2) A: Older Poet: Toru Dutt

Poem: Our Casuarina Tree

Analyse :The poem “Our Casuarina Tree” is from Dutt’s Ancient Ballads and
Legends of Hindustan (1882). It is one of Dutt’s most famous poems, and it
describes a tree near the speaker’s home that she associates heavily with memories
of her childhood and her siblings that have since died, “Who now in blessed sleep,
for aye, repose.” The word “our” in the title hints at this significance—it is not just an
ordinary tree for the poet, but rather a part of her life and an integral part of her
childhood that she shared with her siblings.

Poetess tells in the opening lines explains the beauty of the Casuarina, standing
erect and rounded with creeps that clutches it like a huge python. The tree is a
source of life, filled with birds and bees, though the children who used to play under
its branches are long gone. This liveliness that surrounds the tree is further detailed
in the second stanza, which tells of a baboon, kokilas, and cows in its vicinity.

In the middle of the poem, the speaker tells us explicitly that it is not because of its
magnificence Dear is the Casuarina to my soul rather, it is because of her memories
of her departed siblings. At the thought of their deaths and their past memories, even
the tree seems to ‘lament’. In the fourth stanza, the speaker recalls various foreign
shores where she heard noise similar to the tree’s sorrowful sighs, and recalled the
tree and her ‘own loved native clime.’

In the last stanza of the poem, the speaker meditates on the ‘deathless trees’ in
‘Borrowdale’ that carry the same grim weight as those in William Wordsworth’s poem
on yew-trees, which she quotes: ‘Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton, /
And Time the shadow.’ By contrast, the speaker tells us, she yearns to return to the
Casuarina tree of her youth, which she hopes will be saved “from Oblivion’s curse.”
Finally the poetess remembers the past her memories in his poem.

B: Older Poet: Sarojini Naidu

Poem: Autumn song

Analysis: ‘Autumn Song’ by Sarojini Naidu begins with the image of the setting sun
that is metaphorically hanging on a cloud. The reference to the setting sun is a
conventional symbol of hopelessness. The dusk brings joy to the poet’s heart but it’s
already filled with sorrow. The upcoming winter makes her mind clouded with
negativity and doubt.

In the last three lines, the poet paints a picture of “glittering sheaves” that
symbolically brings a sense of hope in the poem. In fact, it creates a contrast of
conflicting emotions in the poet’s heart. Inside her mind, there is a fear of the future
and in front of her eyes, nature waits with hope and prosperity. Suddenly, the “wild
wind” of change comes and blows her negative thoughts away like, “fair and frail and
fluttering leaves”.

In the second stanza, Sarojini Naidu responds to nature’s clarion call. According to
the poet, the “voice of the wind” comes knocking at her mind’s door. She can’t be
silent. There is no place for motionlessness when nature itself is urging the poet to
move on, to shed off her “weary”, “sad” and lonely thoughts.

The tree sheds the old leaves to grow new leaves in the future. It’s an ongoing
process. The cycle of change has been in motion from time immemorial. Autumn
acts as a catalyst in this process. For this reason, the poet dreams of a better future
that is waiting for. She doesn’t fear the change. Her mind is just a little hesitant with
the thoughts of winter. In the end, she decides it is her duty to respond wisely. That’s
why she says, “And why should I stay behind?”

C: Older poet: Sri Aurobindo

Poem: Life and death

Analysis : The poem "Life And Death" by Sri Aurobindo explores the connection
and flexibility of life and death. It challenges the traditional view of these concepts as
opposites, suggesting instead that they are part of a continuous cycle. The poem
marks a departure from the author's earlier works, which primarily focused on
themes of spirituality and yoga. It aligns with the philosophical and intellectual
currents of the early 20th century, where traditional boundaries were being
questioned and the nature of reality was being examined. The poem's brief and
thought-provoking verses invite observation on the nature of existence and flexibility
of the life-death field

D: Later poet : Kamla Das

Poem: Summer in Calcutta

Analysis: "Summer in Calcutta" is a poem by the Indian poet Kamala Das. The
poem captures the cruel heat and sensuality of summer in the city of Calcutta. It
explores themes of desire, longing, and the difficulties of human relationships.

In the poem, the speaker describes the intense heat of Calcutta during the summer
months, which seems to increase the passions and desires of the people living there.
The city becomes a place of sensuality and desire, where the heat seems to
heighten the emotions and experiences of its inhabitants.

The speaker reflects on her own desires and longings, expressing a sense of
restlessness and yearning meant for something beyond the boundaries of her
current existence. She grapples with the complexities of her own desires and the
ways in which they intersect with the world around her.
Overall, "Summer in Calcutta" is a poem that explores themes of desire, sensuality,
and the human experience in the context of a hot and oppressive summer in the city
of Calcutta. It delves into the difficulties of human emotion and the ways in which
desire can shape our experiences and interactions with the world .

E: Later Poet : Sujata Bhatt

Poem: Go to Ahmedabad

Analysis: The poet, Sujata Bhatt herself, in ‘go to ahmedabad,’ talks about her hometown
from where she had migrated. The poet talks about her old memories, mental state, and
modern social issues. She raises the problems of the sidelined sections and presents their pain
to her global readers. Highlighting the gravity of the issue, Bhatt portrays the impact of
deficiency on the bodies and soul of people who experience it.

Deficiency causes long-term physical and mental sickness. The speaker impacts the readers
by evoking them to feel the pain and endless aggression of the deprived. The poem also
shows the condition of women in a patriarchal society. Women get doubly sidelined during a
crisis like poverty.

Simultaneously Bhatt portrays and deals with her troubled soul and liminal position due to
her migration. Immigrants’ exposure to new ideas and opportunities leads to a global view on
discriminating socio-cultural practices and values. However, amidst this exposure, they fear
losing their roots and identity that emerge from their native lands. While trying to strike a
balance between the two, the speaker or immigrants occupy an in-between, or liminal,
position between the two cultures and countries.

Suffering from a creative block in America, the poet accepts her liminal position and new
identity, presenting the blessing of being in such an hesitant position. Her liminal position
and creative writing create an empowering space for Bhatt. Concurrently, she not only
provides global support to her people but also preserves and presents the culture of her
hometown through her poem.
F: Later Poet : A.K Ramanujan

Poem: On the death of a poem

Analysis: The poem is a heart-rendering cry of a poet on the death of the poem. A
poem’s death is nothing but the lost of significance and the beauty of a poem. The
poem’s death is the end of all works that the poet goes through during the creation of
the poem. A poem’s death is the end of all stormy wind of emotion that constitutes
each and every sentence, every word and letter of the poem. The death of a poem
is the death of emotions and to a poet, it is heart rendering. The
poem says that the images that constitutes the poem: the memories
and imaginations associated complicatedly with the poem are consulting each
other. The consultation is yet an attribute that is living and this suggest that the
images are not just images but the living, breathing emotions for the poet, they
are dear to his heart. They consult together to come to a decision like a jury.
The image is magnified here. They are also said to be ‘conscience stricken’, which
implies that they might lack the fervour, the charm and the elements of glory that
needs to bring forth recognition of the poem. Thus, they are conscious-stricken. This
brings out the harsh truth that poetry not only consists of emotions but the element of
magnification is important too, which the poem might have needed.
Though the images were ‘conscious-stricken’ still they wanted to come to a
sentence. This indicates, the poet’s love for the images in spite of the fact that the
images might not glorify the poem. This is perhaps a reference to Ramanujan
himself because in spite of the fact that his poems were controversial
yet he had never discarded the beautiful thought and mind striking
images. Thus, the poem is a heart-rendering cry of a poet on the face of a poem’s
death.