Read the poem.
The Pardah Nashin
by Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu was an Indian poet and activist. Known as the "Nightingale of India," she advocated for India's independence, social welfare, and equal rights. The Pardah is a religious and social practice of seclusion in some Hindu or Muslim communities of South Asia. Women are either physically separated from males using separate buildings, screens, walls, or curtains, or they may be concealed by loose clothing and veils.
Her life is a revolving dream
Of languid and sequestered ease;
Her girdles and her fillets gleam
Like changing fires on sunset seas;
Her raiment is like morning mist,
Shot opal, gold and amethyst.
From thieving light of eyes impure,
From coveting sun or wind's caress,
Her days are guarded and secure
Behind her carven lattices,
Like jewels in a turbaned crest,
Like secrets in a lover's breast.
But though no hand unsanctioned dares
Unveil the mysteries of her grace,
Time lifts the curtain unawares,
And Sorrow looks into her face . . .
Who shall prevent the subtle years,
Or shield a woman's eyes from tears?
How does the personification in the lines “Time lifts the curtain unawares, / And Sorrow looks into her face…” affect meaning?
(a) Sorrow contrasts with the joy in the first stanza, which shows readers that maintaining pardah protects women from sadness.
(b) Sorrow can see the woman’s tears, and that forces readers to question whether pardah protects women or oppresses them.
(c) By making time a character, it illustrates how aging causes sorrow and suffering.
(d) When time lifts the curtain, the woman is shamed that she has been exposed.