Friday, March 23, 2018

A Tortoise Gatherer




                                                           

               1.              An old age-worn grey-headed man was he
                               With stony deep-set eyes and wrinkles deep
                               With sunken cheeks like a shriveled tree
                               Tanned by scorching sun as he climbs hills steep.

              2.              A long spear supported his weary frame
                               A dusty ragged cloak covered his body bare
                              Through thorny bushes and marshy ground he came
                               Like a ghost he seemed with grizzled beard and piercing stare.

             3.               I beheld this figure grim, gaunt and dark
                               In solitary hills moving with cautious tread
                               Beside the stream shaking his unruly locks
                               A weird soul alone with no sense of dread.

             4.              With tottering gait he went with  somber face
                              Like a moving statue enchanted by magic spell
                              At night with a slow, determined pace  
                              Wandering alone beside rills and dales.  
  
             5.              I hailed that crawling creature up the hill
                              Clapping my hands to fill my idle hours
                              He turned his gaze unmoved like a statue still
                              Staring stern with unsubjugated power.

              6.           “Whither goes this track?” asked I in friendly tone
                            “To forests yonder with bamboos overgrown “
                            “Where dost thou dwell? Art thou alone?”
                            “Wherever I stay, I call that place my own.”

               7.           I wondered at his careless response bold
                             Looking at his leathern bag and spear he had
                             He stood like a savage upright of ages old
                             In simple dauntless innocence clad.

               8.          Gazing at my doubting eyes he grinned and said    
                           “A poor hunter I am roaming at night
                             Like a spirit let loose from the land of the dead
                             To track the prey with this torch burning bright.”

               9.         “Beside the trickling rivulet and mountain pools
                            Surrounded by steep rocks and dense banyan shades
                            Where tortoises come slowly to sip waters cool
                            I catch them with my net, long spear and spade.

              10.         Their popping eyes glitter like stars at night
                            As they come out from their mud-covered nests
                           To catch those slow-moving creatures, I quietly wait
                           While they stretch their necks from their shells and slowly strut.

              11.        Though age has dented his face and physical state
                            He roams as ever committed to his toil
                            Never did he complain about his impoverished state
                            Ever did he remain an earnest son of the soil.

              12.         Bedecked with chains of ivory beads and shells
                            Ever watching at night beside the fords and rills
                            He lives like a recluse in his solitary cell
                            A life though hard, he feels a sense of peace and thrill.
                                                   
              13.        His robust features revealed his life so hard
                           I stared at his strong shoulders and broad chest
                           As he through gloomy bushes and jungles trod
                           A soul so free, so bold I never met.

                                                                                                        
         

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 Note : Dear readers, most of you might have read William Wordsworth's poem "Resolution and Independence" (The leech-gatherer) where the poet portrays the life of an old man who pursues his vocation of catching leeches though it involves much physical strain, patience and perseverence. During my boyhood once a beggar came to my house carrying a small tortoise in a basket. He was a tribal with a strong hefty body in spite of old age. He answered me that the tortoise stays near bushes in the forest and he had to wander in woods to catch them at night time. I remembered this incident when I read Wordsworth's famous poem where the old man looks :


                       "  Like a sea-beast crawled forth, that on a shelf 

                               Of rock or sand reposeth, there to sun itself;" 

                      "As a huge stone is sometimes seen to lie 
                         Couched on the bald top of an eminence; "

                      " His body was bent double, feet and head 
                        Coming together in life's pilgrimage; "

   In my poem also the tortoise gatherer leads a strenuous life in spite of his old age and his body though shrivelled with growing years still has stamina and will-power  to withstand the strain and he lives like a recluse in his forest dwelling without depending on others. His spirit of independence and boldness are portrayed in this poem. 

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 24th March, 2018                                                             Somaseshu Gutala








                                    

                  24th March, 2018                              Somaseshu Gutala
                                
                               
                        
                               

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