The Sower- Victor Marie
Hugo
The poem 'THE SOWER' is written by the famous French writer, Victor Hugo. He is well known for his poetry, drawing, novels and also famous journalist. He is famous among the Romanic writers. Notable works of Victor Hugo are; Cromwell (1827), Herani (1830), The Hunch Back of Notre-Dame(1831), Ruy Blas, Les Miserables (1862), Toilers of the Sea(1827), He was one of the Rationalist writer among the Russian writers. He was a passionate supporter of republicanism. He was honored in many ways, including his portrait being placed in French currency. He was buried in Pantheon in Paris.
Romantic features was one of the major factors which made Victor
Hugo famous among his contemporaries. He proposed to deal with materials from
common life in a selection of language used by the men. The poem titled The
Sower is one among such works. According to the poet and the translator of the
poem (Toru Dutt) poetry is not primarily a mirror of men in action, it is the
poets own feelings while processing the composition. Poems come out of the real
life situations that touched the poet’s heart. The remarkable use of
landscapes, together with flora and fauna become the major theme of romantic
poets The Farming and
the life of a farmer is the major theme of the poem and the poet describes his
feelings for the farmer along with the detailed description about the nature
around the farmer. The poet goes directly into the description from the very
first line itself.
First Stanza
“Sitting in a porchway……………………………working hours
are well night past.”
The poet is sitting leisurely in a porchway
enjoying the sunset and reddish sky. Poet describes the twilight sky. ‘The
twilight hastens on to rule’ the line suggest the over power of the twilight
sky over the day time because it is a time between the day and soon it will
become the night sky. ‘Working hours are well night past’ this line suggest the
time of work in the fields are over and the farmers and other workers can’t be
seen anywhere. Soon it is going to be night and dark all around.
Second Stanza:
“Shadow shoots…………………………………………………….. I feel a
thrill”
The twilight sky beautifies the place. An over
shadows and dark images are spreading all around the nature. All of a sudden
the attention of the poet is struck on a farmer who is standing alone in the
fields. From this stanza onwards the major attention is taken over by the
farmer who is standing alone in the fields. ‘Old in rags, he patient stands’
this line says about the old sower and his cloths, how tattered and muddy, but
the poet is so much thrilled to see his calm and peaceful in the field.
Third Stanza:
“Black and high……………………………………………….a time to reap
Since it is a twilight time everything appears
to be blackish and reddish in colour. ‘Silhouette’ the term used by Victor Hugo
in the poem which is a word of French origin, an illustrated outline filled
with solid colour usually black. The black shadows of the sower is dominating
the deep furrows in the fields. Since the sun is setting the silhouette
gradually becomes bigger and bigger thus even the deep furrows seems to be
small in front of the sower. Here the human aspects is shown powerful and
dominating over the nature. In the next line of the poem Victor Hugo describes
about the mindset of the sower in detail ‘now to sow……………..a time to reap’ the
farmer is hoping for a good harvest that will have to do in future because
today he will sow some seeds, later it will be watered, the seeds will grow and
soon the grains will appear and all his wishes will be fulfilled. Just like
hard work ultimately results in a fruitful joy the farmer also dreams about the
time of the harvest.
Fourth Stanza:
“Marches he along the plain…………………………to see
him stride”
The stanza deals with the movement of the farmer and about his actions in the field. The poet describes the farmer as marching rather than just saying walking this might be because of his strong determination and positive attitude towards a better future. The farmer was all alone in the field because he was the only person so fond of farming. Just like us when we face our problems in life individually with courage he also stands alone in the field. The farmer moves forward and backward scattering the precious grains which are both a symbol of prosperity and wealth of future. The grain is called ‘precious grains’ because each and every grain is important in the life of a farmer, he collects each one of them carefully so that he could have a harvest of better crops from his fields. The poet becomes dodgy and gloomy to see the sowers painful efforts.
Fifth
Stanza:
“Darkness deepens………………………………………..touch the starry skies”
The last stanza concludes with the description
of the night sky. The twilight sky gradually turns to night sky. The light are
all out and everywhere the darkness appears. Now the sower is invisible to the
poet even then the poet speaks about the gestures of the sower which will be
continuing in the field because he may not go back to his house. Now the poet
feels the majestic and awe-inspiring image of the sower. The gradual and
progressive growth of the shadow of the sower now reached the top of the sky and
the world appears to be the reflection of his shadow. The starry skies are
nothing but the reflection of the seeds thrown out from the hand of the sower.
LITERARY ASPECTS OF THE POEM
· Rhyming Scheme:
Rhyming words are standard rhymes consist of the repetition, in the rhythm
words of the last stressed vowel and of all the speech sounds of the following
vowel.
· Rhymes in the
poem are; cool-rule, fast-past, lands-stands, still-thrill, silhouette-set,
deep-reap, plain- grain, wide- stride, light- height, eyes- skies.
· Word pictures in
the poem
The poem titled ‘The Sower’ written by Victor
Hugo is a magnificent poem dealing with both nature and humanistic features.
The words are carefully selected and have detailed description of each and
every events happened in front of the poet. The poem was translated by the
famous writer from India, Toru Dutt. She is well known Indian writer, this poem
was translated by her. This translation is considered as most appreciated among
all the other translations of the poem.
QUESTIONS
1) “But
one sower linger still” why does the sower linger?
2) Why
does the speaker feel thrilled on seeing the sower?
3) Why
does the poet say “precious grains” rather than just grains?
4) Why
the poet does becomes moody in the fourth stanza?
5) Bring
of some comparisons between the poet and the sower?
EXERCISE & ACTIVITIES:
1) Collect
other poems of Victor Hugo and write appreciation?
2) Collect
some farming songs similar in theme from Malayalam or English language?
3) Make
comparison of the poet and the sower?
4) List
out the words showing emotions in the poem?
APARNA I JOY
ROLL . NO : 3
ENGLISH OPTIONAL
