Critical analysis of A.K. Ramanujan’s “Anxiety” Poem.

“Anxiety”, written by A.K. Ramanujan deals with the human mental scale of stress and other impact of everyday modern life. The poem tries to explore the features of anxiety and its shape. The poet has used many literary devices to compare the feelings of anxiety and the images in the poem enabled to bridge the figure and shape of what anxiety looks like. The poem uses literary devices such as simile , metaphor , metonymy and influences of Futurism.

The poet describes the physical shape of anxiety stating with the use of simile and images of the old tree. The ancient tree seems to be ” Not branchless” and appears like a “fear tree” and the poet compares it by stating that the anxiety too is “Not branchless” which implies the different varieties of factors responsible for it. He further adds that it has it’s own “naked roots and secret twigs”. It means to suggest that it has the transparent factors which comes from everyday struggles as well as from inner feelings of insecurities.

In addition to this , the influences of Futurism can be seen in the poem. He uses a mathematical equation to draw a comparison between hope and unending “knot”. The simile highlights that the feelings of anxiety are “Not geometric as the parabolas /Of hope” which means to suggest that the mathematical equation like parabolas has a solution to certain problems but anxiety has “loose ends” which extends to a “knot” tied at the “top” where the poet seems to carry behind it.

Moreover, the poet represents the shape of anxiety inside the human mind which remains “Not wakeful” to physical world but devours inside the conscious mind. The “white snake” could represent the cover or the feelings which are buried inside our mind and not transparent to the outer world. It devours our mind and spontaneously flows “like the eloping gaiety of waters” which could rebound to the “knot” that ties the factors that causes anxiety behind its back. These flows of streaming “knot” is expressed with the use of metonymy which replaces the mood and mental hesitation to “drowses , viscuous and fibered as pitch”. These lines suggest the tiresome feelings caused by anxiety and its impact on human consciousness.

Lastly, the poet has used metaphor to highlight the physical substances that has its own nurturing or solution but anxiety seems to be unending cycle for human life. Metaphorically he states that “Flames have only lungs ” which means that the fire can burn on the presence of air and “Water is all eyes” represents that water flows spontaneously as it has a direction. He further adds that “The earth has bone for muscle” which represents that the earth can sustain as it has its foundation and necessary elements for survival and “The air is a flock of invisible pigeons” could represent the element can sustain as it has its hope which are the rays of invisible atoms and molecules to function yet the anxiety has “no metaphor to end it” which suggest the unending “knots” of anxiety.

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