Paraphrases of Poem 5 Opportunity
Class 10 English Notes
Stanza 1:
They do me wrong who say I come no more
When once I knock and fail to find you in;
For every day I stand outside your door
And bid you wake and rise to fight and win.
Paraphrase:
They (people) are doing wrong with me who say that I come once in life and knocks at their doors. When I come and knocks at your door and fail to get any response from inside. Every day I come and stand before your doors and call you to wake from the dream and start your struggles to win the contest of life.
Stanza 2:
Wail not for precious chances passed away!
Weep not for golden ages on the wane!
Each night I burn the records of the day---
At sunrise every soul is born again!
Paraphrase:
Don’t be upset on the precious chances of the past that you have missed. Don’t weep for those good times which have ended now. Each night I remove the records of the day and with the new sunrise, every soul is born again for a new beginning.
Stanza 3:
Dost, thou behold thy lost youth all aghast?
Dost reel from righteous Retribution’s blow?
Then turn from blotted archives of the past
And find the future’s pages white as snow.
Paraphrase:
Do you think that the thoughts of youth were terrible, and you have been punished for your truthful deeds? Think no more about it. Turn from the spotted pages of your past life. You will find that a bright future is waiting for you. The pages of that bright future are white and clear.
Stanza 4:
Art thou a mourner? Rouse thee from the spell;
Art thou a sinner? Sins may be forgiven;
Each morning gives thee wings to flee from hell,
Each night a star to guide thy feet to heaven.
Paraphrase:
If you are mourning, it is wrong to do so. Just get out from this spell. If you have committed sins, do not worry about them because Almighty Allah will forgive them. Each sunrise gives you the chance to get out from the hell and each sun sits guides you to the right path.
Stanza 5:
Laugh like a boy at splendours that have sped,
To vanished joys be blind and deaf and dumb;
My judgments seal the dead past with its dead,
But never bind a moment yet to come.
Paraphrase:
You have to laugh like a boy on the splendid days of past life. Do not think about the joys that have disappeared. My decisions seal the records of the dead past, but I never stop the moment which is yet to come.
Stanza 6:
Though deep in mire, wring not your hands and weep;
I lend my arm to all who say, “I can!”
No shame-faced outcast ever sank so deep
But yet might rise and be again a man!
Paraphrase:
If you are in a terrible situation do not wring your hands and weep. I will lend my hand to take you out from this terrible situation because I always help those people who have the courage and strong determination of doing good deeds in life. A man should not lose courage in unfavourable situations. It is likely that he may rise and become a good human being in the real sense of the word.
Tags:
Class 10 Notes