Give a description of hermitage of Valmiki as Portrayed in toru dutt's 'sita'
Answers
Poem:-
Three happy children in darkened room!
What do they gaze on with wide-open eyes?
A dense, dense forest, where no sunbeam pries,
Gigantic flowers on creepers that embrace
Tall trees; there, in a quiet lucid lake
The white swans glide; there, “whiring from the brake,”
The peacock springs; there, herds of wild deer race;
There, patches gleam with yellow waving grain;
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 Sita 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?
In the poem "Sita" the poet Toru Dutt conjures up the mythic past and tries to infuse into it the past glory. She gives a picture of Sita in exile. What fascinates the reader is her description of nature in which flowers, lakes, peacocks, and a herd of deer find a place.
The narrator in the poem is the mother who is telling the story of Sita in exile to her three children- Toru, her sister Aru, and their brother, Abju. In the darkened room the three children gaze, through the eyes of their mind, on a dense forest i.e., the Ashram of Valmiki where Sita was in exile. They see gigantic flowers blooming on creepers that embrace tall trees; a quiet clear lake where white swans are swimming smoothly; the peacock springing the herds of wild deer racing; the small areas gleaming with yellow waving grain. And among all these, they see Sita weeping because she has been put in exile in Valmiki Ashram.
The sorrow of Sita's life has deeply touched the children. They can see the Valmiki Ashram where Sita was in exile through the eyes of their mind. They feel sorry for Sita, and tears roll down their eyes. The children are so affected by the story of Sita that they dreamt of it whole might after the mother has finished telling the story.