A basket full of love - rich with endearing flowers,
That are tinted only with colors of utmost happiness,
Made those innocent eyes shimmer with sparkling showers,
While the lips widened to wear a smile of eagerness.
As the basket is taken along the hedges of a beautiful garden,
The breeze of misty morning made dew drops trickle down,
And quench the earth's thirst, letting the shrubs thrive in the open,
While the floral fragrance is savored until the sun goes down.
Suddenly, the morning bliss turned savagely gloomy,
For there came a darkest storm pelting black stones;
Which obliterated the flowers till they bled for mercy,
This brutal assault made agony ooze in muted groans.
The river of sad tears persistently flowed for a long time,
Until the gnawing pain dwindled, then the eyes caught a sign.
Beyond the depths of a fragile kernel, quivering with fear:
A spark of faint hope - making the storm slowly disappear.
When the spark flourished into full beams of celestial light,
The basket is carried again; this time with strength & courage.
Those stones remained at the bottom with their smirks of spite,
To unleash terror; for the traumatic past was held hostage.
It is only when new fragrant flowers are brought in,
Enchanting beauty is replenished with dancing butterflies.
As the flowers covered up those heinous stones of pain & sin
Returning smiles to the lips & joyful shine to those weary eyes.
Before you even start reading this any further, please let me know your perspective on the poem. I will be more than delighted to know your understanding of it. Now, please continue reading this if you didn't form any idea behind the work or you took the words and the characters literally - without being able to grasp the underlying meaning of it. The flower basket denotes life. The carriage of the basket is the path of life. The flowers denote pleasant things. The storm and the black stones represent unpleasant things. Now, does it ring any bells? Read the poem again. The black stones of the present time will eventually become the dark memories of the past. Those memories will never go away. They are like permanent scars. But, as you look forward and move on, you try to be happy again by filling your life with happy things which will cover up those scars. This is what we call, "Getting over it."
Stanza #1:
A basket full of love - rich with endearing flowers/ - This line introduces the first two characters of the story: The basket represents life & flowers represents happy/pleasant things. It tells about life: Life is full of happiness, or filled with adorable things. That are tinted only with colors of utmost happiness/ - At first, I thought of using "vivid colors" or "bright colors" But then I thought, beauty is really admired and enjoyed when it is painted with light colors. That's why I used "tinted" The significance of this word is that even the tiniest of happy things give the greatest of pleasures. Made those innocent eyes shimmer with sparkling showers/ While the lips widened to wear a smile of eagerness - The eyes represent the person in question; how innocent she is to feel the love and beauty she experiences in the way of life.
Stanza #2:
The entire stanza talks about the path of life. As the basket is taken along the hedges of a beautiful garden,/ And quench the earth's thirst, letting the shrubs thrive in the open/ Here, the path of life is along the beautiful things, filled with eternal bliss, caring for little things with great love everyday which goes with the lines: And quench the earth's thirst, letting the shrubs thrive in the open/ While the floral fragrance is savored until the sun goes down
Stanza #3:
This stanza details the sudden turn of unexpected events. The events are so drastic that they are never anticipated because there is never a clue which is obvious or conspicuous. Suddenly, the morning bliss turned savagely gloomy/ For there came a darkest storm pelting black stones/ These lines introduces the third character, the villain, "storm and black stones" which are very cruel and hideous - that make life easily miserable. Which obliterated the flowers till they bled for mercy/ This brutal assault made agony ooze in muted groans. These unpleasant things nearly destroy your mind and soul. They will make sure that you are grounded so deep that you will never even think of getting up again. In such intense pain, it often happens that you don't want to disturb the tranquility around you. You don't want to let your dear ones know how badly you are hurt while your heart is screaming out of burning agony inside.
Stanza #4:
The persistent pain has formed a river full of tears. But over time, the pain begins to diminish and that's when it is realized that its time to move on. The river of sad tears persistently flowed for a long time/ Until the gnawing pain dwindled, then the eyes caught a sign/ - During this time, the heart is very weak and not bold enough to face life because of the constant fear of the past experience: Beyond the depths of a fragile kernel, quivering with fear:/ A spark of faint hope - making the storm slowly disappear. Here, the kernel refers to the heart.
