Critical Appreciation of the Poem:
Introduction:
Our Casuarina Tree is a famous, melodious, sentimental and memorable poem by Toru Dutt. Our Casuarina Tree is one among the six poems of Toru Dutt's famous anthology ‘Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan Part II’. Casuarina is a tree that is regarded holy among the Christian community. The casuarina tree has its own importance at the birthday of Jesus Christ. On the birthday of Christ, the casuarina trees are adorned with the lights and toys. The Christians celebrate the birthday of Jesus Christ by adorning the Christmas tree. They associate the casuarina tree with Santa Claus who visits the houses at the night of Christ's birthday and brings gifts and toys for the children. He secretly distributes the toys and gifts among the children. Generally it is believed that Santa Claus visits the houses where the casuarina tree is decorated as the Christmas tree.
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| Critical Appreciation of the Poem Our Casuarina Tree by Toru Dutt |
Santa likes the casuarina tree and the decorated casuarina tree is a way to attract him for the visit of a house. Casuarina has its origin in Australia and India. It has joined branches and grows very high. If looked from a bit distance it looks like a huge python. Toru Dutt remembers a casuarina tree, outside her house in Kolkata; she has passed a very sweet and memorable time under that casuarina tree in the company of her brother Abju and sister Aru. She used to play under the tree with Abju and Aru. Those sweet moments are still fresh in her mind. Unfortunately, the poetess has lost her sister Aru and brother Abju as well. Both Aru and Abju have died. Now there is nobody with whom the poetess could share the sweet memories of the casuarina tree. But she likes the tree very much. She thinks that the casuarina tree makes her recall the sweet company of her brother and sister. The poetess thinks that the casuarina tree itself is very sad and disappointed owing to untimely death of Aru and Abju. She feels that the tree is mourning over their death and wants to share the poetess’ grief. In short the casuarina tree has its own importance in the life of the poetess.
Development of Thoughts:
The casuarina tree is the centre point around which the entire poem revolves. The tree is very important in the life of the poetess. Toru Dutt has passed some beautiful time in the company of Abju and Aru, her deceased brother and sister around this tree. The casuarina tree is the witness of their enjoyment and happiness. Toru Dutt gives a very sensuous, vivid but emotional description of the casuarina tree. She remembers everything about the tree and describes every aspect and every feature of her casuarina tree with full fervour and zeal. To illustrate the vast size and structure of the tree she compares it with a big python. The tree appearing as a huge python is encircled round the huge stem of the tree. It is a tall tree that seems to touch the sky. A creeper is also very tightly encircled round the tree. The casuarina tree enjoys that creeper like a muffler. The tree looks very attractive and tempting owing to the bunches of bloomed red colour flowers on its branches. The casuarina tree is a kind hearted tree that openly offers shelter to the birds and bees in its thick branches. At night so often these birds sing so sweet that the darkness is filled with sweet music. The casuarina tree makes the birds sing and turns the environment sweet and melodious. In the opening lines the poetess describes the physical beauty and structure of the dear casuarina tree.
Toru Dutt is deeply and emotionally attached to the casuarina tree. Many sweet memories of her past life are associated with this tree. She tells that in every morning she uses to open the window of her room to see the casuarina tree. It is her daily routine to behold the beautiful tree from the window of her room after getting up in the morning. Toru Dutt tells that sometimes in winter the poetess sees a monkey at the top branch of the tree and the other monkeys of its family are at the lower branches of the tree. It is very interesting to see monkeys jumping from one branch to the other of the casuarina tree. The poetess enjoys the jumping and playing of the monkeys at the branches of the casuarina tree. The casuarina tree is also a sweet home for many beautiful singing birds. A number of beautiful singing birds take refuge on this tree. These birds sing beautiful songs in the morning and turn the whole environment into a sweet and melodious one. Their beautiful song can attract anyone. These birds sing beautiful songs to herald the morning. These songs make everything active. Hearing the songs of the birds of the casuarina tree, cows get up and start moving towards the pastures. The broad pond near the tree makes the scene more impressive. The pond looks white owing to blooming water lilies as if it were snowed. The poetess describes the scene of the casuarina tree in the morning.
The poetess values the casuarina tree a lot in her life. She loves the tree not because of its beauty and hugeness but because she finds it near to her heart and emotions. The poetess loves this tree because she has passed some golden and memorable moments of her life under this tree in the company of her brother Abju and sister Aru who are no more in this mortal world. The tree keeps the memories of Aru and Abju fresh in the mind of the poetess. The tree plays a role of a bridge between the poetess and her deceased brother and sister. The tree provides an emotional support to the poetess and makes her smile. The tree keeps the poetess in an emotional touch by making her remember of the sweet moments that she has passed in the company of Aru, her sister and Abju, her brother under the tree. She remembers that the birds are singing, monkeys are jumping from one branch to another and she (the poetess) is playing with her brother Abju and sister Aru. But those days have passed now and the sweet memories of that time bring tears in the poetess’ eyes and she gets emotional. She becomes sad remembering her dear sister and brother who are dead now. She hears the monotonous and uninteresting voice of the sea - waves that are striking against the pebbles at the shore and creating a different kind of music. But the poetess is very sad and hence does not take interest in the music of the waves. She is very disappointed and wants to mourn the untimely death of her sister and brother. Sometimes, the poetess thinks that the tree, too, is very sad on the death of Abju and Aru. She feels that the casuarina tree is mourning their death. But she thinks that it is worthless to weep over their death now. They have gone from this world never to return. She tells that Aru and Abju are now in the unknown land of the other world that exists only in faith.
