CLASS 7
FEAR NO MORE
SUMMARY
A dead person cannot feel the heat of the sun. A living person has to face the scorching sun
and bitter coldness of the winter whereas after death, he gets rid of them. After death a
person goes to heaven, which is his permanent home just as a labourer works and goes
home after taking his wages, so a dead person goes home with his success and failures. The
poet advises the dead person not to be disappointed with death because death is the fate of
every person. It lays its icy hands over all not distinguishing between handsome fellow, a
beautiful girl or a chimney sweeper. All dies one day.
A dead person is immune from the anger of his master or his financial trouble. He might not
have sufficient money for buying necessary cloth to cover his body nor proper food to satisfy
his hunger. But after death, he does not feel any necessity of these things. Death is very
impartial. It does not distinguish between the poor and rich. Kings, learned men, physicians
and doctors dies one day.
A dead man does not fear the flash of lightening nor thunder-storm. He is free from public
criticism, joy and sorrow are same to him. In this life time sometimes, he is happy and
sometimes he is sad. But after death, he does not feel anything. At last, the poet says that
death should not be the cause of sorrow because all persons, whether they are young lover
or old one, must die and meet the dust.
Question and Answers:
Q1. What are the hardships poet has mentioned in the poem which the poet does not
want to fear?
Ans: The poet in the poem Fear no more talks about the hardships of life. The scorching
summer or the harsh cold winter as they are not permanent, as they can be experienced
only by the living. But to the dead, summer heat and bitterness of the cold are nothing.
Q2. What does the stanza ‘Thou thy worldly task hast done, Home art gone, and ta’en thy
wages mean?
Ans: According to the poet the stanza means that death is like a regular labourer who has
come back home with his wages after completing his work permanently.
Q3. ‘Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.’ –
Who are the golden lads and girls the poet is talking about? Why has he compared them
with chimney-sweepers?
Ans: According to the poet, the ‘golden lads and girls’ are the beautiful girls and boys who
are living their life. They are compared to the chimney sweepers because, when death
comes it does not distinguish whether the person is beautiful or a worker, everything it
touches changes to dust in the end.
Q4. What is ‘tyrant’s stroke’ in the poem?
Ans: The poet talks about another good thing about death. He says that tyrant’s stroke is
the tyrant’s rule over a person when they are still alive. But they go out of reach once the
person embraces death.
Q5. ‘ To Thee the reed is as the oak; / The Spectre, learning physic, must /
All follow this, and come to dust. ‘ – what does the poet tell us in the stanza?
Ans : The poet is trying to tell us that whether it is the reeds of a giant oak or a king’s
spectre, or a person will physical strength, everyone becomes dust after death.
