Where the Rainbow ends!

Where the rainbow ends!

There's going to be a place, brother,

Where the world can sing all sorts of songs

And we're going to sing together, brother,

You and I, though you're white and I'm not.

It's going to be a sad song, brother,

Because we don't know the tune,

And it's a difficult tune to learn.

But we can learn, brother, You and I.

There's no such tune as a black tune.

There's no such tune as a white tune.

There's only music, brother,

And it's the music we're going to sing

Where the rainbow ends.

Summary:

The poem ‘Where the Rainbow Ends!’ composed by an African poet Richard Rive talks about friendship and racial harmony. The poet makes clear that it is possible to be friends whether we are black or white i.e. whichever race we belong to. He does not say that this will be an easy process as people are different. Rainbow signifies different colours in a band and the poet is trying to say that different coloured people can find happiness together.

This poem is all about the importance of equality and brotherhood. Since time has passed we can see the world has made a huge difference on the basis of caste, creed, colour, etc. The poet wants to search for a place where such differentiation is not made. It encourages all mankind not to be racist and abet people to be non-racist abandoning the racism from the whole world!

Exercises:

1. What is the poem about? Or, what is the main theme of the poem?
2. Where does the rainbow end?
3. What does the poet hope?
4. Why is it going to be a sad song?
5. Why is it difficult to learn music?
6. Who is the poet addressing in the poem?
7. Where can the world sing all kinds of songs?
8. What does the rainbow signify/ refer to in the poem?
9. What does the poet appeal to the white people?
10. Can we differentiate music into a black and white tune?
11. What does the poet want the people of different races to do?