“Summer” is a short poem written by Jayanta Mahapatra who looks at the world from an objective point of view. The poem is filled with images and has a significant meanings inside. It talks about the landscape of Hindu marriage and society and there are many symbols in the poem which suggest the entire thematic concerns in the poem. Critically the poem weaves the mixture of certainty and uncertainty which is a heavy influence writing features from T.S Eliot.
The influences of Eliot is seen in the opening of the poem. The mention of “Not yet” shows the certainty that something has not happened but is yet to come and the uncertainty is drawn with a rhetorical question “Who needs the future?”. It could mean that the certainty of something that is yet to happen is resulted in the future uncertainty implying that the future of the girl child is uncertain with the coming certainty.
Mahapatra’s poem are filled with images and he tries to bridge meaning of life through images. he highlights that there seem to be a fire under the mango tree and there are only ashes left. The “mango tree” is in reference to the family of the girl child and the “cold ash” is suggestive of abandonment or decayed of child’s future . The “ash’ has been cold in the “deserted fire” where the “fire” symbolizes the hidden inner desires or ambitions of a girl child which has been abandoned and left by the family members.
He shows the imagery of a mother and her daughter of “ten-year-old ” who is combing her “mother’s hair ” reflects womanhood. It reflects the relationship of a mother and a love for her daughter. He also paints a picture of the “crows” who seems to be a rivalry are ‘quietly nesting”. The “crows’ are always a symbol of evil and looking at it from the Indian context, it could symbolize the old traditional child marriage and the lines could suggest that the mother may not have approved the early marriage while resulting in rivalry among the family members but the dominance in Indian scenario is always a man and hence the image of “quietly nesting” symbolizes the settlement of the issue where the girl is getting married early. It throws insight into the realm of patriarchal society and injustices faced by a woman and their silent oppression.
Lastly, he further adds that the girl child knew that her home will “never be hers” symbolizing the patriarchal society and she knows in “corner of her mind” that her ambitions in life will be abandoned and isolated in the society. It is clearly portrayed in the lines “a living green mango/drops softly to earth” suggesting the clear negating of girl child’s desires and profession.
Click Here to know about the poem “The Exile ” analysis – https://getsetnotes.com/critical-analysis-of-the-poem-the-exile-by-jayanta-mahapatra/
