In the poem The Queen’s Rival, Queen Gulnaar asks her husband to bring her a rival as she is tired of her beauty and joy and luxury. King Feroz bring beautiful brides for her but she still longs for a rival. Finally, when her young daughter takes away her mirror, teases her and runs away, Queen Gulnaar feels good as she finds her rival in her daughter.

The poem depicts that motherhood is an emotion that every woman on earth needs. In spite of having everything, Queen Gulnaar feels missing something. She remains dissatisfied with her life, her luxury and joy. But when she sees her daughter, she feels good.

Motherhood is a priceless gift from nature. No money, no joy, no comfort can be compared to the feeling of motherhood. Sarojini Naidu, has explained this well in the poem.

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Queen Gulnaar is living a life which any human on earth would dream of. She remains laden with costly ornaments all the time. She is as beautiful as a rose. Her chamber is full of costly stones and other decorative things. There is no one as beautiful as Queen Gulnaar. No one can question her or compete her.

However she does not appear to be happy with this kind of life. She calls splendour empty and bliss (joy) hollow. She is tired of her beauty. She thus desires to have a rival who would compete with her in terms of beauty, richness etc. Although King Feroz brings seven beautiful brides for her, she still remains unsatisfied.

Finally, when her daughter takes away mirror from her and teases her, Queen Gulnaar feels satisfied. Thus for her all the comfort and beauty is useless in front of the feeling of motherhood. Although she is a queen, she longs to become a mother and this feeling is most precious for her.

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Following poetic devices have been used in the poem The Queen’s Rival:

1. Simile: It is a literary device that directly compares two things using “as” or “like”. The poet uses ample similes in the poem. e.g. “A young queen eyed like the morning star”, “Seven queens shone round her ivory bed, Like seven soft gems on a silken thread”, “Like seven fair lamps in a royal tower”, “Like seven bright petals of Beauty’s flower”, “Ran to her knee like a wildwood fay”, “Queen Gulnaar laughed like a tremulous rose”.
2. Metaphor: It is a literary device that directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. e.g. “Seven new moon tides” refers to beautiful brides.
3. Oxymoron: It is a literary device in which contradictory terms appear in conjunction. e.g. “Empty splendour”, “shadowless bliss’.
4. Alliteration: It is the occurrence of the same sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. e.g. “No savour or salt “, “my messengers”, “When spring winds wakened”, “two spring times”, “fillet with fringes”.
5. Personification: It is the attribution of human characteristics to animals and non-living things. e.g. “the peach groves thrilled”.

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