Toru Dutt her legacy of Poetry Beauty Tragedy

Toru Dutt & her legacy of Poetry, Beauty & Tragedy Dr. Rumpa Das, Associate Professor & Head, Deptt. of English, Maheshtala College

Toru Dutt (March 4, 1856 – August 30, 1877) was an Indian woman poet who wrote in English and French. Born to Govin Chunder Dutt and Kshetramoni of the Rambagan Dutt family, Toru was the youngest child after sister Aru and brother Abju. The family became Christians in 1862, and left for the Continent, first France and then, England. In England, she continued her higher French Studies. While living in Cambridge between 1871 -3 she attended the Higher Lectures for Women at the University. Toru Dutt met and befriended Mary Martin, the daughter of Reverend John Martin of Sidney sussex College. The friendship that developed between the two girls at this time continued in their correspondence after Toru’s return to India. A collection of Toru Dutt’s correspondence includes her letters written from England to her cousins in India. Toru Dutt

The Dutt family tragedies Toru & Aru Dutt � The youngest of the Dutt family children, Abju, died before the family moved to France. � Aru, Toru’s sister, died after a few years, leaving the family shattered. After Aru’s death Toru had written: "Of all sad words of tongue and pen/The saddest are these- it might have been" � Toru Dutt died at the age of 21 years, drawing comparison with John Keats, who too died of consumption after bequeathing some unforgettable lyrics to English literature.

Toru’s works �Toru Dutt’s first book, A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields, earned her success, and the next book, inspired by her deep study of Sankrit literature, Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan was published in 1882. �Her unfinished English novel, Bianca or The Young Spanish Maiden appeared in the Bengal Magazine in 1978, and her French novel, Le journal de Mademoiselle & Arvers was published in Paris in 1878.

Toru Dutt’s Poems �In ‘Our Casuarina Tree’, Toru uses the tree as a symbol of her memory, as well as the rich tradition of Indian culture and philosophy which moulded the poetic and aesthetic vision of Indian poet-creators. This is the tree under which she played with her siblings who are now dead, and this is the tree which also becomes a mystical and spiritual emblem of their existence in her mind. �K R. Srinivasa Iyengar notes, ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ is more than poetic evokation of a tree; it is recapturing the past, and immortalizing the moments of time so recaptured. The tree is both tree and symbol, and in it are implicated both time and eternity’

The Tree of Life : A depiction of Yggdrasil, from the Icelandic saga

Toru Dutt’s Poems �In ‘Sita’, the poet uses a very interesting intertwining of mythology and memory to blend the tragic pathos of the banished queen Sita with the personal tragedy of the Dutt family, whose children used to listen the Sita-legend from their mother. �Toru resorts to a unique handling of time and location in this poem : the Edenic forest where Sita spends her days of banishment with her twin sons in the hermitage is juxtaposed with the cosy comfort offred by the Dutt household – both of which, however, become scenes of tragedy. The poetic present (melancholic, desolate) is also deftly woven with the poetic past (happy, contented) and a mythological past (sad, lonely) to elicit a keen perception of the essential pain of human existence.

‘A dense, dense forest where no sunbeam pries. . . ’ Sita with Luv-Kush

When shall those children by their mother’s side – Gather, ah me, as erst at eventide? ( ‘SITA’)

Toru Dutt’s poetic qualities �Dutt’s early poetry is a combination of freshness, ecstasy and lyrical effusion. �Her later poetry is, however, marked with melancholy and grief, even though the poetic grandeur is still obvious. �Her remarkable description of natural settings and her love for ancient Indian legends and mythological characters are palpable in most of her creations. �The Vedantic philosophy of life and death, memory as a mode of emancipation and transience and permanence peep through many of her works.

Toru Dutt’s grave in Maniktala cemetery, Kolkata.