TO
INDIA-TO MY NATIVE LAND:
(INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH)
-HENRY
LOUIS VIVIAN DEROZIO:
1.
Introduction of To India-My Native Land
2.
About the author of To India-My Native Land
3.
Summary of To India-My Native Land
INTRODUCTION
OF TO INDIA-MY NATIVE LAND:
To India-My Native Land poem is written by Indian
poet Henry Louis Vivian (H.L.V. Derozio) in 1828. To India-My
Native Land is one of the most famous and notable work by H.L.V.
Derozio. The poet shows pain and love for his country India. He was very hurt
and pained by the fact that his country India was under British rule.
ABOUTH
THE AUTHOR OF TO INDIA-MY NATIVE LAND:
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (H.L.V.
Derozio) was born on 18 April, 1809 in Kolkata, India. He was a poet and Assistant
Headmaster at Hindu College, Calcutta, a radical thinker and one of the First Indian
educators to disseminate western learning and science among the young men of Bengal.
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was son of a Portuguese Father
and Indian Mother, Derozio was influenced by the English Romantic Poets. He began
publishing patriotic verses when he was 17. His writings brought him to the
attention of the intellectual elite of Calcutta. In 1826 he was appointed instrument
at Hindu College, where his reportedly brilliant teaching influence his
students and won him their loyalty. In 1828 his students organised the Academic
Association, a debating society that drew both Britishers and Indians to discussion
of religion and Philosophy.
In the spirit of English Rationalism Derozio criticized the
social practises and religious belief of orthodox Hinduism. Accused of
irreverence by his student’s orthodox Hindu parents, he was forced to resign by
the directors of Hindu college in 1831.Derozio died in 1831 due to cholera.
Long after Derozio’s death his influence lived on among his former students,
who came to be known as Young Bengal and many of whom became prominent in
social reform, law, and journalism.
SUMMARY
OF TO INDIA-MY NATIVE LAND:
STANZA 1:
“My country! In days of glory past………… where that
reverence now?”
In the first stanza of the poem the poet highlights My
Country! i.e. India. The poet is weeping over the suffering of his Country.
Henry states that his Country, India had a glorious past before British ruled
in India in context to “in its days of glory past”. The phrase “It
had a beauteous halo circled round her forehead and was worshipped as a deity
thou wast” means that a circle of light which is often seen by us in
pictures of gods, saints and angles surrounding their foreheads which a
representation or symbol of their purity and he described India was a holy land.
The holy land, India was worshipped as Goddess by the people for her wonderful beauty
and purity she holds in the past. ” Where is thy glory, where the reverence
now?” in this phrase the poet is asking his country that where is your
glory (beauty) and respect (reverence) gone which she had in the post.
STANZA 2:
“Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last……… Save the
sad story of the misery!”
In the second stanza, the poet says that “Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last”. In
this phrase he says, India wings (pinion) has been chained and imprisoned
to the ground (“last”). “And grovelling in the lowly dust art thou”
this line means India is crawling in low status. And he says that after being
enslaved (under British rule), the Country has lost its high status and in
place of flying in the air it is crawling on the ground of low status. “Thy
minstrel hath no wreath to weave for thee” this phrase means songs and
poems written and sung on the honour of country. Now H.L.V. Derezio, the poets
say that they cannot write or sing for the country. “Save
the sad story of the misery!” the line says that what is left behind in
his country is the sad story of the gloom.
STANZA-3:
“Well let me dive into the depths of time……… My fallen
country! One kind wish for thee!”
In the third stanza the poet in the phrase “Well let me dive into the depths of time, And
bring from the ages that have rolled” wishes to dive into the depth of time
and bring from out of ages that have rolled in these past years. “A few
small fragments of those wrecks subline” in this phrase he goes back to the
wonderful past and bring back the respect and status which has been broken into
a few small pieces. “Which human eye may never more behold” this line
means that the respect that India deserves is not seen by the citizen eyes. In
last line “My fallen country! One kind wish for thee!”
he talks about the fact the he wants his country back as it was in the past as
a reward. He hopes for a better future of India and thus, the poem, To
India-My Native Land ends.
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