The Sower poem summary
-Torulata Dutt
About the Poet:
Torulata Dutt, known as Toru, was a bilingual poet. She,a Bengali poet, wrote in English and French. She 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 number of poems and wrote a novel before her death at the age of 21. Her well-known poems are ‘Seeta’, ‘Lotus’ and ‘Our Casuarina Tree’.
About the Poem:
‘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. It explores the toiling life of a farmer who is very optimistic in nature in his life. He works every day and night in his fields. There is no any kind of fix hours for his work. He has seen many bad harvest in his life. This is a very remarkable poem on the life of a farmer.
Summary:
Theme:
One can get anything with dedication, hard-work and perseverance in life.
There are 20 lines in the poem. It has been divided into quatrains. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAB.
Sitting in a porchway cool,
Sunlight, I see, dying fast,
Twilight hastens on to rule.
Working hours have well-nigh past.
In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker of the poem is sitting in the veranda of his house in relaxed manner. The day is almost over. It highlights that the working hours of the day are over. But he pointed out that only a sower does mean farmer is working in his fields. Here, he tries to highlight the contrast in the life of a farmer and himself.
Shadows run across the lands:
But a sower lingers still,
Old, in rags, he patient stands.
Looking on, I feel a thrill.
As we read the second stanza of the poem, we see that the speaker of the poem tries to paint the picture of the farmer in detail. The sower who works is very poor. Though the time is of late evening, he is working in his farm. Even the sower is very cool. It gives a kind of thrill to the speaker.
Black and high, his silhouette
Dominates the furrows deep!
Now to sow the task is set.
Soon shall come a time to reap.
Next stanza explores the work of a farmer i.e. planting seeds. While working in the late evening the shadow of a farmer is appeared on the land that is prepared for plantation. After ploughing and tilling the land, the work sowing seeds is going on of the sower. The sower thinks about the time of harvesting also. Here, the farmer is very optimistic in nature.
Marches he along the plain
To and fro, and scatters wide
From his hands the precious grain;
Muse I, as I see him stride.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker tries to describe the farmers’s actions in detail of working in the fields. How the farmer is sowing the precious grains or seeds in his fields has been highlighted by the speaker.
Darkness deepens. Fades the light.
Now his gestures to mine eyes
Are august; and strange; his height
Seems to touch the starry skies.
In the last stanza of the poem, the hard-work and dedication of the sower is revealed. Although the time is of late night or evening, the sower is working in his fields. The image and work of the sower is very noble, dignified or impressive in the eyes of the speaker. The speaker praises the hard-work of the sower.
Conclusion:
The poetess revealed the image of a hard-working farmer without any certainty to his work.