------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the very first stanza one may see that the speaker is searching for Todas. "In the Nilgiri Hills/ I went looking for the Todas" (Paz 1-2). We don't know who the speaker is, but we can tell from the very beginning that this poem is going to be a sort of story in a way. Todas are an ethnicity of people who live in the Nilgiri providence of India. It then goes on to the describe the people and their homes. Because I believe this poem is about the lose of respect for the Earth and things wiser than you, I can proudly say this next chunk is about wisdom within the elders. "Murmuring incoherent hymns./ They guard a secret from Sumeria,/ not knowing they guard it" (Paz 6-8). Sumeria translates to "homeland", so it can be assumed the homeland is filled with some pretty nasty people who don't appreciate changes in tradition. The last line from this stanza that I think is interesting goes like this: "shines like the moon on an empty well" (Paz 11). When a well is out of water, it kind of means your screwed if that's your only water source. Water means survival because you can't live more than a few days without it, signifying a metaphor for the end of our days if we run out.
The next stanza really stands out as backing me up on my hypothesis of this poem being about how the Earth could not care less if humans survived and that it would keep on living without us, probably stronger than before. "Miss Penelope (canary-colored hair,/ woolen stockings and walking stick) has been saying/ for thirty years: Oh India,/ country of missed opportunities..." (Paz 13-16). From my understanding, Miss Penelope seems like a metaphor for white people or maybe just the British. She says how India could be so much more, but we never put it to it's full potential. The next few lines seem to point out how the crows still do not care a single bit that we haven't put India to it's full use. They are part of the Earth and don't care either way. "In the fireworks/ of the jacaranda,/ the crows/ happily cackle" (Paz 18-21). Even though the British are disappointed at the use of the goods in India, the real goods are the secrets that the elders know. Wisdom.
The next stanza makes me think of humans destroying forested areas and how this is a prevailing problem that needs to be stopped. "Uncertain ground./ In the clearings/ the winged termites construct/ tiny Cyclopean castles" (Paz 23-25). Clearings are made by restructurings of forested areas, and thus termites try to build back what was already theirs. Just like in the last lines I mentioned, these next lines describe the metaphor that these castles represent to Mother Earth: "Homages in sand to Mycenae and Machu-Picchu" (Paz 26). Both these places are sacred historical areas that people used to pray and live in. It only makes sense to make references to these places as our nowadays world is getting destroyed by the people who also created those places.
For this next paragraph, I am skipping the 4th stanza because it is short and doesn't seem to have much significance to the meaning I find is suggested in this poem. First off, this is where the poem starts to have a more hopeful theme to it. It still has the wisdomatic loss stitched in the words, but it slowly starts representing happiness. "A vision on the mountain road:/ the rose camelia tree/ bending over the cliff" (Paz 30-32). This image seems to bring out how we humans may do terrible things to our environment, but the environment will still function, just as a camelia tree can lean over a cliff for years without falling. The next lines describe in more detail how the tree is impervious to what we do. "Impenetrable presence,/ indifferent to vertigo- and language" (Paz 35-36). Trees represent the Earth as many other things in this poem do. The Earth does not need language, and does not get the same vertigo we humans get. It can function on its own, and human's problems are minor compared to the Earth.
The last stanza seems to have a very uplifting ending because of its' last line. But let's start at the beginning of the stanza. It starts off saying: "The sky grows in the night,/ eucalyptus set aflame" (Paz 37-38). As the sky darkens for night, eucalyptus plants burn because of deforestation. The sky gets darker and darker, but is then lit up by the fires on the ground that need to be stopped before we get out of hand. The stars are the only thing we can't ruin. "The charitable stars/ not crushing- calling me" (Paz 39-40). I think "charitable" stars is referencing how the stars have wisdom, and could be charitable if only we could understand them and worship them. They are calling the speaker because of their sacredness. In the beginning I thought this poem had no meaning at all, but as I looked deeper it really stood out as something to show people that we need to save our planet.
This is what Ootacamund looks like.
No comments:
Post a Comment