Give me Liberty
Riches I hold in light esteem
And Love I laugh to scorn;
And lust of fame was but a dream
That vanished with the morn
And if I pray, the only prayer
That moves my lips for me
Is ‘Leave the heart that now I bear
And give me Liberty!’
Yes, as my swift days near their goal,
It is all that I implore
In life and death a chainless soul
With courage to endure.
– Emily Bronte
Word-Meanings
1.esteem: great respect 2. implore: to beg piteously 3. endure: to tolerate 4. scorn: a strong feeling that somebody or something is not good enough 5. lust: to strongly desire 6. liberty: freedom 7. swift: happening quickly
 Questions:
1. Choose the correct option:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
(a) The poet does not want to be
 (i) rich                             (ii) famous                        (iii) rich and famous                   (iv) none
(b) The lust of fame
(i) multiplies                  (ii) diminishes                  (iii) vanishes                                 (iv) sharpens
 (c) In the line, ‘And give me Liberty’, the word ‘Liberty’ refers to:
 (i) life                             (ii) death                             (iii) riches                                  (iv) freedom
 (d) The poet says ‘Love I laugh to scorn’. This is because (—)
 (i) she does not believe in love.
(ii) she feels the whole world is in love.
 (iii) she believes only in the value of materialistic possessions.
 (iv) she makes fun of everything.
 (e) What does the word ‘rich’ become when we put the word ‘the’ before it?
(i) adjective                                                     (iii) noun
(ii) verb                                                            (iv) adverbÂ
(f) Generally, people want to be
 (i) careful                       (ii) concerned                   (iii)wealth                 (iv) immortal
2.Answer the questions briefly:
(a) What does the poet not want?
(b) What is the characteristic of the lust for fame?
 (c) What is the prayer of the poet?
(d) What does the poet desire after death?
(e) What does the poet mean in the first line of the poem?
(f) What does the poet want her soul to be?
Answers:Â
1.(a) iii          (b) iii        (c) iv       (d) I        (e) iii         (f)iii            Â
2.(a) The poet does not want to be rich and renowned.
 (b) It soon vanishes.
(c) The poet prays for liberty.
 (d) The poet desires freedom and liberty after death.
 (e) In the first line of the poem, the poet attaches little importance to riches.
 (f) The poet wants her soul to be free from all worldly things, that is a `chainless’ soul:
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