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!