Stanza #5:
Hope always grows for better things to come. In time, the heart regains its inner strength and faces life with courage: When the spark flourished into full beams of celestial light/ The basket is carried again; this time with strength & courage/ But its worth noting that the black stones of the past have become dark memories. These memories can't be erased. They show their ugly faces once in while to frighten you with your sad experiences: Those stones remained at the bottom with their smirks of spite/ To unleash terror; for the traumatic past was held hostage. What particularly I liked about this line is, I was able to use the word "hostage" and fit it in perfectly in this context. Here the "hostage" refers to the bad experiences in past life. I am delighted and proud of myself to have come up with such a line. Its a killer line, isn't it?
Stanza #6:
A feeling of immense happiness returns when all the pleasant things are experienced again. It covers up the painful past like a blanket. The memory remains, but it hurts very less or there is hardly any pain. All the lost joy is replenished.
CASE STUDY
As briefed above, the poem is a song about moving on in life in-spite of sad experiences in the past. This is the first case study I have written for my work.Stanza #1:
A basket full of love - rich with endearing flowers/ - This line introduces the first two characters of the story: The basket represents life & flowers represents happy/pleasant things. It tells about life: Life is full of happiness, or filled with adorable things. That are tinted only with colors of utmost happiness/ - At first, I thought of using "vivid colors" or "bright colors" But then I thought, beauty is really admired and enjoyed when it is painted with light colors. That's why I used "tinted" The significance of this word is that even the tiniest of happy things give the greatest of pleasures. Made those innocent eyes shimmer with sparkling showers/ While the lips widened to wear a smile of eagerness - The eyes represent the person in question; how innocent she is to feel the love and beauty she experiences in the way of life.
Stanza #2:
The entire stanza talks about the path of life. As the basket is taken along the hedges of a beautiful garden,/ And quench the earth's thirst, letting the shrubs thrive in the open/ Here, the path of life is along the beautiful things, filled with eternal bliss, caring for little things with great love everyday which goes with the lines: And quench the earth's thirst, letting the shrubs thrive in the open/ While the floral fragrance is savored until the sun goes down
Stanza #3:
This stanza details the sudden turn of unexpected events. The events are so drastic that they are never anticipated because there is never a clue which is obvious or conspicuous. Suddenly, the morning bliss turned savagely gloomy/ For there came a darkest storm pelting black stones/ These lines introduces the third character, the villain, "storm and black stones" which are very cruel and hideous - that make life easily miserable. Which obliterated the flowers till they bled for mercy/ This brutal assault made agony ooze in muted groans. These unpleasant things nearly destroy your mind and soul. They will make sure that you are grounded so deep that you will never even think of getting up again. In such intense pain, it often happens that you don't want to disturb the tranquility around you. You don't want to let your dear ones know how badly you are hurt while your heart is screaming out of burning agony inside.
Stanza #4:
The persistent pain has formed a river full of tears. But over time, the pain begins to diminish and that's when it is realized that its time to move on. The river of sad tears persistently flowed for a long time/ Until the gnawing pain dwindled, then the eyes caught a sign/ - During this time, the heart is very weak and not bold enough to face life because of the constant fear of the past experience: Beyond the depths of a fragile kernel, quivering with fear:/ A spark of faint hope - making the storm slowly disappear. Here, the kernel refers to the heart.
Stanza #5:
Hope always grows for better things to come. In time, the heart regains its inner strength and faces life with courage: When the spark flourished into full beams of celestial light/ The basket is carried again; this time with strength & courage/ But its worth noting that the black stones of the past have become dark memories. These memories can't be erased. They show their ugly faces once in while to frighten you with your sad experiences: Those stones remained at the bottom with their smirks of spite/ To unleash terror; for the traumatic past was held hostage. What particularly I liked about this line is, I was able to use the word "hostage" and fit it in perfectly in this context. Here the "hostage" refers to the bad experiences in past life. I am delighted and proud of myself to have come up with such a line. Its a killer line, isn't it?
Stanza #6:
A feeling of immense happiness returns when all the pleasant things are experienced again. It covers up the painful past like a blanket. The memory remains, but it hurts very less or there is hardly any pain. All the lost joy is replenished.
January 24, 2014
Beautifully penned. Although the note and summary limit the reader to look beyond your interpretation. I read the poem before reading the after note and case study.. for me.. it inspires me to move through the darkness and assures me about a better future. Its help me understand that darkness is just a phase and it wont last long and its experience will give lessons in future that will be then remembered as memories with a smile . Its a truly inspiring verse.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Manya!
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