Harvest Hymn | CBSE Class 8 English Notes

This note covers Sarojini Naidu's poem "Harvest Hymn": a stanza-by-stanza summary, the poetic devices, the symbols, the themes, key quotations, archaic and difficult words, and answers to the textbook questions.

Who wrote "Harvest Hymn" and what is it about?

"Harvest Hymn" is a poem by Sarojini Naidor, taken from her collection The Golden Threshold. A hymn is a song of praise, and this poem is structured exactly like one: it is sung by different sets of voices who together thank the divine forces responsible for a good harvest.

The poem has four stanzas, each sung by a different group of speakers: "Men's Voices" sing the first two stanzas, "Women's Voices" sing the third, and "All Voices" join together for the final stanza.

Each stanza addresses a different deity connected with farming: the sun, the rain, the earth, and finally the universal creator.

The setting is a rural landscape at harvest time, when villagers gather to offer thanks through songs and garlands rather than through gold or possessions.

The tone of the poem is respectful and celebratory because it praises nature and the Lord with deep reverence and gratitude, and it is sung with cymbal and flute, cymbal and pipe, cymbal and drum, and cymbal and prayer in turn.

What happens in the poem, stanza by stanza?

Stanza 1: Men's Voices praise Surya, lord of the sun

The men call Surya the "lord of the lotus, lord of the harvest" and the "bright and munificent lord of the morn." They say it is his bounty that "prospered our sowing" and "nurtured our corn." In return they bring "our songs and our garlands for tribute," describing their offerings as "the gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit." They hail Surya as the "giver of mellowing radiance" and praise him "with cymbal and flute."

Stanza 2: Men's Voices praise Varuna, lord of the rain

The men now turn to Varuna, calling him "lord of the rainbow, lord of the harvest" and the "great and beneficent lord of the main." They credit his mercy with having "cherished our furrows" and "fostered our grain." Their tribute this time is "our thanks and our garlands," described as "the wealth of our valleys, new-garnered and ripe." They hail him as the "sender of rain and the dewfall" with "cymbal and pipe."

Stanza 3: Women's Voices praise Prithvi, the Earth

The women address Prithvi as "queen of the gourd-flower, queen of the harvest" and the "sweet and omnipotent mother, O Earth." They say her "plentiful bosom" feeds them and her "womb" is "where our riches have birth." Their tribute is "our love and our garlands," along with "gifts of thy opulent giving." They hail her as the "source of our manifold gladness" with "cymbal and drum."

Stanza 4: All Voices praise Brahma, lord of the universe

Finally, every voice joins to praise "Lord of the Universe, Lord of our being," calling him "Father eternal, ineffable Om." They say he is "the Seed and the Scythe of our harvests" and "our Hands and our Heart and our Home." Their tribute is nothing less than "our lives and our labours," and they ask him to "grant us thy succour, thy counsel, thy care." They hail Brahma with "cymbal and prayer."

Who are the voices in the poem?

The poem is written for choral performance, with stage-direction-like labels: "Men's Voices," "Women's Voices," and "All Voices." This structure is itself part of the poem's meaning: separate groups first offer praise to the deities connected with their traditional roles, and then everyone joins together for the final, most all-embracing stanza.

The men address Surya (the sun) and Varuna (the rain), the two forces most directly linked to sowing, warmth, and water in the fields.

The women address Prithvi (the Earth) as a nurturing mother whose "womb" gives the riches of the harvest, drawing a parallel between the earth's fertility and women's own experience of birth and nurture.

In the final stanza, "All Voices" unite to praise Brahma, described not as a distant god but as the "Seed and the Scythe" of the harvest and as "our Hands and our Heart and our Home." This movement from separate voices to one collective voice suggests that, however the community is divided by work or role, everyone shares the same gratitude at harvest time and the same dependence on the "Lord of our being."

The repeated structure, in which each stanza follows the same pattern of address, claim, tribute, and hailing, also gives the poem the feel of an actual ritual hymn that could be sung aloud by a community, rather than read silently by one person.

What poetic devices does the poet use in this poem?

Sarojini Naidu uses several devices in this poem to build its hymn-like, musical quality. Alliteration appears in phrases such as "Bright and munificent lord of the morn," where the repeated consonant sounds give the line a chant-like rhythm suited to group singing.

