A Soldier’s Wife Weep | by Kamala Wijeratne

Last Saturday when you went back from leave 

I watched until you disappeared over the bend and long after, 
until my breast gave a great heave, 
and lit the lamp before the Buddha and prayed no end. 

On Wednesday when the crow cried on the dead branch 
and the sky coloured over with the colour of charcoal 
I had no fears, I knew you were safe 
I had your horoscope read and there were no malefics 

But on Thursday when they bore you home 

I did not know what to believe, what to think' 
it was as if I had slept a long sleep 
and saw things in a haze between life and death. 

Was it on Saturday that we bathed together at the village well 

and you boy-like threw stones as the sneering frogs 
and drank deeply of the scent ofthe giant palm 
that had ominously broken in splendrous fragrant flower? 

Looking back now I seem to see things I never saw before 
the way you hung behind me and touched my hair 

the way you leaned against the door 

and watched me as I bustled about. 

They gave you a hero's burial 
with all military honours 

the band played 

and your body passed from hand to hand 

I saw everything from inside a mist 

the drone of voices like a plane 

making its uncertain way through the clouds. 

I think they spoke of the way oil ife and death. 

I think ofthe bare, barren years

stretching like a road swaying through a desert

and wonder how to preoccupy myself 

how to make the day go forward. 

On weekends when I have nothing to do 

I spread the white wedding sari on the floor 
and contemplate how I stood on the poruwa with you 

shyly tying the piece of white cloth around my waist. 

How wrong the horoscope readers were...

Analysis 

Kamala Wijeratne, a Sri Lankan poet, describes in detail, a woman's feelings when her soldier husband was dead in "the separatist was waged by the militant group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam" against the government of Sri Lanka.

This poem reveals the sad and pathetic feelings of the woman after the burial of her dead husband. Her behaviour pattern after the death, her feelings, her ardent love, her concern, her regard and her sincere affection for her husband.

"Last Saturday when you went back from leave

I watched until you disappeared over the bend,

And long after, my breast gave a great heave

And lit the lamp before the Buddha and prayed no end."

"I watched until you disappeared" mirrors forth the genuine feelings of the woman and her great concern for her husband. Her faith in her religious performance "Lit the lamp before the Buddha" emphasising her Love for her husband, creating the image of the typical Sri Lankan woman believing in the religious performances and her faith in astrological predictions "I had your horoscope read and there were no malifics.."

Her immediate response, her pensive mood darkening her whole future.

"But on Thursday when they bore you home,

I did not know what to believe what to think"

She recalls to the times they were together

Her behaviour, so loving and full of care

"Looking back now I seem to seethings

I never saw before

The way you hung behind me and touched my hair

In stanza four her recollections of the memorable episodes confirming their mutual caring.

"Was it Saturday that we bathed together at the village well.

And you boy-like threw stones at the sneering frogs"

She recalls to the loving and caring ways of her husband

"Looking back now I seem to see things I never saw before

The way you hung behind me and touched my hair"

Stanza six brings to light the FUNERAL given to her dead husband a HERO's BURIAL

"With all military honours

The band played

And your body passed from hand to hand" highlighting the brave deeds of a soldier and the honour bestowed upon him.

"The drone of voices like a plane making its uncertain way through the clouds I think they spoke of the way of life and death"

The woman believed in astrology at first. She weighs the pros and cons and reaches the conclusion that everything is never immortal.

"I think the bare barren years

stretching like a road swaying through

The word DESERT could suggest a desert the unfortunate incident of becoming widowed young.

"Shyly tying the piece of white cloth round my waist" highlight the most significant event in her life and the end of all happy events darkening her whole life.

"How wrong the horoscope readers were"

She remains in a perplex state wondering how she would face life without her husband.

Kamala Wijeratne has chosen the exact title for her poem. "A soldier's wife weeps" She highlights the miserable state of a woman, a soldiers wife, suffering after the death of her husband. The poet reveals the customs and traditions of the Sri Lankan society.

The religious beliefs, astrological predictions and social values observed by Sri Lankans.

"The drone of voices like a plane making its uncertain way through the clouds," may suggest the failure of all that the woman is faced with.

The title of the poem "A soldier's wife weeps" matches the theme in elegant manner. The rhythm of the spoken language and the poet's diction style blend together to highlight the Sri Lankan "Concept and idiom".
The auditory and visual images emphasise the highlighted facts of the poem-the exact image of a soldier's wife widowed at young age,

"I think of the bare, barren years stretching like a road swaying through a desert."

Mrs. C. Ekanayake,

Retd. Specialist Teacher Eng.