KOILI POEMS
Lecturer,
Bhadrak College, Bhadrak, Orissa
The
Koili poems are a category of traditional Oriya poetry. They are direct, simple
and lyrical in form and spirit. Clothed in characteristically lucid and plain
language and well-known for their sweet and nostalgic melody and emotional
appeal, they are mainly composed to be sung; and they find sincere response in
the deepest core of the human heart. Conscious attempts of any kind of
ornamentation do not spoil their spontaneous charm. The original Koili poems
are all quite ancient, but bathed in the pristine glory of love and affection,
most of them retain the freshness of morning flowers which, washed with the
tears of an afflicted heart, glisten in the soft glow of simple faith and noble
sentiments. They do not vindicate any lucid glare of powerful imaginations.
Bereft of any kind of rugged grandeur they do not sway our heart with
rebellious ideas. On the other hand they instil into our hearts a calm
fortitude washed clean with tears of love. Though poignant with the
reverberation of a sorrowing mother or a sorrowing wife they possess a mild
smoothness which testifies to the wonderful genius of their writers. Like
ballads, the material with which they have been composed is the basic experience
of human life. But unlike many of the ballads which are stern and grim the
Koili poems have a very fine cadence.
Similar
to the Chautisas with regard to form, metre and theme the Koili poems generally
consist of thirty-four couplets each composed in the alphabetical order from Ka
to Ksha. This form gives poise, profundity and unity of effect to
the emotions that are skillfully delineated in these lyrical compositions. It
provides the poet with a facile pattern into which human anguish is woven so as
to present a calm brilliance like that of a placid sheet of water gleaming
under the pale moon. These poems are permeated with intensity of feeling but in
their total effect they exhibit a wonderful restraint which lends them a mellow
vigour and a romantic grace.
These
poems derive their name from the fact that they are odes or apostrophes
addressed to the Cuckoo. The bird cuckoo has tremendous influence on man’s
imagination and thus on poetry and all other branches of literature too. Its
happy association has sunk deep into human memory and through various legends
and traditions it disseminates a spell as powerful as magic. Naturally when the
poet tries to apprise the bird of human sorrow and affliction in any of his
compositions it breathes an atmosphere which is as fascinating as the bird
itself is.
The
themes of the Koili poems are rather stereotyped. In Keshava Koili of Markanda
Dasa which is believed to be the earliest specimen of Oriya poetry, we find
mother Yasoda trying to share her woe and misfortune with the cuckoo at the
parting of Srikrishna who has left for Mathura for good. The whole of the poem
echoes the terrible grief and brooding despair of a mother’s heart rent and
bleeding on account of the absence of her dear son. Every line is surcharged
with the thrilling cadence of sorrow deepened by frustrated affection.
“O
Cuckoo,” says Yasoda, “gone, gone is my Son and he returns no more. Without him
Brindabana loses all its charm and looks desolate and terrific like a forest.”
She
further deplores, “I suckled my son with so much care and
affection and lo, when I grew old I am deprived even of the opportunity of
seeing him.”
She
waits because Nanda, her husband, has become pale and emaciated like the waning
moon since the departure of Sikrishna.
In
a like manner Kanta Koili of Balarama Dasa and Baramasi Koili of Shankara Dasa
give vent to the same kind of spontaneous feelings and profound emotions. In
the former poem Sita, wrenched away from the joyful company of her dear husband
and left alone in the midst of the horrors of desolation of the Asoka forest,
laments her unenviable lot and expresses her fear, grief, and terrible anxiety
for both the helpless brothers Rama and Laxmana who, while trudging through
endless terrors and hardships inside the wild forest, might be sending piteous
calls after her. How distressfully she says that her days gloomy with despair
are nothing but the continuation of nights and her life appears to be endless
on account of her wanton miseries!
The
latter one, i. e., Baramasi Koili gives us a pathetic picture of the tormented
life of Kausalya. While Rama is away in the forest for fourteen years with his
consort and brother fulfilling his father’s solemn vow, Kausalya, the
unfortunate mother living–so to say–a life of banishment in the midst of the
wretched ease and comfort of the royal palace is sobbing and wailing as she
expresses her fear and anguish for Rama, Laxmana and Sita. Here sorrow
intertwined with the remarkable features of the different months of the year
becomes all the more poignant.
Arthakoili is written by that stalwart among the men of letters of Orissa, Sri Jagannatha Dasa, Orissa is rightly proud of this man of rare genius who has left enshrined in his valuable works all that he realised as a saint. Serene like the deep and familiar like a rivulet his poetry is lofty and yet balmy and simple, spiritually sublime and yet rich with the charm and colourfulness of true poetry. Arthakoili which is rather a metaphysical dissertation breathes spiritual significance into the simple meaning and emotional appeal of Keshava Koili of Markanda Dasa. It explains in an allegorical manner the mysterious relation between soul and God. That which is highly abstruse for the spiritually uninitiated, becomes something concrete for them in this metaphysical poem and wafts their mind to a higher level of religious fervour through the enthralling association of Keshava Koili.
Nathia
Koili which is of an esoteric character has exploited the form and texture, the
sequence, the modulation and the candid grace of Koili poems in order to bring
home to us a mystic creed as espoused and practised by an ascetic order.
As will be evident from the above discussion the
original Koilis are just a few. Yet they have formed an integral part of Oriya
poetry and on the emotional life of the people they have exercised an influence
which is almost unrivalled if their number is taken into consideration. They
enshrine some very fond hopes and noble sentiments which are inseparable from
the rich and hoary culture of Orissa. Their themes are stereotyped as has
already been said and in spite of that or, rather, because of that they had
direct communion with the heart of the people–a communion which was so sweet
because of its traditional appeal and legendary vitality. For ages together the
Koili poems and particularly Keshava Koili formed the first lessons of Oriya
children. They, with the charm of their faltering speech and lisping voice,
chanted them in the village school and while they chanted them their emotional
habits yet not properly form would find a sure foothold in the rich heritage
and cultural tradition of the land. It has been very aptly said by Dr. Mansing
in his History of Oriya Literature that while the children recited this
poem, that is, Keshava Koili in their school their “fathers and uncles would
stop at school doors to listen to their first readings” and their “mothers and
aunts would lean out of windows to get a clearer audition of their darlings’
first combined literary and musical performances.” While the dove cooed in the
bush near-by and the cuckoo poured its sweet notes, the children recited the
poems in their school and this found a keen response in the heart of a mother
or a sister-in-law engaged in any household toil in some cottage across the
field or inside a thin and yet sprawling copse. Thus the village school though
quite humble played the vital role of a national institution. Alas! those days
are buried deep in oblivion and with the strident progress of modernism we can
now afford to forget all that is so good and noble only because it is so old!