent letters (hymn, autumn, climb, comb) and writing a creative slogan

What the poem is about

Harvest Hymn is a song of praise sung by the people of a farming village after the harvest. It is written as voices: the men sing the first two stanzas, the women sing the third, and everyone sings the last one together. The men thank Surya, the Sun, whose warm light ripened their crops, and Varuna, the god of rain, whose rain and dew watered their fields. The women thank Prithvi, the Earth, as a loving mother who feeds everyone and from whom all their riches grow. In the last stanza, all the voices praise Bramha, the Lord of the Universe, as both the beginning and the end of every harvest, and offer him their lives and their work.

In every stanza the people bring something as an offering: songs, thanks, love, and finally their lives and labour, along with garlands and the crops of their fields. Each stanza ends with music, as they praise with cymbal and flute, pipe, drum and prayer. The feeling of the poem is joyful and full of gratitude. Its message is that our food comes from nature and from the Creator, and that farmers' hard work and nature's gifts deserve our respect and thanks.

New words, with Hindi meanings

hymn: a song of praise, usually to God (हिंदी: भजन, स्तुति-गीत)
munificent: very generous; giving a lot (हिंदी: उदार, दानी)
beneficent: kind and doing good for others (हिंदी: कृपालु, परोपकारी)
bounty: a generous gift, especially of crops and food (हिंदी: देन, भरपूर उपज)
tribute: something given or done to show respect and thanks (हिंदी: भेंट, श्रद्धांजलि)
radiance: a warm, bright glow of light (हिंदी: चमक, तेज)
furrows: long, narrow lines cut in the soil by a plough (हिंदी: कूँड़, हल की लकीरें)
omnipotent: having all power; able to do everything (हिंदी: सर्वशक्तिमान)
ineffable: too great to be described in words (हिंदी: अवर्णनीय)
succour: help given in a time of need (हिंदी: सहायता, सहारा)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

Whom do the men praise in the first two stanzas, and why?
Why do the women call the Earth a mother?
What do the people offer as a tribute in the last stanza, and what do they ask for?
Why has the poet written the poem as men's voices, women's voices and all voices?
Is there a harvest festival in your region? When is it celebrated and how?

Answers for parents

They praise Surya, the Sun, for the bright, warm light that helped their sowing and ripened their corn, and Varuna, the god of rain, for the rain and dew that watered their furrows and helped their grain grow.
The Earth feeds everyone, like a mother feeds her children, and all the crops and riches of the farmers are born from her soil. So the women see her as a loving, powerful mother.
They offer their lives and their labours, that is, all their hard work. In return they ask the Lord for his help, his wise advice and his care.
It shows that the whole village, men and women together, takes part in thanking nature and God. The voices make the poem sound like a real song sung at a harvest celebration, ending with everyone singing as one.
For example: In Punjab we celebrate Baisakhi in April, when the wheat is ready. People wear new clothes, dance the bhangra, visit the gurdwara and share sweets and a big meal with family and neighbours.

Grammar corner: Archaic words: thou, thee, thy, thine and art

Archaic words are old words that are no longer used in everyday English, but we still find them in old poems, prayers and hymns. 'Thou' means you as the subject, 'thee' means you as the object, 'thy' means your, 'thine' means yours, and 'art' means are (used with thou). Changing them into modern words helps us understand old poems easily.

Thou art kind to the farmers. (You are kind to the farmers.)
We thank thee for the rain. (We thank you for the rain.)
Thy fields are golden, and the harvest is thine. (Your fields are golden, and the harvest is yours.)

Practice at home

Change into modern English: Thou art my teacher, and I respect thee.
Choose the right word: The ___ (munificent / ineffable) farmer gave sacks of rice to the poor families of the village.
Say these words aloud and find the silent letter in each: autumn, climb, hymn, comb.

Answers: 1. You are my teacher, and I respect you. · 2. munificent (it means very generous) · 3. autumn and hymn: the n is silent; climb and comb: the b is silent.

Try this

Make a 'thank-you chain' at home. Sit together and take turns naming one gift of nature that gives us our food, such as sunlight, rain, soil or seeds, and say one sentence of thanks for it, like the poem does: 'We thank you, Sun, for ripening the wheat.' For extra fun, say the same sentence in old English: 'We thank thee, O Sun.' Then ask an elder at home to teach you a song sung at a harvest festival in your region.

Tip for parents

Read one stanza in English and then say its idea in Hindi, for example: सूर्य देव, आपकी रोशनी से हमारी फसल पकी, हम आपको धन्यवाद देते हैं. Ask your child which god or part of nature the stanza thanks, and let them answer in Hindi, English or a mix. Connect the poem to a harvest festival your family celebrates, such as Lohri, Pongal, Makar Sankranti or Bihu, and praise your child for every English sentence they try.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem Harvest Hymn about?

It is a song of thanks sung by village people after the harvest. The men praise Surya (the Sun) and Varuna (the rain), the women praise Prithvi (the Earth), and all the voices together praise Bramha, the Lord of the Universe, offering their songs, garlands, crops and labour.

Who wrote Harvest Hymn?

Harvest Hymn was written by Sarojini Naidu. Its musical, repeating lines make it sound like a song sung by the whole village together.

Is Harvest Hymn in the new NCERT book?

Yes. It is Chapter 11 of Poorvi, NCERT's new English book for Class 8, in Unit 4 (Environment).

Learn every Class 8 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Poorvi, NCERT’s new Class 8 book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, listening, grammar, speaking and writing with feedback. ₹1,599 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →