Write a critical appreciation of the poem entitled Baugmaree.

Ans.

Baugmaree is a remarkable sonnet of Toru Dutt. Baugmaree is the name of the Dutt family’s garden house on the outskirts of Calcutta. The poem is notable for its beautiful description of nature. There are green leaves, trees and flowers in the poet’s garden. It is really her finesse that she has portrayed these ordinary things as they look extraordinary and her depiction of the garden provides us with aesthetic pleasure. Her portrayal has made the whole garden very interesting. The contrast between the European garden and Baugmaree is also very apt and interesting. The European garden looks dull and monotonous because of the uniformity of greenness. The greenness is also there in Baugmaree but it has the varied hues of the foliage that make all the difference adding to the beauty of the garden. The image of the red seemul flowers is the only image that breaks the rhythm of the varied shades of green and silver, and the effect is highlighted by its comparison to the disconcerning sound of the trumpet. The picture of the whole lotus changing into a cup of silver is very beautiful and new.

Baugmaree is considered to be one of Toru’s finest sonnets. She makes an interesting experiment with the form, starting with the Petrarchian octave and ending with the Spenserian and Shakespearean sestet. The poem also reveals the impact of the Romantic poet on Toru Dutt. The phrase drunken with beauty is reminiscent of the odes of Keats.