Read the poem.

Where The Mind Is Without Fear

by Rabindranath Tagore

Tagore was an Indian writer who lived during the time that Great Britain ruled over the country of India, one of its colonies. In this poem, he expresses his views on how his people have reacted to that control and his hopes for their future.

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?


A mindful life is a peaceful life.


A mind open to creativity is the mind of an artist.


Great minds think alike.


A mind free from restrictions is a mind free to explore the truth.

Part B

Which line from the poem most effectively develops the theme described in Part A?


Where the world has not been broken up into fragments


Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way


Where the mind is led forward by thee


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