Toru Dutt: Poetry Summary and Analysis of "The Lotus"
Summary
The poem "The Lotus" is from Dutt's Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (1882). The poem enacts
a type of fable, in which the personified figure of Love comes to Flora, the Roman goddess of flowering
plants, asking her to create the most beautiful flower in the world. After the longstanding feud between
the lily and the rose is described, Love expresses a desire to have a flower that carries elements of both:
"Give me a flower delicious as the rose / And stately as the lily in her pride." When asked what color the
flower should be, Love first says "Rose-red," then qualifies this by saying "No, lily-white,—or, both
provide." The poem ends with Flora gifting Love the lotus, a flower that has both elements of the lily's
beauty and the rose's beauty. The poem as such reflects one instance of Toru Dutt drawing a link between
European culture (and knowledge) and Indian/Asian culture.
Analysis
In terms of form, "The Lotus" is a Petrarchan sonnet, fourteen lines in length with enclosed rhymes in the
octave (the first eight lines of the poem) and the overall rhyme scheme ABBAABBACDCDDC.
The octave develops the backstory of Love approaching Flora, and it also gives us the backstory of the
conflict between the rose and the lily. The rose—red in color and actually native to Asia—is being used
here as a symbol of the ideals of Asian beauty, while the lily—white in color and present in much
European imagery such as coats of arms—is used as a symbol of Europe and the West in general. The
poem is thus not just a fantastical and whimsical dialogue between mythic figures, but also a serious
contest regarding the nature of beauty.
The poem has a turn (or volta) after the octave, and the interlocking rhyme schemes of the sestet (the last
six lines) mirror the conversation conducted between Flora and Love. When the poem resolves itself,
elements of both Western and Eastern beauty are united in the transitional figure of the lotus, a classic
Indian symbol of beauty, youth, and divinity.
While superficially providing a pithy and entertaining explanation for the creation of the lotus flower,
"The Lotus" also provides deeper interpretive meaning insofar as it discusses the ideals of beauty in
different parts of the world. The creation of a liminal or transitional beauty—one that sits in between the
ideals of East and West in the form of the lotus—evokes and suggests not only Dutt's home of India but
also Dutt herself, whose life experiences in Colonial India and all around Europe fundamentally make her
a figure of transition, intermixing, and cultural exchange. The poem also calls back to Dutt's larger body
of work in its attention to and fascination with both natural beauty and world religions, including the
pagan religion of ancient Rome.
Toru Dutt: Poetry Summary and Analysis of "Sîta"
Summary
The poem "Sîta" is from Dutt's Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan (1882). It tells the story of
"Three happy children in a darkened room" being told the legend of Sîta by their mother. The mother tells
the children all about the scene of Sîta's abandonment, ranging from the animals in the woods to the
presence of the "poet-anchorite" Valmiki, who wrote the Ramayana. The children sympathize with the
plight of Sîta, but in the middle of the story, the mother is "hushed at last" by an unknown figure, likely
her husband. The poem ends with a description of the children, rapt with attention at their mother's story,
and the last two lines consist of the speaker's nostalgia for the days when she—likely one of the children
herself—would gather around her mother and listen intently to stories in the evenings.
Analysis
In terms of its form and rhyme scheme, the poem is twenty-two lines and consists of three quatrains of
enclosed rhyme, one quatrain of alternating rhyme, and three rhyming couplets—such that the overall
rhyme scheme is ABBACDDCEFFEGHGHIIJJKK. The poem makes liberal use of exclamation marks
and question marks—evidenced even in the first two lines—which mirror the call-and-response nature of
a mother telling stories to young children.
The first three quatrains develop the scene of the forest in which Sîta is abandoned by Rama—"a dense,
dense forest, where no sunbeam pries," whose darkness parallels the "darkened room" in which the
children sit. The quatrains describe the scene as peaceful and tranquil—bursting with life like "swans,"
"deer," and a "peacock."
