Where The Mind Is Without Fear

by Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Part A

What is a theme of this poem?

People who are free to think are free to act.

Actions speak louder than words.

Freedom of thought may be dangerous.

There is a price to pay for freedom.

Part B

How does the speaker use figurative language to develop the theme described in Part A?

"By narrow domestic walls;" he uses metaphor to explain the importance of guarded thinking.

"Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;" he uses personification to explain how the freedom to think leads to action.

"Where the world has not been broken up into fragments;" he uses imagery to emphasize the struggles of a broken mind.

"Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;" he uses metaphor to compare the active mind to a dry desert.

This poem has a hopeful tone. The title itself is positive talking about the mind being without fear. It talks wanting the author's country to awake "into ever-widening thought an action". This eliminates any answer that would be negative such as thoughts are dangerous and there is a price to pay. The author wants people's free thoughts to lead them into action but does not say that actions are louder.

Part B "Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;" he uses personification to explain how the freedom to think leads to action.

This is the only answer that best fits the theme from Part A. The other answers can be seen as correct explanations of the chosen quotes, but they do not all support the idea that free thought is good and leads to action.