My Dear Soldiers: NCERT Class 7 English Poem (Poorvi)

etmantra3 Nov 20266 min read

While we sleep, soldiers stay awake on our borders, in snow, heat, deserts and seas. In this short poem, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam speaks to them directly, with pride and a prayer. Children learn to feel grateful for people who serve us at a risk to their own lives.

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From NCERT’s new English book Poorvi for Class 7, unit “Bravehearts”. Unit 5.

What your child learns

Words for land and weather: borders, deserts, marshes, valleys, scorching, sweltering
Collocations: words that go together, like 'scorching sun' and 'climbing the heights'
Poetic devices in the poem: imagery, simile, metaphor, repetition and alliteration
Reciting a poem with pauses, the right volume and a steady pace

What the poem is about

The poet speaks to the soldiers who defend the country's borders and calls them the great sons of the land (the book notes that this means all soldiers, men and women). He says they keep doing their duty while everyone else is asleep, in windy, snowy or burning hot weather. Like yogis, they walk across lonely open land, climb high mountains and cross valleys. They protect deserts and marshes, watch over the seas and keep the air safe.

The poet says the soldiers have given the best years of their youth to the nation, and that even the wind chimes of the land ring out their brave deeds. The poem ends with a prayer: we pray for these brave people and ask God to bless them all. The feeling of the poem is admiring, respectful, grateful and prayerful, and its theme is love for the country and sacrifice.

New words, with Hindi meanings

defenders: people who protect someone or something from attack (हिंदी: रक्षक)
deed: something a person does; here, the soldiers' duty (हिंदी: कर्तव्य, काम)
scorching: very hot, burning (हिंदी: चिलचिलाती)
sweltering: so hot that it makes you very uncomfortable (हिंदी: झुलसाने वाली)
treading: walking on something (हिंदी: चलते हुए)
expanses: wide, open areas of land (हिंदी: फैले हुए इलाक़े)
striding: walking with long, confident steps (हिंदी: लंबे डग भरते)
marshes: low, wet, muddy land (हिंदी: दलदल)
surveillance: keeping a close watch over a place (हिंदी: निगरानी)
feat: a brave or difficult thing done well (हिंदी: पराक्रम, बहादुरी)

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 is the poet speaking to in the poem?
In what kinds of weather and places do the soldiers keep guard?
Why does the poet compare the soldiers to yogis?
What does the poet mean when he says the soldiers gave the prime of their youth to the nation?
Who is one person around you who helps others even when it is risky? What would you like to ask them?

Answers for parents

He is speaking to the soldiers who defend the borders of our country. He calls them 'my dear soldiers' and 'great sons of my land'.
In windy, snowy and burning hot weather. They guard mountains, valleys, deserts and marshes, watch the seas and keep the air safe.
Like yogis, they walk alone across lonely, empty stretches of land, calm and focused on their duty.
They spend the best years of their young life serving and protecting the country, instead of living for themselves. This is their sacrifice.
For example: A firefighter in our city goes into burning buildings to save people. I would ask him, 'Are you ever scared?' and 'How do you train for your work?'

Grammar corner: Collocations (words that naturally go together)

Some English words are usually used together, like 'heavy rain' or 'make a promise'. These word pairs are called collocations. Another word with a similar meaning often sounds wrong: we say 'heavy rain', not 'strong rain'.

The soldiers kept watch under the scorching sun.
After a long climb, the team reached the summit of the hill.
The jawans made a promise to come home for Diwali.

Practice at home

Choose the word that goes best with 'traffic': There was ___ traffic on the road to the camp. (heavy / big)
Find the opposite words in these two lines: 'When we are all asleep' and 'You are there guarding all the time awake'.
Make a sentence with the collocation 'make a promise'.

Answers: 1. heavy (heavy traffic) · 2. asleep and awake · 3. For example: I make a promise to keep my room clean every day.

Try this

Make a 'thank you' badge together: take a round piece of paper or card, draw a simple logo (a flag, a mountain, a star) and write a short slogan of three or four words, such as 'Brave Hearts, Safe Homes'. Then each of you names one place where soldiers keep guard (snowy mountains, hot deserts, seas, the sky) and says one line in English about it, like 'Soldiers guard the hot desert.'

Tip for parents

Ask your child in Hindi first: 'जब हम रात को सोते हैं, तब सीमा पर सैनिक क्या करते हैं?' Let them answer in Hindi, then help them find the poem's English line for the same idea, such as 'When we are all asleep, you still hold on to your deed'. If you know a desh-bhakti song or a family story about a soldier, share it in your language; children feel a poem more deeply when it links to home, so praise every English try.

Questions parents ask

Who wrote the poem My Dear Soldiers?

The poem is by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. It is in NCERT's new Poorvi book for Class 7, Unit 5 (Bravehearts).

What is the theme of My Dear Soldiers?

The theme is patriotism and sacrifice. The poet admires and thanks the soldiers who guard the country in all weathers and places, and prays for them.

What is the simile in My Dear Soldiers?

The soldiers are compared to yogis: they walk across lonely open land 'as yogis', calm and devoted to their duty. The poem also uses a metaphor of wind chimes that ring out the soldiers' brave deeds.

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