Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan/Sita



Summary of the poem

SÎTA, written by Toru Dutt, is a poem that refers to a woman who was abandoned by her husband in a forest. She was pregnant at the time and raised her two boys on her own. Within this poem, Dutt provides many images from the forest that Sita was abandoned in. Readers soon realize the woman who is singing about Sita is a mother putting her three children to bed. The mother begins crying after telling her children about Sita, which makes her children begin to cry as well. Dutt shows the mother’s connection to Sita’s unhappy life, her connection to her children, and how the story will continue to live on.

This passage introduces readers to the mother, who seems to have quite a connection to this woman. She begins to “shed” tears just as Sita did; causing her children to begin to cry because of the pain this story has caused their mother. In the lines “at every tear she sheds/ Tears from three pairs of young eyes fall amain,” (12.5-13) we see that the mother and children have a strong connection. Her pain and tears are their pain and tears. The capital T in “Tears” conveys a sense of rebirth. This shows that the story the mother has held on for so long is now passed down to her children. This brings us to the next few lines, “It is an old, old story, and the lay/ Which has evoked sad Sîta from the past” (16-17). These lines show us that the old story and the sad past of this woman has now come to life in the children’s mind. They are now conscious of this story and it has now been “reborn”.

The poem has a steady flow to it until the line “Is by a mother sung. . . . ‘Tis hushed at last” (18). The long pause in the middle of the line creates a sense of mistreatment. Readers sense that this story is being sung by a mother who is possibly being treated unfairly or “hushed” by her own husband as well. Readers can relate this line to Sita’s life being hushed by her husband. They can also read this line as the mother dealing with a husband who has silenced her in the past.

In the last two lines, readers become aware that the image of the story has been melted away from the children’s thoughts as they fall asleep. The line “Yet shall they dream of it until the day!” (20), shows that the story made an impact on the children. Dutt created a way to show readers that this story is something that will stick around forever. She sang a song that not only connected her to this woman, but also connected her to her children.