2.2 The Sower - Std XI

                        2.2 The Sower 

                 

             ‘The Sower’ is a translation of Victor Hugo's poem, Saison des Semailles: Le Soir. It is translated by Toru Dutt from French to English. ‘The Sower’ is a poem about a farmer who is sowing seeds. He has seen many bad harvests in his life. However he is so optimistic of having a good harvest every time he tosses grain.

Victor Hugo:    

             

 Poet, novelist and dramatist of the 19th century was the most important of the French Romantic writers. Though regarded in France as one of the country's greatest poets, he is better known for novels as Notre-Dame de Paris(1831) and Les Miserables (1862)

Torulata Dutt:

              

A Bengali poet, also known as Toru, wrote in English and French, was born on 4th March 1856 in Kolkata. She is considered to be the first Indian poetess to write verses in English and French. She translated dozens of poems and completed a novel before her death at the age of 21. Her poems such as ‘Seeta’, ‘Lotus’ and ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ are well-loved.

Stanza 1-

The poet says that one day he sits on a porchway (entrance) to enjoy the sunset. He watches the ruddy i.e. red sunlight fading away fast. As the evening approaches, the twilight (here it means evening) begins to rule i.e. dominate the light. In other words, the darkness starts spreading all over. At such a time, when there is no light, people stop their work (here it means working in the farms). They are not seen anywhere as they go back to their homes.

Stanza 2-

There is nothing in the land but the shadows which shoot (spread) all over the places. However, among those shadows, the poet sees one sower (the one who sows seeds i.e. farmer). He lingers (stays) there. He is old, in rags (torn clothes) and stands there patiently. Watching him the poet feels thrilled.

Stanza 3 -

 In the third stanza, the poet says that the sower’s silhouette (here it means the shadow of the sower) is dark and keeps growing as the night approaches. It spreads over deep furrows (i.e. narrow trench made by a plow for sowing seeds) which are now invisible due to darkness.

According to the poet, the sower may be thinking it is the time to sow the seeds and he is doing it. Soon the crops will grow and sower will be able to reap the fruit of his hard labor and dedicated work. This stanza contains a lesson for young people. One should work hard while others give up. This way, they will be able to get fruits of their dedication.

Stanza 4 -

The sower marches (walks) to and fro (from one end to the other and back to the first one) along the plain (farm) and scatters the precious grain from his hands in the field. The grains are precious as they will grow into crops and will make the sower prosperous. The poet becomes moody i.e. sad by seeing him struggling so much.

Stanza 5-

Soon, the darkness deepens i.e. night appears. The daylight is no more. The poet cannot see the gestures (activities) properly. They seem to be strange which he cannot understand now. In the final line, the poet says that the height of the sower seems to touch the starry skies i.e. it becomes so dark that he becomes invisible.

 

  Appreciation of the poem – The Sower

The poem “The Sower” is a translated poem from French into English language. It is translated by Toru Dutt who is one of the founding figures of Indo-Anglian literature. She was a literary genius who blended three literary traditions – Indian, English and French. The original poet of these French poem is Victor Hugo. The title of the poem represents the central character of the poem, the Sower.

The poem is about the poet’s observation of the sower; his dedication, determination and selfless hard-work. The poet observes the painstaking dedication of the sower and has a deep feeling of reverence for him. The central idea of the poem revolves around all these actions of this sower.

The theme of the poem is dedication, perseverance and commitment and the poet’s admiration of the sower’s actions as Noble and selfless.

The poetic devices used in this poem are Alliteration, Antithesis, Personification etc. ‘Shadows run across the lands’ – in this line, The Shadows are given the animate quality of running.

This is a narrative poem. The special features of this poem are imagery and symbolism. Descriptive imagery is used in this poem. ‘Marches, he along the plane’ –  in this line the word ‘marches’ indicates movement and thus creates a visual image in the minds of the readers. The rhyme scheme of the poem is  abab.

The message of this poem is that we all should work selflessly with a positive attitude in life. The tone of the poem is full of optimism and is fresh and appealing.