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ST Coleridge as a Romantic Poet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) was one of the most well known poets of the First generation Romantic Age. He is known for his collaboration with William Wordsworth on their work “Lyrical ballads” which led to the Romantic movement. He was very much imaginative since childhood and developed his own theories on imagination in his famous essay “Biographia Literaria”. The most important aspect of his treatment was the supernatural elements which has a significant role in his poems.

As a Romantic poet, he experimented his poems with supernatural elements. The supernatural elements helps in granting human qualities and characteristics in his poems. For instance, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” perfectly shows the handling of supernatural elements where the entities of “Albatross” , “Death and Life-in-Death” , water snakes, “Pilot”, and “Hermia” shows human features and morality. These entities shows the important human feature of dominion traits where man always holds its highest authority over nature but Coleridge profess that these entities possess human traits and has the potential to dominate over man, punish and make them realize their mistakes and guilt.

In addition to this, Romantic poems exhibit mysticism as another important characteristics. Mysticism is the spiritual or divine experiences in nature. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” shows mysticism when the mariners realizes that they had been followed by the angry Spirit in the South pole and is taunting them in the present for their sins. The implication of this element is to evoke the road of redemption and a full control of nature over man.

Coleridge brings forth the element of organic oneness where man and nature are one and diminishing the one can result in devastation. The poem “The Rime of The Ancient mariner” shows that the “Albatross” bird was killed by the mariner, it brought about curses and mariners died and the only alive mariner was cursed to live a life to share his own personal experience to others which was far more deadly than being death in this world.

However, Coleridge uses a creative symbols which are profound in his poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. The “Albatross” is a symbol of organic unity between man and nature or the representation of Jesus Christ. The blood that the mariner drank symbolizes the blood of Jesus which is to represent the purification of their sins. The “water” symbolizes life and “moonlight” symbolizes death. The water snakes arrival is a clear symbol of spiritual realization and the falling of “Albatross” from mariner’s neck shows the repentance and allegorically prayer becomes the symbol of a bridge between divine and man.

Coleridge poems imbue Romantic imagination and the famous poem “Kubla Khan” explores the creative process. “Kubla Khan” is a symbol of creative process and the opening lines “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/ …… to a sunless sea/” is filled with creative imagination and the imagery are filled with symbols. The “Xanadu” is a symbol of mental landscape whereas the ” dome” is the symbol of creation or a symbol of human mind . The ” Alph” is the “scared river’ becomes the symbol of Romantic spontaneity or the materials perceived from primary imagination which spontaneously runs through the “caverns” which becomes the symbol of conscious mind. The perceived materials is then streamed down to the “sunless sea’ which is a symbol of unconscious mind or the secondary imagination which will alter and modify these materials.

Lastly, hellenistic writing is also an important aspect of his writings. In “Kubla Khan”, he mentions the “Abyssinian Maid” who was playing her “dulcimer” and singing on “Mount Abora” reflects his creativity of imagination as well. It can be assume that the materials which has been amalgamated or altered by the secondary imagination to suggest a meaning and hence becomes a symbol of foreseeing a future avalanche.

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William Shakespeare as a Poet of Human Nature

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was the Elizabethan playwright, sonneteer, dramatist and a poet. He is also known as the man of all ages and bard of Avon. He wrote 154 sonnets and contributed 37 plays. He was heavily influenced by the University Wits. Dr. Samuel Johnson in his essay “Preface to William Shakespeare” called him as a poet of human nature. Shakespeare writings comprises of human psychology, instincts,human conscience as well as human relationships.

Shakespeare comprehended the human psychology and its working feature. Human mind is divided into conscious, sub conscious and unconscious mind. Shakespeare naturally experimented in his play “A Mid Summer’s Night Dream” to show such division of human mind. The woods or forest in his play symbolizes the realm of unconscious mind as the “mechanicals” or group of actors decided their rehearsal inside the woods at midnight as well as Lysander and Hermia decided to elope together at midnight. One can observe that they run into the woods at midnight and the unconscious mind is active during the midnight. Further, the character of Theseus symbolizes the realm of conscious mind as Theseus found the characters laying asleep inside the forest and his order to blow the “horn” wakes up the characters reflecting on the senses of the consciousness.