However, the tone immediately switches up when the poem's focus shifts to Sîta herself: "She weeps,—
for lo! at every tear she sheds / Tears from three pairs of young eyes fall amain, / And bowed in sorrow
are the three young heads. / It is an old, old story." The alternating rhyme of this quatrain emphasizes the
response of the children to Sîta's pain and their empathy with her struggle.
As we move into the couplets, the long pause after "is by a mother sung" both formally evokes the
hushing and fundamentally changes the rhythm of the poem, quickening it as the rhymes occur more
quickly in couplet form.
Moving into the conclusion of the poem, the fast passage of the rhymes not only evokes the quickness
with which the storytelling atmosphere dissipates, but also the passage of youth that leaves the speaker
nostalgic for the time when she could simply listen and be enraptured by a mother's stories.
The parallels established between the world of Sîta and the world of the storytelling serve to link Sîta to
the mother who tells the story. Much as Sîta is mistreated by her husband Rama, left in the forest to care
for children on her own, so too does the mother carefully entertain the children with stories before being
rudely cut off by her husband's hush. Moreover, the linking of the children to Sîta through empathy and
the "melting" together of the storytelling scene with the memory of the speaker's childhood show that
"Sîta" is a poem that attempts to bridge the gaps between the personal and the cultural, between the small
stories told by mothers and epic myths. Thus, like much of Dutt's other poetry, "Sîta" not only examines
the possibility of relating Indian culture and English verse forms, but it also seeks to deeply interrogate
the role of individuals in telling and retelling stories, the place of gender in culture and stories, and—
through the small detail of Valmiki and the mother's lengthy descriptions of natural scenery—the place of
the poet in describing and inhabiting nature.
Toru Dutt: Poetry Summary and Analysis of "Our Casuarina Tree"
About Toru Dutt
Toru Dutt, despite having a short life, made her poetry live long as a testimony of her literary credentials.
Toru Dutt, born on March 4, 1856, was a poet, novelist, essayist, translator, and the first Indian poetess to
write in French and English. She contributed regularly to the ‘Poet’s Corner’ of The Bengal Magazine
and The Calcutta Review, publishing a series of English translations of French poetry between March
1874 and March 1877. Although she died at the tender age of 21, in 1876, she has produced an impressive
collection of poetry and prose within a short period of life.
Summary
Toru Dutt’s ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ explores the poet’s childhood memories in India. Her description of the
tree expresses her pride in the tree for it remains strong despite the creeper winding around like a python.
From her description of its appearance, she moves on to describe the activities happening around it in the
next stanza. In the third stanza, she ensures that the beauty of the tree is no more than an added gift, for
her real connection with the tree lies in the numerous happy memories she shared with it. In the stanza
that follows, she tells how the tree manifests itself in the foreign land as she has seen it at her young age.
Finally, in the concluding part, she wants to honor the tree, therefore she makes an attempt to write a
poem. Also, she seeks Love’s support to preserve the tree from the affliction of time
Form and Structure
‘Our Casuarina Tree’ by Toru Dutt is a poem of fifty-five lines, divided into five stanzas. Eleven lines of
each stanza consist of an octave (8 lines), following the style of a sonnet that has two quatrains (4 lines)
with closed rhymes and a rhyming tercet. Thus, making the overall rhyme scheme of the poem
‘ABBACDDCEEE FGGFHIIHJJJ KLLKMNNMOOO PQQPRSSRTTT UVVUWXXWYYY’. Further,
using a rhyming tercet (3 lines) rather than the regular rhyming couplet (two lines) gives the impression
of overflowing which mirrors the speaker’s overflowing emotions towards her childhood memories and
the Casuarina tree, the center of the poem.
Poetic Devices
The poem ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ in itself is a symbolic representation of the poet’s memory associated
with the Casuarina tree. Using the subjective pronoun in the title suggests the ‘subjective’ tone of the
poem. In the first stanza, the poet’s description of the creeper’s stronghold on the tree, and the scare
symbolically represent the impact of colonialism on Indian Culture and Philosophy. The poem uses rich
imagery which presents in the description of the tree’s appearance, description of dawn, and the memory
of her loved ones connected with it. The metaphor used in the lines “The giant wears the scarf,”
“trembling Hope,” and “Time the shadow” and the similes’ “”LIKE a huge Python,” “baboon sits statue-
like alone,” and “The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed,” that add beauty to the poem and instates
the poet’s feelings.
