musical

Musical

Kamala Wijeratne

Singing they went
Those troops of youth
Looking so smart
In their green
-brown uniforms
Happy they were
As they drummed with their hands
And sang their songs
And beat their boots in rhythm
The truck trundled to the north
Was it their youth
That brought the mist to my eyes?
Was it the unbroken melody
That left me uneasy?
I could not wipe off a picture
That sprang before me and spread

As the long convoy passed
And the music in it faded
A long line of caged parrots
I saw one day in a pet shop:
The green was fading from their feathers
I knew their days were numbered
I wanted to buy them all
And let them fly
Back to the greenwood to sing all day
The trucks trundled to the north
I pressed my eyelids
Down over the smarting eyes
The gods protect you
I thought
And also, those you meet
Smart they looked
Those troops of youths
In their green
-brown uniforms.
Happy they seemed
As they drummed their hands
And sang their songs
Their voices drowned the noises
In the street
The trucks trundled to the north

Kamala Wijeratne

 

Kamala Wijeratne from Ulapone, a village near Kandy was born on 15^th August 1939.  She did her education in Teldeniya.  She did her graduation in Scholasticus College, Kandy.  She studied English, and economics in University of Peradeniya.  In 1962 she did her Post Graduate Diploma and Masters in Art in Education.  In 1992 she received her second Master in Arts in Teaching English from the University of Edinburgh. She dedicated herself to teaching.  She worked as a lecturer at the Teacher’s College, Peradeniya.  She retired in 1999. Now works as a visiting lecturer at University of Colombo and the department of English at University of Sri Jayawardhanapura. She started her writing carrier in her teens but she became well-known after the publication of “Smell of Araliya”. She reflects the Sri Lankan Culture in her works.  Some of her works show pain and agony over war and violence in Sri Lanka and the loss of lives of the civilians in vain.

 

Kamala Wijeratne is a short story writer and poet. Some of her well known works include “The Smell of Araliya” (1985), “The Disinherited (1986), “That One Talent (1987), “the other Trojan Woman (2014), “My Green Book” (2015) and “Impression” (2017). Short stories are “Ten Stories (2012), “The Plotted Plant” (2014).  She has received State Literary Awards for Poetry Collection in 2002, State Literary Award for the Best Anthology of Short Stories in 2014 and Sahithya Ratna, the highest honor of Sri Lanka to her contribution to Sri Lankan Literature. She married Rankondegedara Wijeratne in 1966 and they are blessed with three children.

 

Summary

The “musical “by “Kamala Wijeratne” expresses pain over the young soldiers heading to North of Sri Lanka to face their opponents.  The speaker feels so sorry for the soldiers, for their lives are very short indeed as they may face death in the battlefield. As she sees the convoy which carries smart young soldiers in green brown uniforms, she talks about their untimely death and uncertain future.  Their happy music fades slowly to symbolize their uncertain travel of life. She concludes by a meaningful thought that war is vain and futile.

Detail analysis

Stanza 1

“Singing they went
Those troops of youth
Looking so smart
In their green
-brown uniforms
Happy they were
As they drummed with their hands

And sang their songs
And beat their boots in rhythm
The truck trundled to the north”

The poem could be divided into sections for a better understanding and deep analysis. So the readers could feel the pain of the speaker and the poem.

The first stanza describes the convoy which carries the young soldiers who with green uniforms enjoy the travelling by singing their favorite songs along with music by clapping their hands and taping their boots.  It could be taken as an ordinary scene but the speaker sees this with heavy heart.  She feels sorry for the soldiers as they may face untimely death in the battlefield. The soldiers are travelling to North of Sri Lanka as the Civil War between the Government and the Separatists of North torn the country into pieces.

Poetical devices

A sad visual images have been used in this stanza.  “Looking so smart.  In their green
-brown uniforms” the description brings the brave appearance of the young soldiers.  They are so excited to protect their country and can visualize the braveness from their looks.

“As they drummed with their hands, And sang their songs, And beat their boots in rhythm” again a beautiful image which makes readers to travel with the poet and with the soldiers.  Drumming and taping with boots produces a sound images to our ears.  But it could be ironical as they may soon forget the excitement and drumming and the tapings once they encounter their enemies.   Soon the sounds of joy may fade slowly from them.  “Singing, troops, uniforms, hands, songs and boots”  all these words with “S” sounds gives a musical effect to the poem.

Stanza 2

“Was it their youth
That brought the mist to my eyes?
Was it the unbroken melody
That left me uneasy?
I could not wipe off a picture
That sprang before me and spread
As the long convoy passed
And the music in it faded”

In the second stanza the speaker expresses her regrets to the soldiers. Their young age brings tears to her.  For they didn’t enjoy their life. Before they start their lives they face their ends. She feels uneasy to hear the music for it may fade away soon or it could be silenced forever.  She could forget the passing of the brave soldiers in the convoy.  As they pass the music too slowly faded away.

