💃🏽 “The Dance of the Eunuchs” – Full Explanation with Text Lines (Easy Language)By Kamala Das

-


📜 Poem Text with Easy Explanation (Line-by-Line)

It was hot, so hot, before the eunuchs came
to dance, wide skirts going round and round,
tassels jingling, and the clear
skins shining with sweat,

Explanation:
The speaker describes a very hot day, when the eunuchs came to perform a dance. They wore wide skirts that spun around as they danced. The tassels on their clothes made jingling sounds, and their sweaty skin shone in the sunlight.

the loud, long cymbals clashing, their
wilted, watery smiles
fluttering like drapes of a window in a storm.

Explanation:
As they danced, they played cymbals that made loud, clashing noises. Their smiles were weak and tired (called “wilted, watery smiles”). These smiles moved on their faces like curtains blowing in a storm—showing that their joy was not real, but maybe forced or sad.

They danced and
oh, they danced till they bled…

Explanation:
The eunuchs danced with great energy and passion, continuing until they bled from their feet or bodies. This shows how intense and painful their performance was—both physically and emotionally.

They were thin,
bright peacocks in glass cages,
all mine, I thought, and
shut my eyes.

Explanation:
The speaker compares them to bright, colorful peacocks, but trapped in glass cages—meaning they were beautiful but also imprisoned and fragile. The speaker imagines that the eunuchs belong to her (“all mine”) and then closes her eyes, perhaps to keep the image or escape the sadness.

Only the scent of the
shredded roots lingered,
a little on the air, and the black,
pinned, stiff, false hair
of the eunuchs

Explanation:
After the dance, the only thing that remains is the smell of crushed plant roots, which linger lightly in the air. The speaker also notices their fake black hair, which is pinned stiffly to their heads—highlighting the artificial beauty they wear during the dance.

Their voices were harsh,
like a cry of a bird,
their songs sad and monotonous,
though they sang of love.

Explanation:
The eunuchs' voices were rough, like a bird's cry—not soft or sweet. Their songs were sad and repetitive, even though the words were about love. This shows a deep sadness inside them—the love in their songs felt empty or painful.

They mocked their origins,
they pretended
to be women, or
so I thought, the beggars,

Explanation:
The speaker feels that the eunuchs are mocking their own identity—they pretend to be women, though they were born differently. The speaker refers to them as beggars, suggesting that they are poor, suffering, and marginalized by society.

the poorest of the poor,
they danced to music of
cymbals and the clarinet,
their voices
were harsh,

Explanation:
These eunuchs are described as very poor, the most helpless people in society. They dance to music made by cymbals and clarinet, and once again, their harsh voices are mentioned—emphasizing their pain and brokenness.

their songs were
of love, they sang of the loves
of men, and of the loves
of women,

Explanation:
The eunuchs sing about love stories—both of men loving women and women loving men. But the way they sing these songs makes it clear that they do not fully belong to either side, and their understanding of love is filled with longing and sadness.

but I felt only a hard ache,
a throbbing at the temples,
as though someone very strong was
striking my head with a hammer.

Explanation:
The speaker doesn’t feel joy from the eunuchs' dance or songs. Instead, she feels a deep pain—a strong, emotional headache, as if someone is hitting her head with a hammer. This strong image shows how disturbing and heartbreaking the experience was for her.

📝 Summary of the Poem in Simple Words

Kamala Das describes the sad and powerful dance of eunuchs—people who are often rejected by society. Even though they wear colorful clothes, dance with energy, and sing songs of love, there is deep pain inside them. Their smiles are not real, their voices are harsh, and their lives are filled with sorrow.

The poet feels sympathy for them. She sees that they are beautiful yet trapped, like peacocks in cages. Their songs about love are filled with loneliness, because they can never truly experience love or acceptance in society. Even their dance, full of movement, is a kind of cry for attention and identity.

💡 What the Poem Teaches Us

  • People on the margins of society (like eunuchs) also feel pain, joy, and love.
  • What looks beautiful on the outside can hide great suffering inside.
  • True art (like their dance) can express deep emotional truth, even without words.
  • Society should understand and respect those who are different. 

Popular posts from this blog

"Cry, the Peacock": A Detailed Summary and Analysis

-
Introduction Cry, the Peacock is Anita Desai ’s first novel. It was published in 1963. The novel explores a woman’s emotional struggles and her experience of loneliness and despair. The story focuses on Maya, the main character, and her troubled marriage. She suffers from isolation and mental instability. Anita Desai presents the fragility of the human mind and the difficulties of marriage. Brief Summary The novel takes place in post-independence India. However, the story focuses more on personal struggles than political events. Maya is a young woman who lives with her husband, Gautama. Gautama is a practical and intellectual man. He does not show emotions, and he does not understand Maya’s feelings. Maya is sensitive and emotional. She wants love and affection, but Gautama does not give her the attention she needs. Maya feels lonely and neglected. She spends most of her time thinking about her life. She creates fantasies in her mind to escape her loneliness. One important symbol in t...
Read more

Phonetics and Phonology : Definition and difference

-
Phonetics and phonology are two closely related subfields of linguistics that both deal with the sounds of speech, but they focus on different aspects of these sounds. Phonetics is the study of the physical properties of speech sounds, specifically how they are produced, transmitted, and perceived. It is concerned with the actual sounds themselves—how they are articulated, how they travel through the air as sound waves, and how they are received by the ear and processed by the brain. Phonetics is typically divided into three subfields: 1. Articulatory Phonetics : This branch focuses on the physical production of speech sounds. It looks at the movements of the vocal organs (such as the tongue, lips, and vocal cords) and how these movements create different speech sounds. It studies how different places and manners of articulation (e.g., voicing, nasality, consonant types like stops or fricatives) contribute to the production of speech. 2. Acoustic Phonetics : This branch is concerned w...
Read more

Dhwani Theory by Anandvardhana: an introduction

-
Anandvardhana was a Kashmiri court poet and literary critic, honored with the title of Rajanak during King Avantivarman's reign.  Anandavardhana authored the Dhvanyāloka , or A Light on Suggestion (dhwani), a work articulating the philosophy of "aesthetic suggestion" (dhwani, vyañjanā). Anandavardhana is credited with creating the dhwani theory. He wrote that dhwani (meaning sound, or evocation) is the "soul" or "essence" (ātman) of poetry (kavya).  Anandavardhana said, "When the poet writes, he creates a eloquent field of emotions." To understand the poetry, the reader or hearer must be on the same wavelength. Important points~ •Dhvani theory is a theory of suggestion that is considered to be the soul of poetry.  •The theory of Dhvani is a major contribution to Sanskrit literary theory.  •The theory of Dhvani suggests that the main goal of good poetry is to evoke a mood or "flavor" (rasa).  •The theory of Dhvani suggests that this...
Read more