Poetry (Padya): Comprehension, Theme and Poetic Devices
Poetry (padya) questions test comprehension of a Santali poem, recognition of its theme, and naming and explaining poetic devices. Santali poetry is closely tied to song and performance - much of it is meant to be sung, often with a refrain - so sound matters as much as literal meaning.
Core concepts
- Subject vs theme: the subject is what the poem describes; the theme is the idea it leaves you with (love of the jaher, the sacred grove; the cycle of seasons; protest against injustice).
- Refrain: a repeated line or block. Note whether the repetition is exact or changes slightly; a changed refrain often carries the poem's turn.
- Sound devices: alliteration, onomatopoeia, repetition, parallelism, rhythm.
- Figures of speech: simile (like/as), metaphor, personification, apostrophe (addressing an absent thing or person), contrast, hyperbole.
- Tone: lament, celebration, prayer, satire.
How to answer a device question
Do not just name the device. Use the three-part chain: device → quotation → effect. 'The refrain repeats the word for come; the repetition creates a gathering rhythm, as if the whole village is being called.'
Worked example
Illustrative couplet (translated): 'Come, rain, come to the dry field; / come, rain, the seedlings are calling.' Question: Identify the figure of speech and its effect. Answer: personification - the seedlings are given a voice ('calling'), which makes the need for rain feel like a plea from the living world, not a weather report. The repeated 'come' is anaphora and creates an insistent, song-like rhythm.
Traps
Retelling the poem as a story instead of analysing it; naming a device without explaining its effect; calling any repetition alliteration; ignoring the refrain's change; treating a culturally specific image (jaher, dance, harvest) as decoration rather than meaning.