Critical Analysis Of The Poem Village Song By Sarojini Naidu UP Board Class 10 English
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About the poet
Sarojini Naidu was an Indian political activist and poet. A proponent of civil rights, women’s emancipation, and anti-imperialistic ideas, she was an important figure in India’s struggle for independence from colonial rule. Naidu’s work as a poet earned her the sobriquet Nightingale of India by Mahatma Gandhi.
Sarojini Naidu was born in Hyderabad to Aghorenath Chattopadhyay, a Bengali Brahmin who was the principal of the Nizam’s College in Hyderabad. Her parental home was at Brahmangaon in Bikrampur. Sarojini Naidu, having passed her matriculation examination from the University of Madras, took a four-year break from her studies.
Sarojini Naidu also led an active literary life and attracted notable Indian intellectuals to her famous salon in Bombay. Sarojini Naidu was called The Nightingale of India because of her poetry. It has a lyrical quality and often varies the type of meter and rhyme.
Various works of Naidu are:
•1905: The Golden Threshold, published in the United Kingdom.
•1912: The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring, published in London.
•1917: The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death, and the Spring, including “The Gift of India” (first read in public in 1915), etc.
She began life as a poet, in later years when the compulsion of events drew into the national struggle, she plunged into it with all the zest and fire she possessed, whose whole life became a poem and a song and who infused artistry and grace in the national struggle, just as Mahatma Gandhi had infused moral grandeur to it. Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and to be appointed an Indian state governor.
About the poem
“The Village Song” is a poem by Sarojini Naidu about the mindset of two generations, represented by an old woman and her daughter.
The Village Song by Sarojini Naidu is one of the great pieces of Indian poetry showing Indian motherhood and an approach by an Indian girl to her married life. The entire poem talks about the dialogues between an Indian other and daughter regarding her marriage.
The poem opens with a scene of a rural household, where the mother is pleading her daughter not to run off. It’s an occasion of her marriage, the bride is bedecked with beautiful attire and ornaments. Though she is bedecked beautifully, she is not happy. Don’t know why, maybe she is tender aged, or she is showing childlike behaviour she doesn’t want to get married. Seems she is bonded strongly with nature and feels unwilling to be shifted into a marital bond.
In the poem, the poetess wants to tell us that worldly material pleasures are fake ones. The cycle of life that runs in pleasure someday or the other ends in lasting sorrow. A time comes when the material pleasures prove hollow and are overpowered by the ultimate sorrow. As such, while living in the world, we should not be materialistic.
Structure of the poem
HONEY, child, honey, child, whither are you going?
Would you cast your jewels all to the breezes blowing?
Would you leave the mother who on golden grain has fed you?
Would you grieve the lover who is riding forth to wed you?
Mother mine, to the wild forest I am going,
Whereupon the Champa boughs the Champa buds are blowing;
To the köil-haunted river-isles where lotus lilies glisten,
The voices of the fairy folk are calling me: O listen!
Honey, child, honey, child, the world is full of pleasure,
Of bridal-songs and cradle-songs and sandal-scented leisure.
Your bridal robes are in the loom, silver and saffron glowing,
Your bridal cakes are on the hearth: O whither are you going?
The bridal-songs and cradle-songs have cadences of sorrow,
The laughter of the sun to-day, the wind of death to-morrow.
Far sweeter sound the forest-notes where forest-streams are falling;
O mother mine, I cannot stay, the fairy-folk are calling.
“The village song” is a poem divided into four stanzas, each having four lines. The poem has used a definite rhyming scheme AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH used throughout the poem. The poem is filled with full of questions from the mother to her daughter.
The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; you, would, of, bridal are repeated. The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same words would, your, they are repeated. There is a poetic device epiphora at the end of some neighboring lines.
Line By Line Analysis Of The Poem The Village Song
Stanza1
HONEY, child, honey, child, whither are you going?
Would you cast your jewels all to the breezes blowing?
Would you leave the mother who on golden grain has fed you?
Would you grieve the lover who is riding forth to wed you?
The scene is set in a rural household where a marriage ceremony is about to begin. Such ceremonies are generally marked by a lot of mirth and merry-making. The bride is bedecked with beautiful attire and nice ornaments to look her best. The first stanza is filled with questions from the mother to her daughter. She asks her daughter if she is determined to abort the marriage, and disappoint the bridegroom who is soon to arrive. She reminds her daughter about the affection she had showered on her in bringing her up. She draws her daughter’s attention to the beautiful jewelry she was wearing for the occasion. She can’t even think of that, seems she is standing for the mother’s will as she is very young. Her mind is still kiddy, she prefers to stay unmarried. To her age, her present free life is far more enjoyable than a dull married life.
Stanza 2
Mother mine, to the wild forest I am going,
Whereupon the Champa boughs the Champa buds are blowing;
To the köil-haunted river-isles where lotus lilies glisten,
The voices of the fairy folk are calling me: O listen!
