The Last Bargain Summary Class 8 English

Introduction

The Last Bargain is chapter 4 of the Class 8 English Honeydew book. The Last Bargain is a poem written by the famous Nobel-prize-winning poet, novelist and non-fictional writer Rabindranath Tagore. The poem's central theme is that an unemployed person is wandering in search of a job but does not want to lose his freedom at the cost of employment. On his way, he turned down offers from wealthy, powerful, and beautiful but finally accepted the offer of an innocent child. He finds power, wealth, and beauty worthless.

Here is the stanza-wise summary of the poem The Last Bargain:

Summary

In the poem's first stanza, the speaker wanders on a stone-paved road in search of a job when he encounters a wealthy king. Here, the stone-paved road symbolizes the difficult path. The king is on his chariot with a sword in his hand, symbolizing power. The king offers the speaker to hire him with his power. But the speaker finds his power worthless because it is temporary. The power will go away when the king dies. Thus, the speaker rejects his offer.

In the second stanza of the poem, the speaker is still roaming on a hot afternoon along the crooked lane. Here, the crooked lane again signifies the difficult path. Now, the speaker encounters an old man with a bag of gold coins. Here, gold coins symbolize wealth. The old man offers to hire him and begins to count his coins. But the speaker realizes that just like power, wealth is also temporary. Wealth seems worthless to the speaker because it cannot make the old man young again. The speaker realizes that he does not need power or wealth; he is searching for something else and thus rejects the old man's offer.

In the third stanza, it is evening, and the garden is blooming with flowers and looking beautiful. The speaker encounters a beautiful lady (fair maid). She wants to hire the speaker with her smile. Here, her smile symbolizes her beauty. The speaker realizes that just like power and wealth, he also finds beauty worthless and temporary. Soon the lady's smile faded into tears, and she returned alone into the darkness. Here tears symbolize sorrow, and darkness symbolizes loneliness. The speaker feels that the lady's beauty is not everlasting and has hidden sorrows and loneliness, and thus speaker rejects her offer. The day is over, but the speaker does not give up and continues to struggle.

In the last stanza of the poem, there is a beginning of a new day. The sun is shining on the sand, and the sea waves are striking the shore. Here, the speaker is describing the beauty of nature. The speaker witnesses a child sitting on the seashore and playing with shells. It portrays the innocence of a child. The child raises his hand as if he knows him from before. The child tells the speaker that he will hire him with nothing. Here, nothing symbolizes freedom and liberty from all desires. The speaker realizes what he is looking for and thus accepts this bargain of a child; since then, he has become a free man.

Frequently Asked Questions

1.Who wrote the poem The Last Bargain?

The Last Bargain poem is written by the famous Nobel-prize-winning poet, novelist, dramatist, and non-fictional writer Rabindranath Tagore.

2. What is the theme of the poem The Last Bargain?

The theme of the poem is freedom from all types of desires such as power, wealth, beauty, etc. The poem is about an unemployed man who is wandering in search of a job but does not want to lose his freedom at the cost of employment. On his way, he turned down offers from wealthy, powerful, and beautiful but finally accepted the offer of an innocent child. He finds power, wealth, and beauty worthless.

3. Whose offers does the speaker turn down on his way?

The speaker turns down the offer of a powerful king, a wealthy man, and a beautiful lady.

4. Whose offer does the speaker accept in the poem?

The speaker accepts the offer of an innocent child who offers the speaker to hire him with nothing.