The human nature in Shakespeare’s writing can be seen in his characterization.Shakespeare’s character shows a natural projection of human instincts like id , ego and super ego. In “A Mid Summer’s Night Dream”, the instinct of id is seen in the character of Helena who desired to tell Demetrius about the elopement of Lysander and Hermia so Demetrius will fall in love with him. The Superego is a morality principle or a conscience which is seen in the character of Hermia who responded to a situation in the forest not to sleep near Lysander as she is unmarried while delineating her conscience on such situation. Likewise , it is also seen in the play of “King Lear” in the character of Cordelia.

Shakespeare’s play shows the human relationships of the characters. In the field of psychoanalysis, Oedipus complex and Electra complex are the common traits of human relationship. He depicted certain relationships in his plays like “King Lear”. The Oedipus complex can be seen in the character Edmund who envies Edgar and is attracted to his father’s property(motherly figure) in “King Lear” as well as in the character traits of Hamlet.
Electra Complex is seen in Regan and Goneril who flatters his father as they envy Cordelia(mothely figure) or consider her as a threat.

Shakespeare used many clowns and fools in his plays. These fools are used to evoke sarcasm and humor. As the society cater less attention to clowns and fools, Shakespeare uses them to attack the Royal authorities and sometimes in tragedy to foretell the truth and future. Clowns or fools bring forth moral conscience in the plays like “King Lear” but are generally negated for their entertainment purpose.

Shakespeare try to magnify the extreme position of human emotions.
He tries to explore the capability of human emotions and showcases the natural extremity and its capabilities. “Othello” is a play where Othello became extremely jealous of his own wife Desdemona that he killed her. This act is an impulse of extreme emotions and the capability of human mind to show the values of human beings and their extreme potential to act when their emotions are triggered.

Lastly, one of the important aspect of Shakespeare’s writing was the development of self. The self is divided into outer self and inner self. “Hamlet” is a play where Hamlet becomes a victim of the conflict between appearance and reality. He states in the character light of Claudius that “One may smile, and smile, and smile and be a villain” implying that the outer self of Claudius is pleasant and well-mannered typical statesman but the inner self implies that he is a murderer.

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Feminism

Feminism was a political socio-political movement in the Western world that began in the nineteenth century. There are three waves of feminism in the area feminist studies. However, it was not until the first half of the twentieth century that the main demands of women were fulfilled in most Western countries, such as the right to vote, own property, access to schools and universities etc. Women found out that that this formal equality had not led to a significant change in their actual social and economic circumstances.

                The major key idea of feminism was the address of inequality of two sexes. Simone de Beauvoir wrote a book The Second Sex(1949),which addresses a question “what is a woman ?” and argues that women have always been considered and treated as the “second” sex. In Western history and thought, “human” has always been equated with “male”. Women were defined as “the other” in opposition and contrast to men. In philosophy and art, the woman usually is the object toward which the male subject directs his gaze and his desire.

                  In addition to this, the feminist highlights the very idea of the definition of gender. Gender is a construct which is derived from the biological process of two opposite sexes. The role is passed down to the gender by the society and hence the construction of masculinity and femininity which inferior the status of a women. They address the constructs of the gender and associated masculinity and femininity and tries to break the construct to support equality of both sexes.

                  However, Elaine Showalter coined the term “gynocriticism” in Towards a Feminist Poetics to describe a certain construct for “ a female framework for the analysis of women’s literature”. It tries to separate the female experiences from the male experiences in the literary tradition. It studies the “interior consciousness” of the female and explores women’s identity and gender in the society. It engaged in identifying the subjective matters of female experiences and their mode of thinking self and perceiving the world specifying “woman’s language” in different speech and writing.