The daughter replies that the woods beckon her. She wants to the forest where Champa trees are laden with Champa buds and beautiful flowers. The river flowing by the village has tiny islands that are home to the Koil. The lotus and the lilies add to the charm of the surrounding. She is fascinated by nature. All these mean far more enjoyable to the girl than the pleasures of a married life. Thus she prefers pleasure from nature, then a dull married life.
Stanza 3
Honey, child, honey, child, the world is full of pleasure,
Of bridal-songs and cradle-songs and sandal-scented leisure.
Your bridal robes are in the loom, silver and saffron glowing,
Your bridal cakes are on the hearth: O whither are you going?
The mother finds her daughter’s thoughts to be silly and tries to get her attention. She reminds her about the pleasures of the world and wedded life. Bridal songs are beautiful. Motherhood and cradle songs will give much pleasure and fulfill the life. Mother also reminds her of the pleasure and bliss of marital leisure. She reminds her daughter that the sarees have been woven with meticulous care in silver and saffron color. Elaborate meals are being made ready. Saying all these, She tries to console her and tries to stop her back in the wedding happiness.
Stanza 4
The bridal-songs and cradle-songs have cadences of sorrow,
The laughter of the sun to-day, the wind of death to-morrow.
Far sweeter sound the forest-notes where forest-streams are falling;
O mother mine, I cannot stay, the fairy-folk are calling.
The girl’s happiness at the wedding celebration fades away. She says that the happiness of life is not permanent, they will come and fade, they come and go. She feels a life in the lap of Nature gives enduring happiness. She says that the charm of the woods never disappears, the charm of the streams, forest, the songs of the Koil are endless sources of pleasure, they never fade away. Explaining all these to her mother, the daughter concludes that she is leaving the home for the wilderness or pleasure of the forests.
Literary Devices
There are few literary devices used by Sarojini Naidu in the poem “The village song”. They are:-
1. Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
” The bridal song ………. cadences of sorrow”
“whereupon the champs laughs…….are blowing”
2. Personification: the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something non-human, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form.
“The laughter of the sun……morrow”
“honey child, honey child…..world full of pleasures”
3. Alliteration: the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.
Breezers blowing
golden grain
mother mine
4. Refrain: honey child
5. Climax:
Your bridal robes are in the loom, silver and saffron glowing,
Your bridal cakes are on the hearth: O whither are you going?
6. Anti-climax:
The bridal-songs and cradle-songs have cadences of sorrow,
The laughter of the sun to-day, the wind of death to-morrow.
Theme of the poem
The theme of the poem is the comparison between the world of human beings that abounds in material pleasure and the world of nature that is contrary to it.
The mother represents the material world. She recount’s some of the features of this human’s material world like jewellery, marriage bridal songs, cradle songs sandal scented leisure. It implies marriage, the birth of children, and a honeymoon. She draws her daughter’s attention to the beautiful jewelry she was wearing for the occasion. She reminds her about the pleasures of the world and wedded life. Motherhood and cradle songs will give much pleasure and fulfil life. Mother also reminds her of the pleasure and bliss of marital leisure. She reminds her daughter that the sarees have been woven with meticulous care in silver and saffron colors.
The daughter represents the world of nature. The blossoming of Champa, the islands in the river resounding with cuckoo’s cooing, the gurgling of streams attracts her. She knows that all those marriage laughter and fun and all the songs will end in sorrow. She feels life in the lap of Nature gives enduring happiness. She says that the charm of the woods never disappears, the charm of the streams, forest, the songs of the Koil are endless sources of pleasure, they never fade away. She ends with a decision to leave the house and go to have natural pleasures.
Questions And Answers
What is the central idea of the poem the village song?
The theme of the poem is a comparison between the world of Human beings that abounds in material pleasures and the world of Nature that is contrary to it. The Mother represents the material world.
What is the name of the river mentioned in the poem village song?
The river Jamuna flows near the girl’s village and she goes to the side of the river to fill her pitchers with water. The boatmen’s song, that allures the girl, is an example of a folk song.
What does Sarojini Naidu depict in the poem village song?
Sarojini Naidu represents the form and spirit of Indian folklore in an artistic way. Explanation: The poetess in the poem “Village Song” shows the life of villagers. She explains that even in this century many women of villages have to go far away to fetch water for their homes.
What do the birds in the poem village song Symbolise?
The birds referred to in the poem like white cranes, owls, and the blackbirds symbolise the eerie setting in the evening. … All the birds mentioned in the poem symbolise the fear and anxiety of the Village girl.
What will be the mother reaction in the poem village song?
The mother will be very worried about the girl thinking her daughter is in danger as she has not returned home even after it is dark. She will wait and weep for her. She will pray to God for her safety as the Jamuna River is deep.