Repetition is central to the poem's structure. The opening line of each stanza repeats the pattern "lord/queen of the harvest," and tribute lines repeat phrases such as "the gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit." Each stanza also repeats "we hail thee" and "we praise thee … with cymbal and" before naming a different instrument, which binds the four stanzas together as variations on one ritual.

Personification is used for the Earth, described as a "sweet and omnipotent mother" with a "plentiful bosom" and a "womb where our riches have birth," giving the land human, maternal qualities.

Metaphor appears in the line "Thou art the Seed and the Scythe of our harvests," an implied comparison of the divine with both the beginning (sowing) and the end (reaping) of the farming cycle, and again in "our Hands and our Heart and our Home," where the divine is equated with the most basic, everyday elements of human life.

Imagery that appeals to the senses runs throughout, as in "The wealth of our valleys, new-garnered and ripe," which creates a clear picture of freshly harvested, ripened crops.

The poem also uses apostrophe, directly addressing absent or non-human figures ("we hail thee," "O Surya," "O Prithvi," "O Bramha") as though they were present listeners.

What symbols appear in "Harvest Hymn" and what do they mean?

The poem uses the names of deities as symbols for the natural forces behind a successful harvest. Surya, the sun, stands for "light, energy, life," representing the giver of warmth and prosperity that "prospered our sowing" and gave "mellowing radiance" to the ripening crops.

Varuna, associated with rain, symbolises "mercy and nourishment," crucial for agriculture and sustenance, since it is his rain and dewfall that "cherished our furrows" and "fostered our grain."

Prithvi, the Earth, symbolises "fertile land, motherhood, nurturing," the source of all life, shown through her "plentiful bosom" that "feeds us" and her "womb" that gives the harvest "birth."

Finally, Brahma, named "Lord of the Universe" and "Father eternal, ineffable Om," symbolises the single, unifying divine presence behind all the separate forces of sun, rain, and earth, described as both the "Seed" (beginning) and the "Scythe" (ending) of the whole agricultural cycle, and as the people's "Hands," "Heart," and "Home."

What are the themes of "Harvest Hymn"?

Gratitude towards nature and the divine

Every stanza follows the same movement: a claim about what the divine force has done ("Thine is the bounty," "Thine is the mercy"), followed by an offering of thanks.

The farmers do not take a good harvest for granted; they credit the sun, rain, and earth directly and respond with songs, garlands, and finally their whole "lives and labours" as "tribute."

Human dependence on and partnership with nature

The poem shows that sowing, growth, and reaping all depend on forces beyond human control, such as sunlight, rainfall, and soil fertility. Yet the people are not passive: their own "sowing" and labour are mentioned alongside the divine "bounty," suggesting a partnership between human effort and natural forces.

Unity of the community

The poem moves from separate "Men's Voices" and "Women's Voices," each honouring the forces most linked to their traditional roles, to "All Voices" joined together for the final, most universal stanza. This structure suggests that harvest-time gratitude unites the whole community, regardless of the different roles people play.

The cycle of life and harvest

The line "Thou art the Seed and the Scythe of our harvests" captures the idea that growth and reaping, beginning and end, are both part of one continuous cycle governed by the same divine presence, linking agricultural renewal to the larger idea of life itself.

What are the key quotations from the poem?

"Bright and munificent lord of the morn!" — Men's Voices, describing Surya, the sun god, at the start of the first stanza.

"Thine is the bounty that prospered our sowing, / Thine is the bounty that nurtured our corn." — Men's Voices, crediting Surya for the growth of their crops.

"O sender of rain and the dewfall, we hail thee, / We praise thee, Varuna, with cymbal and pipe." — Men's Voices, honouring Varuna for rain and dew.

"Sweet and omnipotent mother, O Earth!" — Women's Voices, addressing Prithvi as a nurturing mother.

"Thine is the womb where our riches have birth." — Women's Voices, describing the Earth as the source of the harvest.

"Thou art the Seed and the Scythe of our harvests." — All Voices, describing Brahma as both the start and end of the harvest cycle.

"Thou art our Hands and our Heart and our Home." — All Voices, describing the divine as present in the people's work, feeling, and belonging.

"We bring thee our lives and our labours for tribute." — All Voices, offering their entire effort and existence in gratitude.

What archaic and difficult words appear in the poem?

