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Village Song by Sarojini Naidu

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404 views3 pages

Village Song by Sarojini Naidu

Uploaded by

sjord9162
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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VILLAGE SONG BY SAROJINI NAIDU

Full are my pitchers and far to carry,


Lone is the way and long,
Why, O why was I tempted to tarry
Lured by the boatmen’s song?
Swiftly the shadows of night are falling,
Hear, O hear, is the white crane calling,
Is it the wild owl’s cry?
There are no tender moonbeams to light me,
If in the darkness a serpent should bite me,
Or if an evil spirit should smite me,
Rām re Rām! I shall die.
My brother will murmur “Why doth she linger?”
My mother will wait and weep,
Saying, “O safe may the great gods bring her,
The Jamuna’s waters are deep.” . . .

Introduction
Village Song By Sarojini Naidu is a beautiful poem that speaks
about traditional Indian villages. In the poem, the poet describes the
difficulties faced by an Indian village woman. It was first published in
Sarojini Naidu’s second collection of poems, The Bird of Time. The
speaker of the poem is a small girl living in a village who has gone to fetch
water from a river that is far away from her home.
There are many places in India where people do not have the
facility of running water and for that, they have to walk a long distance to
collect water from wells, rivers, ponds, or similar water bodies. It is a
chore usually done by women at home. Here the poet talks about a
situation where a girl has gone to fetch water from the river. The poem
deals with the traditional living style of the village and the attachment of
the young girl to her family and how fear is created in her mind because
of the darker environment.
About Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu is known as the Nightingale of India. She was one of
the greatest poet, short story writer, freedom fighter, and social activist.
She has earned a respectable place in the English language and literature.
She received many awards for her work. Sarojini Naidu was born in a
Bengali family in Hyderabad. Her mother Varada Sundari Devi
Chattopadhyay was a poetess and used to write poetry in Bengali.
Sarojini was so good at poetry, that the reason she started getting called
The Nightingale of India or Bharat Kokila by Mahatma Gandhi. Her poetry
imagery, colour, and lyrical quality were so amazing. His famous poem
collection included – The Golden Threshold, The Temple, The Birds of
Time, Awake, Indian Weavers, and The Feather of The Down.
Explanation Of the Poem
The girl explains that the pitchers she is carrying are full of water
and she has not reached her home yet. She has to walk a long distance
carrying the water-filled pitchers to reach her home. Then she explains
the reason for her being late as she was attracted by the song sung by the
boatman. The time is almost evening, it is getting dark, and the girl is
getting scared by the sound of the birds surrounding her. She thought the
sound is made by the white crane or it is the wild owl’s cry. The road she
has taken is also not clean and plain, it passes through a jungle.
The time referred to in the poem is twilight and it is getting darker,
and the moonlight is not present at that moment. The girl says that the
tender moonbeam could give her relief from the fear she is facing. The girl
takes a path that is not plain and clean, she fears that a snake may bite
her or that evil spirits may haunt her. In this deep state of fear, she takes
the name of God Rama to save her from misery.
It is also notable that in many Indian traditions, it is believed that
Chanting God Rama’s name keeps evil away from people and there is the
possibility that the girl is taking Rama’s name to keep such evil energies
away.
The second stanza shows a shift in the speaker’s thinking process
where she is now imagining the reaction of her brother and mother. She
gets anxious as she remembers her brother and mother. She imagines
that her brother will murmur in concern at her delay, on the other hand,
her mother will wait and fear that something bad had happened to her
daughter as the water of Jamuna River is deep.
Her mind comes back to the fearful thoughts of self. She weeps
thinking about what will happen to her if a storm breaks. If the lightning
starts where will she hides to save herself. Her fear increases as she
thinks about these things. She calls her god, again and again, to protect
her footstep and guide her to reach her home safely.
Conclusion
The poem of Sarojini Naidu Village Song depicts the feeling of an
Indian girl, who lives in a village. Though the poem was written in the 90s,
the condition still exists in many Indian villages. It is about the traditional
village way of a girl’s attachment to her family and how the darker
surroundings create anxiety in her thoughts.

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