Comparison Between Gita Govinda And The Song

Of Solomon Essay, Research Paper

Analysis and Comparison of Gita Govinda

and Song of Solomon

Gita Govinda is a religious love poem in the Indian religion. The poem consists of

mainly two characters, Krishna and Radha, who are estranged lovers. Towards the end of

the poem, however, they are reunited, giving accounts of how they feel about each other

along the way.

The Song of Solomon from the Bible is a religious poem in the Catholic religion.

There aren’t any names given in the poem, but it seems very clear that there are two

people involved. This poem gives insight into the courtship and marriage customs of the

time when this was written. This poem also gives the reader a feeling of the sacredness

and depth of marriage.

The similarities between these two poems are many. They both deal with two

people in love. Both poems are expressing the feelings of the characters involved. In each

one, the characters are comparing the features of their loved ones to the beautiful things in

each of their societies.

These poems are also structured in similar fashions. Each paragraph is about three

to four sentences long. As a new chapter begins, the speaker changes, always saying how

they feel about the other person.

These poems also have differing qualities about them. The Song of Solomon goes

through the motions of love, and ends with the two lovers being married. In Gita

Govinda, the story is basically about the two lovers reuniting, with no reference to them

becoming married. There is also a structure difference between these two. Gita Govinda

has a lot of repetition in it. In every chapter, there is at least one, if not two, lines that are

repeated in every paragraph for about half of the chapter. The Song of Solomon has no

such format. There is no repetition of lines here. There is, however, a title to each one of

the chapters and subchapters, which I found to make it a lot easier to follow than the Gita

Govinda.

I personally found the Song of Solomon a lot easier to follow. This is probably

due to the fact that I am Christian and have read parts of the Bible in the earlier parts of

my life. This is not to say that the Gita Govinda was not good. I did find it interesting,

but it was too hard for me to follow it. This is because I am not familiar with the Indian

culture or religion. The references that the Gita Govinda made to other names lost me a

few times. With all things said, both of these religious poems are similar in many ways,

which shows the commonality between the two religions and cultures.