The poem:
Clouds rumbling in the sky; teeming rain.
I sit on the river bank, sad and alone.
The sheaves lie gathered, harvest has ended,
The river is swollen and fierce in its flow.
As we cut the paddy it started to rain.
One small paddy-field, no one but me -
Flood-waters twisting and swirling everywhere.
Trees on the far bank; smear shadows like ink
On a village painted on deep morning grey.
On this side a paddy-field, no one but me.
Who is this, steering close to the shore
Singing? I feel that she is someone I know.
The sails are filled wide, she gazes ahead,
Waves break helplessly against the boat each side.
I watch and feel I have seen her face before.
Oh to what foreign land do you sail?
Come to the bank and moor your boat for a while.
Go where you want to, give where you care to,
But come to the bank a moment, show your smile -
Take away my golden paddy when you sail.
Take it, take as much as you can load.
Is there more? No, none, I have put it aboard.
My intense labour here by the river -
I have parted with it all, layer upon layer;
Now take me as well, be kind, take me aboard.
No room, no room, the boat is too small.
Loaded with my gold paddy, the boat is full.
Across the rain-sky clouds heave to and fro,
On the bare river-bank, I remain alone -
What had has gone: the golden boat took all
Clouds rumbling in the sky; teeming rain.
I sit on the river bank, sad and alone.
The sheaves lie gathered, harvest has ended,
The river is swollen and fierce in its flow.
As we cut the paddy it started to rain.
One small paddy-field, no one but me -
Flood-waters twisting and swirling everywhere.
Trees on the far bank; smear shadows like ink
On a village painted on deep morning grey.
On this side a paddy-field, no one but me.
Who is this, steering close to the shore
Singing? I feel that she is someone I know.
The sails are filled wide, she gazes ahead,
Waves break helplessly against the boat each side.
I watch and feel I have seen her face before.
Oh to what foreign land do you sail?
Come to the bank and moor your boat for a while.
Go where you want to, give where you care to,
But come to the bank a moment, show your smile -
Take away my golden paddy when you sail.
Take it, take as much as you can load.
Is there more? No, none, I have put it aboard.
My intense labour here by the river -
I have parted with it all, layer upon layer;
Now take me as well, be kind, take me aboard.
No room, no room, the boat is too small.
Loaded with my gold paddy, the boat is full.
Across the rain-sky clouds heave to and fro,
On the bare river-bank, I remain alone -
What had has gone: the golden boat took all
Summary:
The theme of loneliness was much sought after by most of the Romantics. Wordsworths’ ‘Daffodils’ begins with the line “I wandered lonely as a cloud...”. In Keats’ “Ode To A Nightingale”, we have the narrator sitting all alone and musing over the melody of the bird’s song. The Ancient Mariner is all alone on the wide wide sea. This aspect as seen in the poetry of the Romantics can be noticed in Tagore’s poetry too.
Loneliness is not merely being alone; it is an outlook, a mood that is reflected by the aid of external phenomenon like a lonely road, a lonely star or a lonely tree. They are just symbols to portray the loneliness present in the inner self.
Loneliness is sometimes enjoyed. At times it is shown as something frightening, and at most of the times, very depressing.
In Tagore’s poem loneliness lends intensity to the theme. For example in the poem ‘THE GOLDEN BOAT’ loneliness is presented with a tinge of pathos. The narrator is all alone sitting on the river bank and his harvest is ready. He puts the harvest load in a boat that goes to the other side of the place left for him. The boat sails away leaving him all alone on the bare river bank. The poem starts with the lines
“Clouds rumbling in the sky, teeming rains, I sit on the river bank, Sand and alone, The scene is all set,
Loneliness is not merely being alone; it is an outlook, a mood that is reflected by the aid of external phenomenon like a lonely road, a lonely star or a lonely tree. They are just symbols to portray the loneliness present in the inner self.
Loneliness is sometimes enjoyed. At times it is shown as something frightening, and at most of the times, very depressing.
In Tagore’s poem loneliness lends intensity to the theme. For example in the poem ‘THE GOLDEN BOAT’ loneliness is presented with a tinge of pathos. The narrator is all alone sitting on the river bank and his harvest is ready. He puts the harvest load in a boat that goes to the other side of the place left for him. The boat sails away leaving him all alone on the bare river bank. The poem starts with the lines
“Clouds rumbling in the sky, teeming rains, I sit on the river bank, Sand and alone, The scene is all set,
“The river is swollen and fierce in its flow As we cut the paddy it started to rain.”
So one can intute that things are heading towards something tragic. The boat coming nearer and taking all the paddy are all incidents linked with each other. Ultimately the narrator’s only companion is again loneliness.
“On the bare river, bank, I remain alone
What I had has gone, the golden boat took all-”
Basically the fact remains that this loneliness is a culmination of helplessness. On all sides he is faced with situations he cannot escape from. There is the harvest that is ready, it has to be cut and stored, on the other side there is rain, so the narrator is left with no choice but to put the paddy in the boat...These incidents are just symbolic representations of man’s life which is at all stages dominated by circumstances and the various vicissitudes of life. At each stage when man gains something he loses some other thing; At each stage he goes through the lonely phase of depression, which he tries to overcome gradually.
So one can intute that things are heading towards something tragic. The boat coming nearer and taking all the paddy are all incidents linked with each other. Ultimately the narrator’s only companion is again loneliness.
