This page features a video of the poem “C.L.M.”, prescribed under the Karnataka State Syllabus for 10th Standard English First Language. Along with its summary in three languages and transliterated songs. It serves as a valuable learning resource for students and parents, with each song accompanied by its respective lyrics for easy sing-along. The synchronized lyrics help learners follow and recite the song as it progresses, making memorization and learning by heart easier, more effective, and enjoyable.
Lyrics
English
In the dark womb where I began
My mother’s life made me a man.
Through all the months of human birth
Her beauty fed my common earth.
I cannot see, nor breathe, nor stir,
But through the death of some of her.
Down in the darkness of the grave
She cannot see the life she gave.
For all her love, she cannot tell
Whether I use it ill or well,
Nor knock at dusty doors to find
Her beauty dusty in the mind.
If the grave’s gates could be undone,
She would not know her little son,
I am so grown. If we should meet,
She would pass by me in the street,
Unless my soul’s face let her see
My sense of what she did for me.
What have I done to keep in mind
My debt to her and womankind?
What woman’s happier life repays
Her for those months of wretched days?
For all my mouthless body leech’d
Ere Birth’s releasing hell was reach’d?
What have I done, or tried or said
In thanks to that dear woman dead?
Men triumph over women still,
Men trample women’s rights at will,
And man’s lust roves the world untamed.
O grave, keep shut lest I be shamed!
My mother’s life made me a man.
Through all the months of human birth
Her beauty fed my common earth.
I cannot see, nor breathe, nor stir,
But through the death of some of her.
Down in the darkness of the grave
She cannot see the life she gave.
For all her love, she cannot tell
Whether I use it ill or well,
Nor knock at dusty doors to find
Her beauty dusty in the mind.
If the grave’s gates could be undone,
She would not know her little son,
I am so grown. If we should meet,
She would pass by me in the street,
Unless my soul’s face let her see
My sense of what she did for me.
What have I done to keep in mind
My debt to her and womankind?
What woman’s happier life repays
Her for those months of wretched days?
For all my mouthless body leech’d
Ere Birth’s releasing hell was reach’d?
What have I done, or tried or said
In thanks to that dear woman dead?
Men triumph over women still,
Men trample women’s rights at will,
And man’s lust roves the world untamed.
O grave, keep shut lest I be shamed!
Summary
ಈ ಕವಿತೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕವಿ ತನ್ನ ತಾಯಿಯ ತ್ಯಾಗವನ್ನು ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಮೇಲಿನ ತನ್ನ ಮತ್ತು ಸಮಾಜದ ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ. ತನ್ನ ಜನನದ ಮೊದಲು ತಾಯಿಯ ದೇಹ ಮತ್ತು ಜೀವನದ ಬಹುಭಾಗ ತನ್ನ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆಗಾಗಿ ಅರ್ಪಿತವಾಗಿತ್ತು ಎಂದು ಅವನು ಅರಿಯುತ್ತಾನೆ. ತಾಯಿ ಸತ್ತ ನಂತರ ಅವಳಿಗೆ ತನ್ನ ಮಗನ ಜೀವನದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯುವ ಅವಕಾಶವಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬುದು ಅವನಿಗೆ ನೋವನ್ನುಂಟುಮಾಡುತ್ತದೆ. ತಾಯಿಯ ಋಣವನ್ನು ತೀರಿಸಲು ಮತ್ತು ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ಉತ್ತಮಗೊಳಿಸಲು ತಾನು ಏನು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ ಎಂದು ಅವನು ಆತ್ಮಪರಿಶೀಲನೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಪುರುಷರು ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಹಕ್ಕುಗಳನ್ನು ತುಳಿಯುತ್ತಿರುವುದನ್ನು ಖಂಡಿಸುವ ಮೂಲಕ ಕವಿತೆ ಮಹಿಳಾ ಗೌರವ, ಕೃತಜ್ಞತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಮಾನತೆಯ ಅಗತ್ಯವನ್ನು ಒತ್ತಿಹೇಳುತ್ತದೆ.
Author
John Masefield