Our Casuarina Tree by 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.

Glossary:

Casuarina Tree: An oak like tree in Australia.
Python: Snake
rugged: rough and old
Intended deep: thrust deep in the trunk
scar: wound- like cut in the body
gallantly: Bravely 
cluster: bunch of flowers

no close: unending

darkling: when it is growing dark

repose: rest

casement: window

baboon: a short tail monkey

hail: greet by singing

wend: make their way

cast: shadow thrown by the tree

hoar: old and gray

water lilies: tiny lily flowers of white color

enmassed: white lily flowers look like congealed snow

love intense: deep affection

blent: mingled, blended

dirge like murmur: elegiac soft tone

shingle: a mass of small smooth stones

eerie speech : awe inspiring mourning

wail: mourning of the tree

by........bay: standing on sea beaches in England and France, covered with shadowy trees

water wraith: sea god

trance: a state of magic spell

dreamless: undisturbed by dreams

swoon: trance like sleep

a form sublime: a novel image of the tree

native clime : Indian Land

fain: gladly

consecrate a lay: compose a sacred verse

for aye: for ever, eternally

Borrowdale: a valley in Soth of England

lingered : Used to live

trembling: in a state of uncertainty

the skeleton: death

rehearse: narrate

Oblivion's curse: All the things on Earth are cursed to die and be forgotten, but the tree be spared from this curse. It may be immortalized in her song.

Introduction

Our Casuarina Tree is an autobiographical poem.  It was written in 5 stanzas by an Indian poet Toru Dutt, published in 1881. In this poem Toru Dutt glorifies the majesty of the Casuarina Tree.  She used to look at Casuarina tree by her window and remembers her happy childhood days spent under it and revives her memories with her beloved brother and sister.

Summary

The poem opens with the description of the Casuarina tree. The rugged trunk of the tree with a deep mark is wound by the creeper, like a huge Python. The tree is so strong because it bears the tight hold of the creeper. The tree is described as being brave, as very few trees could survive in the strangle-hold of this creeper. The poet then describes the life that thrives amidst every facet of the tree. The tree is metaphorically said as a giant due to its huge size, strength and boldness. The Casuarina Tree is covered with red crimson flowers which appear like the tree is wearing a colorful scarf. The night of the garden is echoing by the song of nightingale and it seems to be the song (of a nightingale) has no end; it continues till dawn. At dawn when the poet opens her window she is delighted to see the Casuarina Tree. A gray baboon is seen sitting on the crest of the tree enjoying the sunrise with his puny offspring playing on the tree's boughs. The shadow of the tree appears to fall on the huge water tank. Toru Dutt says that she has deep love for the Casuarina Tree not because of its majestic appearance but she has spent her childhood and enjoyed happy moments along with her siblings under its shade. The image of the tree raised in her memory till her eyes become dim with tears. Toru can hear the wailing of the Casuarina tree wherever she goes. It follows her to distant land even in France and Italy (where the poet studied) when the waves gently kiss shores beneath the moon. She can hear the tree's lament.

In the final stanza of the poem the Toru wishes to consecrate the tree's memory and importance for the sake of her siblings- and looks ahead to her own death, hoping that the tree be spared obscurity. She is expressing her wish that her love shield the tree against the curse of forgetfulness (Oblivion), that the tree be remembered out of love and not because it cannot be forgotten. She immortalizes the tree through this poem like how Wordsworth sanctified the Yew trees of Borrowdale.