The Sower is a very famous poem n French written by the legendary French writer Victor Marie Hugo. It was translated by the talented young Indian poet Toru Dutt.
The Sower is a pastoral poem written in the first person narrative.
The poem opens with the poet-persona resting in his porchway at the time of sunset. The porchway opens to the vast farmlands.
The farmers are all returning having finished a hard day's work but an old man continues sowing.
initially, the old man was ignored by the poet taking him to be an ordinary old farmer, but as the old man continues his sowing way after sunset, the poet changes his mind.
He sees in the old man an optimism, a wisdom not often matched to other people. Life has taught him many harsh lessons yet he continues with his work in dedication waiting for it to bear fruit.
The poem is based on figurative language. Visual imagery, symbolism and metaphors are its main rhetorical devices. A pastoral image is created through its subject. Nature and Man is beautifully portrayed through the poem.
It bears a strong resemblance with theteachings of Lord Krishna in the Bhagwat Gita. Lord Krishna advises to work with dedication and devotion without expectations of the results.
The attitude towards life should be of 'detached attachment'.
The sower fits perfectly into this image. He works selflessly with devotion without expectation.
The poems sets in a positive tone. an optimism that urges the readers to continue with their work with devotion.
The sower as in the title stands as a synecdoche for the entire Mankind.
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The poet has observed the sower closely. Express in your own ...