Analysis, Stanza by Stanza
Stanza One
Like a huge Python, winding round and round
The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars,
Up to its very summit near the stars,
A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound
No other tree could live. But gallantly
The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung
In crimson clusters all the boughs among,
Whereon all day are gathered bird and bee;
And oft at nights the garden overflows
With one sweet song that seems to have no close,
Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose.
The first stanza of ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ begins with the image of the tree. The poet remembers the tree
being wound by a creeper like a python. Its hold was too tight for it had left the scar on the trunk. The
poet further states that no other tree would have sustained this hold, for it is too strong, but her tree did.
Also, the ‘giant,’ the tree has proudly worn those ‘scars’ like a ‘scarf’, representing its strength. To further
describe its strength, the poet says it is filled with crimson flowers in every bough like a crown that
invited birds and bees. Often at night when the poet could not sleep she used to listen to the music that
filled her garden as if it had no end.
Stanza Two
When first my casement is wide open thrown
At dawn, my eyes delighted on it rest;
Sometimes, and most in winter,—on its crest
A gray baboon sits statue-like alone
Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs
His puny offspring leap about and play;
And far and near kokilas hail the day;
And to their pastures wend our sleepy cows;
And in the shadow, on the broad tank cast
By that hoar tree, so beautiful and vast,
The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.
The second stanza of ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ details the experiences of dawn which delighted the poet.
Every morning, as she opens her window, her eyes rest on the tree, and ‘delighted.’ She presents the
picture of the changing scene with seasons. Sometimes during other seasons, and mostly during winter,
she has seen a baboon sitting on the top branch like a statue waiting to receive the first array of sunlight.
Whereas, his ‘puny offspring’ plays around in the lower branch of the tree. Along with this scenic beauty,
the poet also experienced the ‘kokilas’ welcoming note. She has also observed the cows guided towards
the pastures and the water-lilies spring under the shadow of the hoar tree, like gathered snow.
Stanza Three
But not because of its magnificence
Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:
Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,
O sweet companions, loved with love intense,
For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear.
Blent with your images, it shall arise
In memory, till the hot tears blind mine eyes!
What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear
Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?
It is the tree’s lament, an eerie speech,
That haply to the unknown land may reach.
In the third stanza, the speaker turns more subjective in the memory associated with the tree. She
comments on why the tree will remain dear to her always. Besides the morning bliss, the tree reminds her
of the time she played with her siblings. The tree, blended with the memory of them, gives her the images
of the intense love they shared, leaving the poet in tears. The poet mourns for those departed souls as she
thinks down memory lane. And, she imagines that the tree shares her loss which she hears as “dirge-like
murmur” resembling the waves breaking on a pebble beach.
Stanza Four
Unknown, yet well-known to the eye of faith!
Ah, I have heard that wail far, far away
In distant lands, by many a sheltered bay,
When slumbered in his cave the water-wraith
And the waves gently kissed the classic shore
Of France or Italy, beneath the moon,
When earth lay trancèd in a dreamless swoon:
And every time the music rose,—before
Mine inner vision rose a form sublime,
Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime
I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.
In the fourth stanza, the poet presents an in-depth connection with the tree. Through the image of waves,
she takes us to a foreign land that is “Unknown, yet well-known” where the “waves gently kissed the
classic shore”. Whenever this music of the waves touching the waves rises, it arouses the memory of the
tree in front of the poet’s eyes as she has seen in her youth.
Stanza Five
Therefore I fain would consecrate a lay
Unto thy honor, Tree, beloved of those
Who now in blessed sleep, for aye, repose,
Dearer than life to me, alas! were they!
Mayst thou be numbered when my days are done
With deathless trees—like those in Borrowdale,
Under whose awful branches lingered pale
“Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,
And Time the shadow;” and though weak the verse
That would thy beauty fain, oh fain rehearse,
May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse.
