The Queen's Rival

The Queen's Rival

Sarojini Naidu [1879-1949]

Introduction

Sarojini Naidu was a great patriot, freedom fighter and poetess of modern India. She was born on 13 February 1879 at Hyderabad and was educated in Madras, London and Cambridge. She was influenced by English romanticism as well as by Persian and Urdu poetic traditions. Her first volume of poetry The Golden Threshold was published in 1905. This was followed by The Bird of Time, The Broken Wing and The Sceptered Flute.

Known as the 'Nightingale of India' she composed poetry in which swift thoughts and strong emotion sprang into lyrics by themselves. She has given expression to joys as well as to the sorrows of life. She was sensitive to the beauty of living things. She tried to fuse the riches of English vocabulary with subjects of her poetry, very peculiar to the east. As a sensitive poet, Sarojini Naidu proved that English language can be made a vehicle of one's creativity.

The poem The Queen's Rival is taken from The Golden Threshold, the first volume of verse by Sarojini Naidu.

Signposts

1. Glamorous world of the queen.
2. The Queen's dissatisfaction.
3. Hunt for the seven beauties.
4. Queen's heart is still dissatisfied.
5. Queen's looking for a rival.
6. The mirror image.
7. The rival is found in a world of reality.

Poem in Detail

Queen Gulnaar sat on her ivory bed; countless treasures were spread around her. The walls in her chamber were inlaid lavishly with agate, porphyry, onyx and jade. The fabric, which she wore around her delicate chest glowed with the colours similar to those of a lapwing's crest. But she gazed in her mirror and sighed saying, "O King, my heart is unsatisfied."

King Feroz bent down from his ebony seat saying, "Is your least desire not fulfilled, my sweet heart?" He further requested her to express her desire, and he would spend all his life to fulfill her desire by doing away with the circumstances leading to her dissatisfaction. The queen said, "I am tired of my beauty; I am tired of my external beauty without substance and happiness. I have no rival to envy nor there is anyone to dispute my claim of being most beautiful."

Queen Gulnaar sighed like a murmuring rose, saying, "Give me a rival, King Feroz". King Feroz spoke to his chief councillor and ordered him to be in the palace before dawn on the following day. The King ordered him to send messengers over the sea to look for seven beautiful brides for the former. The King said that the brides should be of glowing beauty and of royal bearing. They should be. fit to be seven ladies in attendance to the Persian Queen.

King Feroz led to Queen Gulnaar's hall seven most attractive beauties in the evening time. The young Queen Gulnaar like a bright morning star, saw the seven beauties with suspicion. She recalled the words of the King, "I bring thee a rival, O Queen Gulnaar". She was not satisfied; she gazed in her mirror and sighed, "O King, my heart is still dissatisfied".

However, around the Queen's ivory bed, stood seven queens with such stunning beauty that they looked like a necklace of seven gems of pleasing colours on a silken thread. Furthermore, the even queens looked like seven beautiful lamps in a royal tower and seven bright petals of a most beautiful flower. Yet, Queen Gulnaar sighed like a murmuring rose and expressed her dissatisfaction, saying, "King Feroz, where is my rival?"

Then the spring winds gently blew, giving rise to rains that caused flood. The winds also made the tulip buds to bloom into a carpet of reddish flower; the bees began to buzz with louder sound and the summer was already at hand. There was excitement in the peach groves as the orioles began to sing. Against this background, Queen Gulnaar sat on her ivory bed adorning her delicate hair with precious jewels. She gazed in the mirror and sighed, "O King, my heart is still dissatisfied".

Queen Gulnaar's two year old daughter was adorned with blue robes with attractive borders of tassels of gold. The child, like a fairy in a forest rushed to the Queen and snatched the mirror away. Then the child quickly wore her mother's hairband with fringes of pearls on her own beautiful curls. Suddenly, with a child-like move, she planted happily a kiss on the mirror. Queen Gulnaar laughed like a quivering rose, saying, "O King Feroz, look, here is my rival".