Sarojini Naidu uses several archaic words, that is, words no longer part of everyday usage, to give the poem a formal, ritual tone.

These include the old second-person pronouns thou (you, subject), thee (you, object), thy (your), and thine (yours), along with the archaic verb form art (are), as in "Thou art my friend."

Beyond these pronouns, the poem uses rich descriptive vocabulary. Munificent means generous, as in "munificent lord of the morn." Beneficent similarly means kind or doing good, used for Varuna as "great and beneficent lord of the main." Bounty refers to generous giving, and mercy to compassionate kindness, both used to describe the gifts of the sun and rain.

Furrows are the long, narrow grooves cut into soil by a plough for sowing seeds, which Varuna's mercy "cherished." Garnered means gathered or collected, as in "new-garnered and ripe," describing freshly harvested produce.

Opulent means rich or lavish, describing the Earth's "opulent giving," and manifold means many and varied, as in the Earth being the "source of our manifold gladness."

Ineffable means too great or extreme to be expressed in words, used to describe "Om" as a "Father eternal, ineffable Om." Succour means help or assistance, sought from the divine as "thy succour, thy counsel, thy care." A scythe is a tool with a long, curved blade used for cutting grass or crops, which is paired with "Seed" to represent the whole farming cycle. Radiance means glow or brilliance, as in "mellowing radiance."

What are the answers to the textbook questions?

On the setting and tone: the setting of the poem is a rural landscape, possibly during a harvest festival. The tone is respectful and celebratory because it praises nature and the Lord with deep respect and gratitude.

In the line "Thou art our Hands and our Heart and our Home," the capital letters in "Hands," "Heart," and "Home" are used because God resides in them, suggesting the divine is present in the people's daily life and work.

On poetic devices: "Bright and munificent lord of the morn!" uses alliteration through repeated consonant sounds. "We bring thee our lives and our labours for tribute" also uses alliteration and repetition for rhythmic emphasis.

Matching the devices box: "sweet and omnipotent mother" is personification, since the earth is given human, maternal qualities; "The wealth of our valleys, new-garnered and ripe" is imagery, creating a clear sensory picture of the harvest; "Thou art the Seed and the Scythe" is metaphor, an implied comparison of growth and reaping with the beginning and end of all life.

On repetition: besides "The gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit," the poem repeats patterns such as "Lord of ... lord of the harvest," "Thine is the bounty/mercy that…," and "we hail thee … we praise thee … with cymbal and." The poet's purpose in repeating these phrases is to create a chant-like, musical rhythm suited to group singing, and to emphasise the depth of the speakers' gratitude each time a new deity is addressed.

On symbolism: Prithvi, the Earth, symbolises fertile land, motherhood, and nurturing, the source of all life. Surya, the sun, symbolises light, energy, and life, representing the giver of warmth and prosperity. Varuna, rain, symbolises mercy and nourishment, crucial for agriculture and sustenance.

On the extract-based questions: bringing songs and garlands as tribute suggests that the people have "a deep sense of reverence and gratitude towards the divine." The word "gold" in "the gold of our fields" and "the gold of our fruit" symbolises the richness and value of the harvest. "O giver of mellowing radiance" helps us understand that Surya's warmth ripens the crops and makes the harvest possible. The use of cymbal and flute signifies "joy and celebration."

In "Lord of our being," the word "being" most likely refers to "our entire existence." It is true that the imagery of "the Seed and the Scythe" symbolises the divine's role as both the beginning (creation) and the end (harvest) of the agricultural cycle.

The phrase "Father eternal" expresses the divine as a timeless, everlasting presence, while "ineffable Om" expresses something beyond human comprehension or description.

We know these lines are spoken as a chorus because they are headed "All Voices" and use the collective pronoun "our" throughout, rather than an individual speaker's voice.

On the short-answer questions: the farmers hail the god of rain because his "mercy" "cherished our furrows" and "fostered our grain," meaning rain and dew are essential to growing the crops.

The "wealth of our valleys" refers to the ripe, "new-garnered" harvest, called wealth because it represents the community's hard-earned produce and livelihood.

The women call the Earth a "source of manifold gladness" because her "plentiful bosom" feeds them and her "womb" gives birth to their harvest riches, bringing many kinds of joy.

