Introduction
Mirabai was a devotee of Lord Krishna. Her poetry on Krishna is full of devotion and bhakti towards God. She broke all the shackles of society and did not worry about the perception of society about a high-class lady like her dancing and singing god’s bhajan in public. This poem also reflects the same emotions of Mirabai that she doesn’t care about anyone except lord Krishna.
Central Idea
The main idea of the poem is to present the concept of love in the thoughts of Mirabai. She loves lord Krishna and does not want anyone else in her life. She is developing this divine love and wants to live with it without worrying about what society thinks. She only cares about devoting her life towards bhakti of lord Krishna and feels pity for those who are tied to worldly relationships.
Themes
a) Love – The main theme of the poem is love. Mirabai wants to spend his life living in love of Lord Krishna. She rejects all the relationships of this materialistic world. She says, ‘I have reared / love’s creeper / with my tears. She has developed a devotional love to a great extent. People start to spread rumours about her bhakti towards Lord Krishna. But she does not care about any such things, and her love is true towards her lord.
b) Devotion – Devotion of Mirabai towards Lord Krishna is also a significant theme of the poem. Her devotion cum love make her forget all the relationships of the physical world. This devotion helps her win over poison sent to her by Rana.
Figure of Speech
a) Alliteration – The phrase ‘live for love’ has alliteration as there is repetition of /L/ consonant at the start of words.
b) Simile – The struggle in life to accrue love is compared to ‘one churning curd / to get precious ghee.
c) Assonance – There is repetition of the vowel sound /a/ in the phrase ‘one churning curd’. Hence, it is an example of assonance.
d) Enjambment – It is a device in which a sentence continues into multiple lines in the poem. For instance:
People chide me for moving among saints. Here, the sentence ‘people chide me’ continues into the next line ‘for moving among saints’.
Imagery
There is an image of the people when Mirabai has presented the development of love in her heart to a creeper which she has reared with water of her tears. It is a beautiful image of presenting love as a creeper, which is properly taken care of with emotions.
Glimpse of Bhakti Movement
This poem of Mirabai gives us a glimpse of the Bhakti Movement. The devotion towards the lord crosses every limit and turns into love for a beloved. This bhakti was unflinching against societal odds, as this poem shows through Mirabai’s stand.
Structure and Rhyme Scheme
There is no particular structure in the poem, nor is there any rhyme scheme.
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