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
How does the personification in the lines "Time lifts the curtain
unawares, / And Sorrow looks into her face..." affect meaning?
Sorrow is a necessary contrast to joy since it shows
the range of the woman's emotions.
By making sorrow a character, the distress caused
by exposure is clear.
When time lifts the curtain, the sadness women
experience is revealed.
Time causes the woman's tears when it lifts the
curtain because she is put on display.