To My Native Land

- Henry Louis Vivian Derozio

My country! In thy days of glory past
A beauteous halo circled round thy brow
and worshipped as a deity thou wast—
Where is thy glory, where the reverence now?
Thy eagle pinion is chained down at last,
And grovelling in the lowly dust art thou,
Thy minstrel hath no wreath to weave for thee
Save the sad story of thy misery!
Well—let me dive into the depths of time
And bring from out the ages, that have rolled
A few small fragments of these wrecks sublime
Which human eye may never more behold
And let the guerdon of my labour be,
My fallen country! One kind wish for thee!

This is a follow-up from an earlier post- http://governmentgirl1943lp.typepad.com/blog/2011/04/idea-log-13042011.html -

where the poet, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, was mentioned. I realized I had heard his name before and so I searched and realized that he wrote 'To My Native Land". I remember memorizing this poem in grade 7-8. I still remember! This was probably one of the only poems I've loved! It always made me so sad.

Here is a re-introduction of the poet from the same piece;

A few feet away from Stuart’s tomb, lies a stalwart of the early history of Bengal - Henry Vivian Louis Derozio. He was the youthful, Anglo-Indian poet, rational thinker and inspiration, behind the extraordinary, Young Bengal Movement, of the early 19th century. He was influenced by the ideas thrown up by the French Revolution and as a 21 year old teacher, sought to transmit these, to his pupils at Hindu College, (subsequently renamed Presidency College). His unconventional teaching methods, resulted in his being accused of promoting Atheism, to his radical students and led to his dismissal from the College. He died soon after, still a very young man, at the age of 22, but he left a rich heritage of poetry, that inspired future generations and left a permanent impact, on the social outlook, of the Bengali- Hindu community.

Derozio's intense zeal for teaching and his interactions with students created a sensation at Hindu College. His students came to be known as Derozians.

The motto of the Derozians was:

He who will not reason is a bigot, he who cannot reason is a fool, and he who does not reason is a slave.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Vivian_Derozio