Flames of pain
The young woman stares into the blazing red of the candle flame,
On the tip of her tongue is the most sacred thing to her: her husband's name.
She turns her tear filled eyes to his unmoving figure,
Remembering the moments when he rescued her from his mother's rigor.
The women of the village drag her into the house mercilessly,
Wiping the vermillion of her hairline unceremoniously.
They claw at the golden and black necklace resting on her collarbone,
About the misfortune of a widowed woman they drone.
The tears roll down her cheeks as they drape her in white,
They whisper about how she is a pitiful sight.
She gasps for air as she finally understands her situation,
There won't be one, but two cremations.
The death of her husband signed her fate,
She is going to die a torturous death on the pyre of her mate.
She screams as a woman yanks at her necklace,
Her mother-in-law steps forward and slaps her across the face.
She finally accepts her fate, as the women force her to stand steadily on the ground,
She sobs hysterically, blocking out any sound.
She watches with pain as her son lights the funeral pyre,
With a final anguished scream she hurls herself into the fire.
About this poem
"Sati was a custom religiously followed by a few, toed halfheartedly by rather more, sidestepped by many and ignored by most” ― Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Font size:
Written on December 01, 2021
Submitted by Coco1808! on December 01, 2021
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 14 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABB CCDD EEXF GGFF HHBB |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic octameter |
Characters | 1,188 |
Words | 236 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Flames of pain" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/114924/flames-of-pain>.
Discuss the poem Flames of pain with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In