#Toru Dutt

[isleofgont]

"Our Casuarina Tree" (1881) by Toru Dutt

[sumpix]

Our Casuarina Tree

Toru Dutt

Like a huge Python, winding round and round      The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars,      Up to its very summit near the stars,   A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound      No other tree could live. But gallantly         The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung   In crimson clusters all the boughs among,      Whereon all day are gathered bird and bee;   And oft at nights the garden overflows   With one sweet song that seems to have no close,           Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose.  

When first my casement is wide open thrown      At dawn, my eyes delighted on it rest;      Sometimes, and most in winter,—on its crest   A gray baboon sits statue-like alone            Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs   His puny offspring leap about and play;   And far and near kokilas hail the day;      And to their pastures wend our sleepy cows;   And in the shadow, on the broad tank cast           By that hoar tree, so beautiful and vast,   The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.  

But not because of its magnificence      Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:      Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,         O sweet companions, loved with love intense,      For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear.   Blent with your images, it shall arise   In memory, till the hot tears blind mine eyes!      What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear         Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?   It is the tree’s lament, an eerie speech,   That haply to the unknown land may reach.  

Unknown, yet well-known to the eye of faith!      Ah, I have heard that wail far, far away            In distant lands, by many a sheltered bay,   When slumbered in his cave the water-wraith      And the waves gently kissed the classic shore   Of France or Italy, beneath the moon,   When earth lay trancèd in a dreamless swoon:          And every time the music rose,—before   Mine inner vision rose a form sublime,   Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime   I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.  

Therefore I fain would consecrate a lay            Unto thy honor, Tree, beloved of those      Who now in blessed sleep, for aye, repose, Dearer than life to me, alas! were they!      Mayst thou be numbered when my days are done   With deathless trees—like those in Borrowdale,         Under whose awful branches lingered pale      “Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,   And Time the shadow;” and though weak the verse   That would thy beauty fain, oh fain rehearse,   May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Toru Dutt

Writer and translator Toru Dutt was born in 1856 in Kolkata, India. Dutt became proficient in English, French, Bengali and Sanskrit. She published A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields, a collection of more than 300 poems translated from French to English. Dutt tragically died young in 1877. Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan, Dutt's translations from Sanskrit, was published after her death. Her novel, Le Journal de Mademoiselle d’Arvers, was also published posthumously, and was the first French-language novel by an Indian writer.

Image: Harihar Das

[nedsecondline]

Poetess Extraordinaire: Toru Dutt

Born on March 4, 1856, in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Tarulata Dutt, renowned as Toru Dutt, was a pioneering poet who significantly influenced Indo-…Poetess Extraordinaire: Toru Dutt

[graywyvern]

( me / via )

Reinvent for the Book.

"THE BLACK POINT.

Whoever has looked a long time at the sun, Beholds in the welkin, where spot there is none, A disk livid and strange, persistently float:

Thus young and audacious, mine eyes dared to gaze On Glory one instant, and blind from the blaze, Are destined the black spot for ever to note.

Since then, on all things, like a portent or sign, Like the seal on Cain's brow, in dark and in shine, I see the mark spectral,—a black oriflamme:

A bar to my happiness ill I may brook! Ah woe! 'Tis the eagle alone that may look On the Sun and on Glory undazzled and calm."

--Nerval (tr Toru Dutt)

Bells.

"The flux of life is pouring its aesthetic aspect into your eyes, your ears - and you ignore it because you are looking for your canons of beauty in some sort of frame or glass case or tradition."

--Mina Loy (via @mjohnharrison)

Time Traveler in Ancient Egypt.

[the-year-i-met-you]

So most of you guys might or might not know about Toru Dutt. She is regarded as one of the most outstanding pioneer in the history of Indian Literature. I recently got a chance to cover her story in one of the E-magazines here. Do give it a read if you would like to know more about her.

Thank you.

[ghostaris]

Queens of Eden

[spoke9]

Toru Dutt | Sonnet

#100DaysOfWriting Toru Dutt | Sonnet

Toru Dutt A sea of foliage girds our garden round, But not a sea of dull unvaried green, Sharp contrasts of all colors here are seen; The light-green graceful tamarinds abound Amid the mango clumps of green profound, And palms arise, like pillars gray, between; And o'er the quiet pools the seemuls lean, Red—red, and startling like a trumpet's sound. But nothing can be lovelier than the ranges Of…

[violettesiren]

A sea of foliage girds our garden round, But not a sea of dull unvaried green, Sharp contrasts of all colours here are seen; The light-green graceful tamarinds abound Amid the mangoe clumps of green profound, And palms arise, like pillars gray, between; And o'er the quiet pools the seemuls lean, Red,—red, and startling like a trumpet's sound. But nothing can be lovelier than the ranges Of bamboos to the eastward, when the moon Looks through their gaps, and the white lotus changes Into a cup of silver. One might swoon Drunken with beauty then, or gaze and gaze On a primeval Eden, in amaze.

Baugmaree by Toru Dutt

[vintageindianclothing]

Hello! Hope you're doing good! I accidentally unfollowed you while asking this, oof. I found your 2017 post on Eastern and Western clothing influencing each other fascinating! I'm not sure how to ask this, but basically I'm curious if Indian women ever wore corsets and if there were Indian corset-makers. So did you perhaps ever come across instances of Indian women wearing proper European clothing during the 19th century or so? I'm not really sure where to look. Love your blog and thank you! :)

First up thanks for the appreciation!

Yes people did wear western clothing, the best example would be the poet Toru Dutt. I would assume the dress needed a corset. More likely than not corsets would be from the UK.

I don't think it lasted for long though, almost throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century the main emphasis was on devising Indian clothes that were suitable for a public space.

[yearningwarmth]

came across these lines by Toru Dutt in a letter to Ms. Martin which I quite resonate with, “I am getting quite old, twenty and some odd months and with such an old fashioned face that English ladies take me for thirty.”

i mean it’s literally US

[the-gray-one]

No Procrastination November (DAY 1)

Honestly, I did procrastinate a little bit but I cleared all the tasks that I needed to complete.

1. Read "Our Casuarina Tree"

2. Read about Toru Dutt

3. Wrote an article of 1500 words

4. Walked about 10 kilometers

Overall, I had a productive day. I just hope I get mentally stable as soon as I can. I am trying.