In the next part of the poem, Toru Dutt highlights her active life. She says that she has lived an active life from the physical as well as mental viewpoint. It is true that she is living far from her native place i.e., Kolkata, but she can easily hear the lament of the casuarina tree. She observes the shrieks and cries of the casuarina tree even in her sound sleep. She clearly sees the picture of the casuarina tree in her dreams. The picture of the casuarina tree is so lively and vivid as if it were directly before her eyes. She becomes happy to see her dear tree in her dreams. The clear picture of the casuarina tree in her dreams gives a new strength to her view and faith that is an unknown and hidden world far from this mortal world, where the souls of the dead live and appear in the dreams of their respective dear ones. Thus, the appearance of the casuarina tree in the poetess’ dreams makes her believe that there is another hidden world where the souls of the dead inhabitate and keep contact with their relatives and other dear ones by appearing in their dreams. Thus, the casuarina tree and its appearance in the poetess’ dreams make the poetess believe unbelievable.
The poetess has already indicated her emotional attachment to the casuarina tree in the early stanzas of this poem. She has pointed out that the casuarina tree has its own importance in her life. The poetess describes her feelings towards the casuarina tree in a clearer and bigger way. She expresses her wish to compose a song in honour of the casuarina tree. This tree was greatly liked by Aru and brother Abju. Both of them are dead now. Her brother and sister used to play under this tree. Thus, her emotions are deeply associated with that tree and it is why she loves the tree so much. The tree reminds poetess those sweet moments that she has enjoyed in the company of her sister and brother under the tree. The poetess tells that she does not know where her deceased brother and sister are at the present time but she sincerely hopes when she too, will die, her memory will keep her attached to the dear casuarina tree. The poetess believes that the sweet memories will keep her in the contact with the tree after her departure from this mortal world. The poetess is uncertain about the standard and quality of her song. She thinks that her song is a weak song. In spite of the weakness of the song, she believes that her faith is pure and strong and it shall certainly be protected by her deep love and in this way she shall also be remembered like her deceased brother and sister after her death.
Thus, this poem describes the deep love of the poetess towards the tree. The whole poem is a vivid and sentimental description of the relationship between the poetess and the tree.
Title:
‘Our Casuarina Tree' is the most suitable title of this poem. The title is closely related to the theme and subject of the poem. In this poem, Toru Dutt describes her solid relationship with the casuarina tree. She describes how valuable the casuarina tree in the poetess’ life. The whole poem is based on the beauty of the tree. So the title ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ is very apt, appropriate and very striking. This title is short, lucid and flowing. It creates a curiosity among the readers. ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ is a fantastic poem by Toru Dutt as far as the title of the poem is concerned.
A Poem full of Emotions:
Toru Dutt’s ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ is known for its strong emotions and sentiments. The poem itself is a story of solid but emotional relationship between the poetess herself and the tree. The poetess likes the casuarina tree not because of its beauty and hugeness but because her emotions are associated with this tree. The tree reminds her the sweet time that she has passed with her brother Abju and sister Aru under this tree. Now Aru and Abju are not in this world. They have died. But the tree keeps the memories of Abju and Aru fresh in the poetess’ mind. The tree is the only source through which the poetess recalls her sweet days with her brother and sister. Our Casuarina Tree ' is really an emotional poem. The tree's emotions are also attached to the poetess ' family. The poetess feels that the tree itself is very sad and disappointed at the untimely death of the poetess brother Abju and sister Aru. The poetess feels that the casuarina tree is mourning the death of Aru and Abju. The poetess gives the poem an emotional touch when she describes the tree's relationship with the creeper. The tree offers shelter to the birds and bees and appears to be kind and generous for all . The poem becomes very sentimental when the poetess recalls those days when she is playing around the casuarina tree along with her dead brother Abju and sister Aru. The poem is really marked with deep and intense emotions and it can be observed in the following stanza of the poem:
“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 see breaking on the shingle - beach?
Is the tree's lament, an eerie speech,
That hoply to the unknown land may reach,
Unknown, yet well - known to the eye of faith!”
Sensuousness:
Sensuousness has been a conspicuous feature of the poem ‘Our Casuarina Tree’. The poetess portrays every aspect and feature of the casuarina tree in a lively manner. She employs many things to illustrate the beauty and structure of the poem. In the beginning, Toru Dutt compares the tree with a huge python to illustrate its huge structure. She tells that the tree offers refuge and shelter to the birds and bees. In winter, many monkeys also play on the branches of the tree. The pond full of blooming white lilies near the tree enhances the beauty of the tree. In the morning the tree becomes a centre of attraction owing to the sweet songs of the birds. The birds sing songs to herald the day. The poetess notes everything and then describes them in an impressive way. The poem 'Our Casuarina Tree' is a superb poem due to its outstanding sensuousness.
In short ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ is one of the most popular and successful lyrics by Toru Dutt. It is a remarkable poem due to its deep emotional touch. Sensuousness of the poem is another vital feature of the poem. ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ is a great poem because of its high imagination. In other words ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ is a poem that justifies Toru Dutt's claim as a great Anglo - Indian poet of 20th century.