“On the bare river, bank, I remain alone
What I had has gone, the golden boat took all-”
Basically the fact remains that this loneliness is a culmination of helplessness. On all sides he is faced with situations he cannot escape from. There is the harvest that is ready, it has to be cut and stored, on the other side there is rain, so the narrator is left with no choice but to put the paddy in the boat...These incidents are just symbolic representations of man’s life which is at all stages dominated by circumstances and the various vicissitudes of life. At each stage when man gains something he loses some other thing; At each stage he goes through the lonely phase of depression, which he tries to overcome gradually.
The poem ‘Bride’ is a realistic portrayal of the feelings of a new bride. She is all alone.
“As I sit alone with my thought I seem to hear Days ending....
She is worried for there is nobody to share her feelings. She is a village girl and the city atmosphere frightens and depresses her.
“As I sit alone with my thought I seem to hear Days ending....
She is worried for there is nobody to share her feelings. She is a village girl and the city atmosphere frightens and depresses her.
“Oh this city with its stony body
Its massive loveless fist has squeezed and crushed
A young girl’s feelings, pitilessly.”
She misses the “boundless fields”, “the open paths”, “the bird’s song” and the “trees.”
She weeps; but there is no one to comfort her; she feels lonely, but the city folk take no heed of her feelings and she “loiters alone”, she longs for her mother and wishes to die and ultimately questions
“When will my evening come?
All playing end!
The cooling water quench all fires?
If anyone knowns, tell me when.”
The poem is a true picture of the new village bride unable to adjust in the city. The loneliness hangs on. It is a loneliness amidst a crowd. Internally the bride suffers from the pangs of loneliness. Neither the brightness of the moon, nor the flowers can give her any pleasure because she is starved of love and gaiety. When the heart moans, nothing around the world seems pleasant.
In other poems like ‘Flute-Music’ and the ‘Border land’ - We find the narrator is lonely. In ‘Flute-Music’ - the routine life of a clerk - his broken alliance with a girl and life full of disappointments is highlighted. We can get a glimpse of the lonely life that is led in the city. The only solace to his tired self is the music he hears from the neighoourhood - which towards the end rings out a note of brightness.
The other poem ‘Border land’ presents the musings of a narrator who feels, he is floating down on ‘ink- black stream’, surrounded by a host of memories.
All the sounds go faint and there is the fading ‘bird song offering self sacrifice to huge silence’. With this as the background the poet creates a gloomy the!lle and the narrator’s body seems to fuse with the endless night. He is
“Alone, amazed” and ultimately prays
“Sun you have removed your rays, show
now your loveliest kindliest form
That I may see the person who dwells in me as is you”
Loneliness is shown with the help of different images. There is darkness silence, fading lights, which signify the loneliness.
William Radice says “Through symbolism, imagery and rhythm,” Tagore’s poems “Communicate with uncanny power states of consciousness beyond or beneath the normal.”The poem ‘Border land’ is one such poem where the narrator is at the meeting point of life and death. The tinges of the metaphysical element can be felt in this poem of Tagore.Tagore’s poetry belongs to the pre-independence era and the anxiety, gloom, uncertainty prevalent in the time, no wonder, made Tagore write poems that were partly patriotic, partly romantic and partly meloncholic. Loneliness thus too is a phase which pervades his poetry for a short span.
Its massive loveless fist has squeezed and crushed
A young girl’s feelings, pitilessly.”
She misses the “boundless fields”, “the open paths”, “the bird’s song” and the “trees.”
She weeps; but there is no one to comfort her; she feels lonely, but the city folk take no heed of her feelings and she “loiters alone”, she longs for her mother and wishes to die and ultimately questions
“When will my evening come?
All playing end!
The cooling water quench all fires?
If anyone knowns, tell me when.”
The poem is a true picture of the new village bride unable to adjust in the city. The loneliness hangs on. It is a loneliness amidst a crowd. Internally the bride suffers from the pangs of loneliness. Neither the brightness of the moon, nor the flowers can give her any pleasure because she is starved of love and gaiety. When the heart moans, nothing around the world seems pleasant.
In other poems like ‘Flute-Music’ and the ‘Border land’ - We find the narrator is lonely. In ‘Flute-Music’ - the routine life of a clerk - his broken alliance with a girl and life full of disappointments is highlighted. We can get a glimpse of the lonely life that is led in the city. The only solace to his tired self is the music he hears from the neighoourhood - which towards the end rings out a note of brightness.
The other poem ‘Border land’ presents the musings of a narrator who feels, he is floating down on ‘ink- black stream’, surrounded by a host of memories.
All the sounds go faint and there is the fading ‘bird song offering self sacrifice to huge silence’. With this as the background the poet creates a gloomy the!lle and the narrator’s body seems to fuse with the endless night. He is
“Alone, amazed” and ultimately prays
“Sun you have removed your rays, show
now your loveliest kindliest form
That I may see the person who dwells in me as is you”
Loneliness is shown with the help of different images. There is darkness silence, fading lights, which signify the loneliness.
William Radice says “Through symbolism, imagery and rhythm,” Tagore’s poems “Communicate with uncanny power states of consciousness beyond or beneath the normal.”The poem ‘Border land’ is one such poem where the narrator is at the meeting point of life and death. The tinges of the metaphysical element can be felt in this poem of Tagore.Tagore’s poetry belongs to the pre-independence era and the anxiety, gloom, uncertainty prevalent in the time, no wonder, made Tagore write poems that were partly patriotic, partly romantic and partly meloncholic. Loneliness thus too is a phase which pervades his poetry for a short span.
Good poem...
ReplyDeleteNice
ReplyDelete