To a Pair of Sarus Cranes
by Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh's poignant elegiac poem captures the tragic killing of a male Sarus crane at dawn by callous hunters, and charts the inconsolable grief, desperate longing, and eventual death of his female partner. Contrasting the noble dignity of the birds with the crude violence of human predators, the poet shows that animal love and fidelity transcend ornithological science and human myth.
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The poem begins at sunrise as a male Sarus crane stretches its proud neck toward the horizon, as though assisting in pulling up the reluctant morning sun. Suddenly, callous hunters shoot him down, brutally stuffing his noble body into a coarse bag like dirty linen. The female crane circles overhead in intense sorrow. When the hunters depart, she descends to the blood-stained spot and utters plaintive cries likened to dots and dashes of Morse code. In a heartbreaking display of maternal and spousal desperation, she pecks at his scattered feathers, kisses them, and sits over them in a futile effort to hatch her dead mate back to life. Unable to endure the void, a distant wave from the sea carries her away, reuniting the lovers in death. The poet concludes that her grief and fidelity surpass the scientific observations of naturalist A. O. Hume and outshine legendary human love stories.
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The Dawn and the Brutal Kill
The poem opens at dawn as a male Sarus crane extends his graceful neck into the morning sky. In an imaginative image, the poet describes the bird stretching out toward the horizon as if attempting to pull the reluctant sun upward into the sky, celebrating the vitality and dawn of a new day.
This sublime communion with nature is violently shattered by hunters. Without warning or reason, a gunshot rings out, and the male crane falls lifeless to the earth. The proud, majestic bird is brought low in an instant of senseless human cruelty.
Indignity of Death vs. Graceful Anguish
The poet highlights the callous indifference of the hunters. They seize the dead male crane by his once-proud neck and nonchalantly stuff his lifeless form into a coarse gunny sack, 'like dirty linen in a washing bag.' This harsh simile exposes how human beings reduce a magnificent, living marvel of nature to mere trash.
Meanwhile, the female crane circles in the sky above, crying out in sheer agony. Her graceful flight and spiraling movements contrast starkly with the shameful and disgraceful treatment meted out to her dead companion by the uncaring hunters.
The Morse Code of Grief
Once the hunters leave with their prize, the female crane descends to the blood-spattered earth where her mate was slaughtered. Overwhelmed by grief, her shrill, agonizing cries echo into the sky.
The poet compares her sorrowful cries to the dots and dashes of 'Morse code,' suggesting that she is transmitting a desperate, tragic message of grief across the airwaves to an unhearing universe.
The Desperate Hope to Hatch Feathers
Unable to accept the permanence of death, the female bird collects the few blood-stained feathers left scattered in the dust. She tenderly touches and pecks at them with her beak, caressing them as if her gentle touch could breathe life back into her partner.
In the poem's most touching and poignant scene, she sits upon the blood-stained feathers in an impossible, desperate attempt to hatch them into a chick. This tender yet futile maternal gesture reveals the depth of her denial and the absolute magnitude of her grief.
Transcendence in Death
Her intense suffering draws to an inevitable close. The poet describes a distant wave of the sea sweeping inward from afar, carrying the female crane away from the mortal realm to be reunited with her dead mate.
Her demise is not a defeat but a spiritual triumph of love. The poet reflects that this crane's devotion went beyond the ornithological records of Allan Octavian Hume and surpassed the celebrated fables of human romantic devotion, demonstrating that animals possess profound emotional depth.