Text of Village Song:
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?
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| Sarojini Naidu’s Poem Village Song—Summary and Critical Analysis |
Mother mine, to the wild forest I am going,
Where upon the champa boughs the champa buds are blowing;
To the koil-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.
Summary of the Song:
The mother addresses her sweet daughter, and asks her where she is going to? Would she throw away all her jewellery into the wind that is blowing, and would she leave her mother who has fed her on 'golden grain', i.e. brought her up with such affectionate care ? Would she also break the heart of the lover who is coming on horse-back to marry her, and thus cause him intense grief?
But the daughter who is fed up with the harsh realities of the mundane world is determined to go away. She would go away to the beautiful forests where the sweet-scented champa flowers are shining in all their beauty, and the koels are singing. The fairies are calling her to the beautiful forest and she must go. She hears their call, and she invites her mother also to listen to them.
The mother continues her attempts to make her stay in her own world. The world is full of pleasures, there are sweet lullabies and sweet marriage songs, and there is also plenty of leisure and fragrance of sandal wood. Her bridal dress, of beautiful and bright white and saffron colours, is being prepared. The delicious bridal cakes are also ready. Therefore, she should not go away leaving behind all these pleasures and causing intense sorrow to her mother and to her bridegroom. Thus the mother seeks to counter the romantic escape world imagined by the daughter with a romantic picture of the world which they inhabit.
But the daughter is not to be stopped. The call of the fairies is much more powerful. She frankly tells her mother that the pleasures of this world are short-lived and the pleasures she refers to are fleeting. The sunshine of joy is darkened in no time by the wind of death. The songs of the forest are much more sweet than the songs of the world, and they are also more lasting. So she will go to the forest and enjoy the sweet music of the birds and the streams. She can no longer stay with her, but must go, for the fairies are calling her.
Critical Appreciation:
Introduction:
"The Village Song” reveals the allurement of pastoral life, unspoiled by the sorrows and suffering of life. The dialogue between a mother and her child (a daughter) unfolds the theme. The scene is pastoral. The happy world of Nature seems more enchanting to the daughter than the world of sordid realities, pain and frustration. Even the mundane desires and pleasures hold no charm and she desires to escape to the beauties of songs and flowers in Nature. The mother strives to persuade her daughter to lead an ordinary and normal life but the daughter seems to intend on having her way despite her mother's counter-arguments. To the determined daughter the call of the beautiful Nature, with its inherent peace and happiness, is undeniable and irresistible.
Thought-Content:
The sorrows and sufferings of the world of harsh reality have a very unsettling effect on the young and impressionable mind of the child who determines to escape to the world of benevolent Nature which in its wild grandeur provides scenic beauty of swaying champa buds, merrily singing Koils, glistening lotus flowers around river-isles where there are limpid streams and no sorrow. The mother tries to dissuade her daughter by holding out attractions of the joys and pleasures of marriage and child birth, and that of lover and the bridal garments, of dainty foods to be served at her wedding feast. She also mentions the difficulties she had experienced in bringing her up and also that she will be left alone with none to take care of her in old age. But the call of the wild Nature proves stronger than either the mundane pleasures of the world of reality or the duty towards her mother.
Theme and Moral of the Poem:
This charming lyric gives a vivid and forceful expression to the eternal longing of the human heart for the remote, the distant and the unfamiliar, for a world which is not subject to the fluctuations of the human joys and sorrows, which is eternally beautiful and sweet. The more urgent and intimate need of the sensitive maiden's personality cannot be understood by the mother who nurtures her own sense of loss and separation. The daughter explains her own irresistible fidelity to the charms of the fairy world. The poetess dramatizes the tension between the mother's traditional view of life and the daughter's romantic view of individuality.
Style and Language:
The poem has been written in question-answer form which makes it dramatic. This poem is a folk version of the poetess' Nilambuja, and as a folk- song it fits naturally into the background, of action and sentiment, germane to the racial consciousness. The poetess has succeeded in capturing the simplicity and the spirit of the folk-song. The arguments and counter-arguments are very interesting. The description of Nature, its irresistible magical hold over the daughter, is superb:
"Far sweeter sound the forest-notes where forest- streams are falling;
O mother mine I cannot stay, the fairy-folk are calling.”