Everyone offers their "labours for tribute" because they see all they have achieved through work as ultimately belonging to the divine, who is both the "Seed" and the "Scythe," and who is present in their "Hands," "Heart," and "Home." The poem is presented as voices of men, women, and all voices to show how different parts of the community, each with their own traditional connection to sun, rain, or earth, come together in shared gratitude at harvest.

The poet creates a joyous atmosphere through images of gold, ripe fruit, and garlands, and through the music of cymbal, flute, pipe, and drum.

The poem is presented as a hymn because it is a song of praise, sung by voices in chorus, offering thanks to divine forces exactly as a hymn would.

Glossary

• Thou/Thee/Thy/Thine — archaic second-person pronouns, used instead of modern "you," meaning you (subject), you (object), your, and yours in turn.
• Art — an archaic verb form meaning "are," used with "thou" as in "Thou art my friend, and I trust thee."
• Munificent — very generous, used in the poem to describe Surya as the "bright and munificent lord of the morn" who gives warmth freely.
• Beneficent — doing good, kind, and helpful, used to describe Varuna as the "great and beneficent lord of the main" who sends life-giving rain.
• Bounty — generous giving, or something given generously, used for Surya's gift that "prospered our sowing" and "nurtured our corn."
• Furrows — long, narrow grooves cut into soil by a plough for sowing seeds, described in the poem as "cherished" by Varuna's rain-bringing mercy.
• Garnered — gathered or collected, especially a harvest, used in the phrase "new-garnered and ripe" to describe freshly collected produce from the valleys.
• Opulent — rich, lavish, or abundant, used to describe the Earth's "opulent giving" of riches to the people who till her soil.
• Manifold — many and varied, used to describe the Earth as the "source of our manifold gladness" that brings many different kinds of joy.
• Ineffable — too great or extreme to be expressed in words, used to describe "Om" as a "Father eternal, ineffable Om" in the final stanza.
• Succour — help or assistance given in time of need, asked for from the divine in the line "Grant us thy succour, thy counsel, thy care."
• Scythe — a hand-held tool with a long, curved blade used for cutting crops or grass, paired with "Seed" to represent the whole harvest cycle.
• Radiance — glow or brilliance, especially of light, used to describe Surya as the "giver of mellowing radiance" that ripens the crops in the fields.
• Tribute — something given or done as a sign of respect or gratitude, offered in the poem as songs, garlands, thanks, love, and finally lives and labours.
• Hymn — a song of praise, especially one sung to a deity, which gives this poem both its title and its chorus-like structure of address and praise.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: the poem praises only one god. Correct: it praises four different divine figures across its four stanzas: Surya, Varuna, Prithvi, and Brahma.
• Misconception: "gold" in the poem refers to literal gold jewellery or coins. Correct: "the gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit" symbolises the richness of the harvest itself, not metal wealth.
• Misconception: Varuna is a harvest god in general. Correct: Varuna is addressed specifically as the "lord of the rainbow" and "sender of rain and the dewfall," linked to rain rather than the harvest as a whole.
• Misconception: the poem is sung by one single narrator throughout. Correct: it is structured for "Men's Voices," "Women's Voices," and finally "All Voices" together.
• Misconception: "thou," "thee," "thy," and "thine" all mean the same thing. Correct: each has a distinct grammatical role: thou (subject), thee (object), thy (your), thine (yours).
• Misconception: the Earth is only described as giving food. Correct: Prithvi is described with maternal imagery, a "womb" and "bosom," making her a nurturing mother figure, not just a food source.
• Misconception: "Seed and Scythe" refers only to farming tools. Correct: the phrase is a metaphor for the beginning and ending of the whole harvest and life cycle.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. What is a hymn, and how does the poem's title connect to its structure? [2 marks]

1. A hymn is a song of praise, usually sung to a deity.
2. The poem is structured as a hymn, with separate "Men's Voices," "Women's Voices," and "All Voices" singing praise to different divine forces in turn.

Q2. Name the four divine figures addressed in the poem and the natural force each represents. [4 marks]

1. Surya represents the sun, giver of light, warmth, and the "mellowing radiance" that ripens crops.
2. Varuna represents rain, whose mercy "cherished our furrows" and "fostered our grain."
3. Prithvi represents the Earth, a nurturing mother whose "womb" gives the harvest "birth."
4. Brahma represents the universal creator, the "Seed and the Scythe" of the whole harvest and life cycle.