Notes

Couplet 1 to 4

Gul: in Persian means a bud.
naar: means beautiful. Gulnaar means a beautiful bud. The Queen as her name suggests was very, beautiful like a blossoming bud.
ivory bed: a bed inlaid with ivory, in keeping with the Persian artistic tradition.
countless treasures: The queen was surrounded with her many rich treasures. Countless is a hyperbole.
chamber walls: walls of her room.
richly: lavishly.
inlaid: ornamented by inserting pieces of metal, ivory, etc.
agate: a special type of marble.
porphyry: a hard rock (quarried in ancient Egypt) composed of crystals.
onyx: semi-precious variety of agate with different colours in layers.
jade: hard green stone used for ornaments.
tissues: finely woven frabic.
breast: the chest.
glowed: shone.
hues: colours.
lapwing: a plump wading bird with black and white feathers and a crested head.
crest: a tuft of feathers on a bird's head.
gazed: looked fixedly.
sighed: expressed disappointment,

Couplet 5 to 8

ebony: hard dark wood used for furniture.
unfulfilled: not accomplished.
Sweet: sweetheart.
sky of discontent: the whole matter concerning your dissatisfaction.
empty: devoid of substance.
splendour: brilliance, magnificence.
empty splendour: outward excellence which is without substance
bliss: happiness.
shadowless: unsubstantial.
gainsay: to dispute my claim.
savour: taste, flavour.
salt: substance which gives taste.

Couplet 9 to 12

none to envy and none gainsay: note the alliteration by repetition of one sound. Similarly note the sound in savour or salt; dream or day.
dream: ambition to be considered most beautiful.
day: a day of triumph on which I can boast of my superiority in beauty.
murmuring rose: note the imaging of a flower of beauty grumbling in a subdued tone.
ere: before.
Vizier: a minister or councilor of state in Persian.
seven: indicate a complete number. Radiant: glowing.
feature: outward appearance; beauty. regal: royal
mien: look; bearing; face-expression.
meet: fit.
handmaids: female servants (beautiful young ladies).
Vesper: evening prayer service. call: invitation.

Couplet 13 to 15

Vesper call: call to the evening prayer service (here) at the evening time.
new moon tide: exceptional rise of water because of the new moon's attraction.
Seven new moon tides: seven beauties with exceptional attraction (like water attracted by the moon).
eyed: observed closely with curiosity and suspicion.
morning star: a bright star seen in the east before sunrise.

Couplet 16 to 18

Like seven soft ............. thread: The seven queens stood attractively at Queen Gulnaar's bed that they looked like a round necklace of seven soft gems on a silk thread.
soft gems: gems of light colour (not of glaring colour).
fair: beautiful; attractive.
murmuring: expressing discontent in a subdued tone.

Couplet 19 to 22

spring winds wakened: the winds in spring caused rain which brought about floods in the mountain.
kindled: lit.
tulip: a bulbous spring flowering plant, produces flowers of various colours.
flame: indicate a string of flowers of the colour of a flame.
And kindled................ buds: caused the
plants to bring about tulip buds of reddish colour: i.e. the buzz of the bees.
days grew long: indicates onset of summer when days are longer.
thrilled: moved with excitement.
oriole: a golden yellow bird with black wings.
Decking: adorning (decorating).
exquisite: extremely beautiful (or delicate).
gazed in her mirror: saw her beauty reflected in the mirror.

Couplet 23 to 27

two spring times old: two years old. bordered: having the borders.
tassel: a tuft of loosely hanging threads.
wildwood: wild uncultivated forest.
fay: fairy.
plucked: snatched.
set: arranged.
curls: ringlets of hair.
light: delicate.
fillet: hair-band.
fringes: borders; sides.
fillet with fringes of pearls: hair band, sides of which were set with pearls.
caprice: whimsical change of mind.
tremulous: quivering, trembling.