In the final stanza, the speaker wants to erect something in the honor of the casuarina tree. For those who
were beloved, who are resting in peace, loved it. She wants the tree to live long like those trees of
“Borrowdale” making a reference to Wordsworth’s “Yew-trees.” Also, she makes an attempt to
distinguish the trees of England from the Casuarina tree, connecting to her varying emotions. The
Casuarina tree stands for nostalgia, longing, and memory, whereas the trees of England reflect her
isolation. The final lines of the poem underscore the idea of a poem as a written memory. The poet seeks
“Love” to protect the tree and her poem from time’s ravage
Our Casuarina Tree
Toru Dutt
Like a huge Python, winding round and round
The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars,
Up to its very summit near the stars,
A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound
No other tree could live. But gallantly
The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung
In crimson clusters all the boughs among,
Whereon all day are gathered bird and bee;
And oft at nights the garden overflows
With one sweet song that seems to have no close,
Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose.
When first my casement is wide open thrown
At dawn, my eyes delighted on it rest;
Sometimes, and most in winter,—on its crest
A gray baboon sits statue-like alone
Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs
His puny offspring leap about and play;
And far and near kokilas hail the day;
And to their pastures wend our sleepy cows;
And in the shadow, on the broad tank cast
By that hoar tree, so beautiful and vast,
The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.
But not because of its magnificence
Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:
Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,
O sweet companions, loved with love intense,
For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear.
Blent with your images, it shall arise
In mem'ry, till the hot tears blind mine eyes!
What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear
Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?
It is the tree's lament, an eerie speech,
That haply to the unknown land may reach.
Unknown, yet well-known to the eye of faith!
Ah, I have heard that wail far, far away
In distant lands, by many a sheltered bay,
When slumbered in his cave the water-wraith
And the waves gently kissed the classic shore
Of France or Italy, beneath the moon,
When earth lay trancèd in a dreamless swoon:
And ev'ry time the music rose,—before
Mine inner vision rose a form sublime,
Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime
I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.
Therefore I fain would consecrate a lay
Unto thy honor, Tree, beloved of those
Who now in blessed sleep, for aye, repose,
Dearer than life to me, alas! were they!
Mayst thou be numbered when my days are done
With deathless trees—like those in Borrowdale,
Under whose awful branches lingered pale
"Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,
And Time the shadow;" and though weak the verse
That would thy beauty fain, oh fain rehearse,
May Love defend thee from Oblivion's curse.
THE LOTUS
-TORU DUTT
Love came to Flora asking for a flower
That would of flowers be undisputed queen,
The lily and the rose, long, long had been
Rivals for that high honour. Bards of power
Had sung their claims. "The rose can never tower
Like the pale lily with her Juno mien"--
"But is the lily lovelier?" Thus between
Flower-factions rang the strife in Psyche's bower.
"Give me a flower delicious as the rose
And stately as the lily in her pride"--
"But of what colour?"--"Rose-red," Love first chose,
Then prayed,--"No, lily-white,--or, both provide;"
And Flora gave the lotus, "rose-red" dyed,
And "lily-white,"--the queenliest flower that blows.
SITA
-TORU DUTT
Three happy children in a darkened room!
What do they gaze on with wide-open eyes?
A dense, dense forest, where no sunbeam pries,
And in its centre a cleared spot.—There bloom
Gigantic flowers on creepers that embrace
Tall trees: there, in a quiet lucid lake
The while swans glide; there, "whirring from the brake,"
The peacock springs; there, herds of wild deer race;
There, patches gleam with yellow waving grain;
There, blue smoke from strange altars rises light.
There, dwells in peace, the poet-anchorite.
But who is this fair lady? Not in vain
She weeps,—for lo! at every tear she sheds
Tears from three pairs of young eyes fall amain,
And bowed in sorrow are the three young heads.
It is an old, old story, and the lay
Which has evoked sad Sîta from the past
Is by a mother sung.… 'Tis hushed at last
And melts the picture from their sight away,
Yet shall they dream of it until the day!
When shall those children by their mother's side
Gather, ah me! as erst at eventide?