Q3. Identify and explain two poetic devices used in the poem, with examples. [4 marks]

1. Repetition: phrases such as "we hail thee … we praise thee … with cymbal and" recur in every stanza, giving the poem a chant-like rhythm suited to group singing.
2. Personification: the Earth is called a "sweet and omnipotent mother" with a "plentiful bosom" and a "womb," giving the land human, maternal qualities.
3. Both devices reinforce the hymn-like, ritual tone of the poem.

Q4. Why do the speakers offer "our lives and our labours for tribute" to Brahma in the final stanza? [2 marks]

1. They see all they have achieved through hard work as ultimately belonging to the divine.
2. Brahma is described as present in their "Hands," "Heart," and "Home," so offering their lives and labour is their way of showing complete gratitude.

Q5. Explain how the poem moves from separate voices to one united voice, and what this structure suggests about the theme of community. [6 marks]

1. The first two stanzas are sung by "Men's Voices," who address Surya and Varuna, the forces most linked to sowing and rainfall.
2. The third stanza is sung by "Women's Voices," who address Prithvi, the Earth, using maternal imagery of a "bosom" and "womb."
3. The final stanza is headed "All Voices," where men and women join together to praise Brahma, the "Lord of the Universe."
4. Each stanza follows the same pattern of address, claim about the deity's gift, an offering of tribute, and a closing hail with music.
5. This progression from separate groups to one united chorus suggests that, despite different roles, the whole community shares the same gratitude at harvest time.
6. The final, most universal stanza suggests that all the separate natural forces are ultimately part of one divine presence that unites everyone.

Q6. What does the metaphor "Thou art the Seed and the Scythe of our harvests" suggest about the poem's view of the harvest cycle? [3 marks]

1. The Seed represents the beginning of the agricultural cycle, when crops are sown.
2. The Scythe represents the end of the cycle, when crops are reaped at harvest.
3. By calling the divine both Seed and Scythe, the poem suggests that the same divine force governs the entire cycle of growth and harvest, beginning and end.

Q7. Explain the meaning of any two archaic or difficult words from the poem, using the lines in which they appear. [3 marks]

1. "Munificent," meaning very generous, describes Surya as the "bright and munificent lord of the morn."
2. "Succour," meaning help or assistance, is sought from Brahma in the line "Grant us thy succour, thy counsel, thy care."
3. Both words add to the poem's formal, reverent tone of address to the divine.

Key takeaways

• "Harvest Hymn" by Sarojini Naidu has four stanzas, sung by "Men's Voices," "Women's Voices," and "All Voices."
• Each stanza praises a different divine force: Surya (sun), Varuna (rain), Prithvi (earth), and Brahma (universal creator).
• The poem uses archaic pronouns such as thou, thee, thy, and thine to give it a formal, ritual tone.
• Repetition of phrases such as "we hail thee … with cymbal and" gives the poem a chant-like, musical structure.
• Personification makes the Earth a nurturing mother with a "bosom" and a "womb."
• The metaphor "Seed and Scythe" links the divine to both the beginning and the end of the harvest cycle.
• The movement from separate voices to "All Voices" suggests the whole community shares one gratitude at harvest time.
• The poem's main theme is deep gratitude to nature and the divine for a successful harvest.

Test yourself

Who are the three sets of speakers in the poem?

The poem is sung by "Men's Voices," "Women's Voices," and finally "All Voices," who join together in the last stanza.

Which deity does the third stanza address, and how is this deity described?

The third stanza, sung by Women's Voices, addresses Prithvi, the Earth, described as a "sweet and omnipotent mother" with a plentiful bosom and womb.

What does "mellowing radiance" describe?

It describes Surya's warm glow, which helps ripen the crops during the growing season.

Give one example of repetition in the poem.

"The gold of our fields and the gold of our fruit" repeats the word "gold" to emphasise the richness of the harvest.

What does the metaphor "Seed and Scythe" represent?

It represents the beginning (sowing) and end (reaping) of the harvest cycle, both governed by the same divine force.

What musical instruments are mentioned in each stanza?

Cymbal and flute, cymbal and pipe, cymbal and drum, and finally cymbal and prayer are mentioned in the four stanzas in turn.

Why is the poem called a "hymn"?

It is called a hymn because it is a song of praise, sung in chorus, thanking divine forces for the harvest.