Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Last Bus
At ten our shop pulls down its iron shutter,
and I run for the bus stand through the crowd.
The last bus out of the city is waiting,
its engine coughing, its old horn too loud.
A watchman sleeps, his cap upon his knees.
Two nurses share a samosa from one bag.
A mason holds his trowel in his lap
and wipes his hands on a cement-grey rag.
The city’s lights fall back behind the glass,
and then there are only the fields and the night.
Our bus is a lamp carried through the dark,
with sleepy faces in its yellow light.
I hear the windows rattle in their frames,
the brakes that hiss at every sleeping town,
the coins that clink in the conductor’s pouch,
his short, sharp whistle when someone gets down.
At the canal bridge I ring the bell and rise,
and step into the cool and quiet air.
A bulb is burning at our gate far off,
and Amma, still awake, is sitting there.
Which of the following best describes the theme of the poem?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → the tiring day of ordinary workers and the comfort of reaching home
The poem follows tired working people on their way home at night.
- The bus is full of people coming from work: a watchman who “sleeps”, two nurses, and a mason with hands grey with cement. The bus carries “sleepy faces”.
- At the end the speaker steps into the “cool and quiet air”. A bulb is burning at the gate, and Amma is “still awake”, waiting. This is the comfort of home after a long day.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: the loneliness of people who travel alone at night — Incorrect. Contradicted: The speaker shares the bus with many others, and Amma is waiting at home.
Option 2: the discomfort of crowded public buses in the city — Incorrect. Not mentioned: The crowd is only at the bus stand. The speaker never complains about the bus.
Option 4: the quiet beauty of village fields seen at night — Incorrect. Too narrow: The fields come up in only one line of the third stanza. The poem is about the people and the journey home.