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Spring as beginning
The poem opens on nature waking up. The spring flood sets the human drama in motion too.
Free will against custom
The central nerve is the collision between personal feeling and a decision made on someone's behalf.
Poverty and wealth
Setner and Tăhtaman are two poles of village hierarchy.
Land and labour
Peasant life is rendered in such detail it becomes almost a character in its own right.
The price of resistance
Breaking from the path laid out for her comes at the highest possible cost.