A Requiem for Earth -ONV Kurup -Translated by Jaya Kumar

A Requiem for Earth -ONV Kurup
-Translated by Jaya Kumar
About the author:
Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kuruppuis popularly known as ONV. He was a poet and
lyricist and Malayali writer. He wrote 15 anthologies of Poetry and 1500 Movie songs. He
received many awards like, Kerala Sahitya Academy Award (1971), Kendra Sahitya Academy
Award(1975), PadmaShri(1998), Jnanpith Award(2007), Padma Vibhushan(2011) etc.
About the poem:
Requiem is a funeral song or elegy written on the death of a person. In the poem “A
requiem for earth” the poet discusses beauty of the nature and the various ways in which people
destroy earth for selfish motives in the name of development.The speaker is the ONV Kurup
himself and it is addressed to the mother earth.
The death of earth is very close. It is not yet dead, but the poet wishes that the soul of earth
may rest in peace. It is not only to earth but also to his death that will happen(happened) before
the death of earth. If the earth dies, no one will remain here to cry for her so, the poet is writing
this in advance. So, the poet is inscribing this lament in his heart before the death of earth. He
hopes that the soul of Earth will rest in peace.
According to the Malayali’s belief, she gave birth to twelve children who became the
twelve clans. Her children are unable to live in unity. The earth saw them, killing one another. The
Mother Earth was helpless. She shed tears by seeing her children fighting with each other. After
eating each other, they started eating earth. But she did not stop them as she is helpless.
Mother Earth nourished her children by the resources in her (suckled them at her breast).
But after they became stronger, they found out that the earth can be exploited and they started
drinking blood from her sacred heart. Mother Earth gave us life, oxygen, food, shelter, water and
everything, but we are not happy with what we have. We started destroying the resources of the
earth, killing the animals, cutting the forest and polluting the earth.
The poet addresses earth as the favourite bride of sun. He says that the children of earth
destroyed her bridal dress (nature/greenery) given by sun into pieces. They were like beasts who
pierced at her body and drank the blood. As theydance on her, we can feel the rhythm of death
everywhere. Here the poet is giving reference to Oedipus, the Greek who married his mother
unknowingly. His story is outdated. Now the children of mother earth strip her naked, and sell her
in market.
Because of cruelty done by humans, the stability of ecosystem is lost. The sun shines
brightly and the temperatures are rising year after year (global warming). June clouds search for
water. The month of December is not cold. There is no flower in April. The climate has changed
and so the seasons. There is no water in the rivers of the forest.The rhythm of creation is lost. Poet
compares life to a person, whose chariot wheels are stuck on their course (reference to warrior
Karna).
The poet wonders at the beauty of nature. The earth is able to capture the beauty of sun in
a dewdrop on leaves. His fantasies are grown in the shades of trees and the wind that trod upon
sea. From the first drop of honey(birth) and to the last drop of Tulasi water (death), everything is
taken from earth. Ifwe have the gratitude that we were born form earth, we can retain these sweet
memories forever.
The poet describes different forms of earth the poet has seen. The earth makes cradles and
sings lullabies for thousands of tender fruits. She swings in several orchards. She leaps on the tip