Poetical devices

In this stanza “Was it their youth, That brought the mist to my eyes”  a motherly love has been expressed.  “Youth” symbolizes the short life of the soldiers. As a young soldiers they have no fear for life and death.  The same youth brings tears to the poet.  Mist is compared to her tears. Irony is their youth too is like mist, and may disappear any time. “unbroken melody” the irony is the melody is going to silenced by the War. “I could not wipe off a picture
That sprang before me and spread” sad tone is conveyed here, the speaker could not forget visual of the passing of soldiers and it keeps reminding her their fate with pain. Music in it faded” ironically  Risks are awaiting for them. They have to pass the jaws of Death as it is waiting to devour them.

Stanza 3

“A long line of caged parrots
I saw one day in a pet shop:
The green was fading from their feathers
I knew their days were numbered
I wanted to buy them all

And let them fly
Back to the greenwood to sing all day”

 

The third stanza refers to the caged parrots. The narrator has seen the caged parrots in a pet shop and she could see the fading of colors from their feathers due to unsuitable environment inside the cage as they love to fly free. She expresses her sadness as their days are counted and she loves buy all of them and to let the birds to fly in the green wood so that they would sing all day with happiness.  She refers the green parrots and their caged lives to the young soldiers who with their green uniform and with fearless attitude going the valley of death.  Their days on earth is numbers and any time they would sacrifice their life for their mother country.  The poet could not agree their temporary life style.  They have no freedom to enjoy their life.  But they have all the rights to enjoy the life.  She wants to make the soldiers free from this chained situation.  She wants them to be happy.  She means all the soldiers are not machines, they have to experience the green and beauty of life. 

 

Poetical devices

A very interesting stanza where she has used many techniques to bring out the pain of her thoughts.  Flashback (a flashback is a technique which is use to refer the action that takes place before a story begins) brings the pet shop, and she recollects sad scene of caged birds.  e caged birds could be compared metaphorically to the soldiers who are under control in the name of duty.  “The green was fading from their feathers” the color is nothing but the green brown uniforms of the soldiers.  It will fade soon as they would lose their lives. The reality of the soldiers’ future is felt.  “I knew their days were numbered, I wanted to buy them all, And let them fly, Back to the greenwood to sing all day” the days are limited for the soldiers as for the birds.  The speaker wants to liberate them to enjoy the happiness of life. A paradoxical (contrast) thought.  Green wood song symbolizes the happiness of family, love, sweet memories and life.

Stanza 4

“The trucks trundled to the north
I pressed my eyelids
Down over the smarting eyes
The gods protect you

I thought
And also, those you meet
Smart they looked”

Fourth stanza is a prayer from the poetess who closes her eyelids with agony and pray for not only for the brave and young soldiers of Sri Lanka but for the opponents whom the soldiers going to wage the war.  They soldiers of the north of Sri Lanka too young smart men and women.  The speaker wants god to protect them all so they could enjoy their lives.  Kamala Wijeratne prays for all. She doesn’t want the War to destroy the peace and happiness. It her sincere pray for peace and happiness for all.

Poetical techniques

“The trucks trundled to the north” repetition emphasize the risks of the War.  “And also, those you meet Smart they looked” the speaker indirectly expresses her sincere prayer for both the soldiers.  She is neutral and wants only peace. All have the rights to love, share and spread the peace.

Stanza 5

“Those troops of youths
In their green
-brown uniforms.
Happy they seemed
As they drummed their hands
And sang their songs
Their voices drowned the noises
In the street
The trucks trundled to the north”

The final stanza ends with the poets sad thoughts.  She again thinks about the green brown uniforms and how smart they looked. The happiness and excitement they showed in drumming their hands and taping their boots with a rhythm. The songs they enjoyed and sang slowly faded with the noises of the street and the battalions headed towards north to face their opponents.

Poetical devices

The final stanza is a repetition of the first.  But it gives importance to the central idea of the poem.  The speaker wants to emphasize the futility of war.  She wants to make them enjoy their liberty and to live in freedom and happiness.  The repetition shows the situation of Sri Lanka very clear.  She wants to convey war destroys the happiness of innocent people.  So she prays to god to protect the soldiers from both sides. Since she knows the aftermath of the war she is neutral and prays for all. The repetition stresses the pain of war more to all of us.

 

Kamala Wijeratne’s three poems “A Soldier’s Wife Weeps”, “Musical” and “Monuments” express the pain and the sadness of the aftermath of the Civil War of Sri Lanka.  Each poem expresses in its own way.  All three poems share the same theme War.  “Monuments” shares the pain the speaker who thinks of the untimely death of the soldiers who march towards north with brave heart.  But the poetess wants them not to die but to live. She yearns for peace and her pain says that war has no solution for peace.  It’s universal message War could not bring peace.

 thank you