                     The most important development in the feminist study was the idea of “ecriture feminine” coined by Helene Cixous in her essay The Laugh of the Medusa. She describes it as a uniquely feminine style of writing characterized by the writings of images, silences , puns and so on. It is attributed to the centuries of oppression of the female voice which is expressed in a verbal language.

                     Hence , the recent studies and approaches has developed a new concept of feminism is that there are “feminisms” in the different corners of the world. It showcases the fact the nourishment in different sets of culture varies and it is impossible to carry out the same notion of feminism in other aspects of culture. Due to the different ways of living standards and cultural aspects, the concept of “ feminisms” is promoted.

Click Here to know about Feminist Poem The Looking Glass – https://getsetnotes.com/critical-analysis-of-the-looking-glass-poem-by-kamala-das/

Click Here to Know Alice Walker’s The Color Purple – https://getsetnotes.com/alice-walkers-the-color-purple-as-a-feminist-novel/

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The Gift of India as an anti war poem by Sarojini Naidu

The Gift of India (1915), written by Sarojini Naidu alludes to the selfless sacrifice and courage of Indian soldiers who participated in the First World war. The poet mourns over her deceased children who sacrificed their lives in the war and sung for the soldiers who died in other foreign lands. The poem critiques the war and its impact on the family causes devastation. The title of the poem is suggestive of the gift of India that India bestowed upon Britain in fighting against Germany.

The poem highlights the brutality of the war where it destroy the innocence of the soldiers. Naidu states that the soldiers ” gathered like pearls in their alien graves” where the word “pearls” shows the innocence of the soldiers lying on the foreign lands. The soldiers lie silently “by the Persian waves” and “Scattered like shells on Egyptians sands” where the simile showcases the quality of the soldiers courage and sacrifices for the nation.




The anaphora heightens the loss of innocence where the soldiers “lie with pale brows and brave, broken hands,/ They are strewn like blossoms mown down by chance”. The brutality of the war is seen in the imagery where the Indian soldiers lie “on the blood-brown meadows of Flanders and France”.

In addition to this, it delineates the psychological impact of war on the family. Naidu established the theme of universal womanhood where the woman’s sensitivity towards the loss of her child and pathos is reflected in the poem. The mental turmoil is depicted with the use of rhetorical question and anaphora. The rhetorical question exhibited the woman’s sensitivity of grief over the loss of her child where the poet highlights ” Can ye measure the grief of the tears I weep/ Or compass the woe of the watch I Keep?”. The lines are suggestive of the theme of universal womanhood of establishing the woman’s emotions and her psychological effects over her deceased sons. The poet further employs whether the “pride” provokes in her heart would overpower the “heart’s despair”.

The anaphora portrays the intense emotions of pathos and uncertainties which the mother India feels about her sons. The poet questions whether they can perceive or sense the “hope” while she prays for she only sees “the far sad glorious vision I see/ Of the torn red banners of victory”. These lines are evocative of the uncertainty of hope and despair towards the soldiers whether they will return safely or die on the foreign lands. The “vision” she sees is the “red banners” or blood of her sons over the torn flags of “victory”.

Hence, the poem is an echo to the unsung soldiers who died in the battlefield. Many Indian soldiers were unremembered or undervalued who participated in the war and the poem urges the suffice and values to Indian soldiers. War only gives spotlight to the colonial power to which the Indian soldiers were not mentioned. Therefore, the poem urges the colonial power to honor the valor of Indian soldiers. The poet states that when the “terror and tumult of hate” shall stop and “life” will be “refashioned’ with “peace”, the “love” of Britain “shall offer memorial thanks” to the deceased Indian soldiers. She further states that they should honor “the comrades” who “fought in your dauntless ranks” and “the deeds of the deathless ones” through remembrance of “the blood of my martyred sons!”.




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PB Shelley as a Romantic Poet

PB Shelley (1792-1822) belonged to the Second generation of the Romantic Age. He became a key member of a close knitted circle of visionary poets and writers that included Lord Byron, John Keats, Leigh Hunt, Thomas Peacock and his second wife, Mary Shelley. He is known for classic poems such as “Ozymandias”, “Ode to the West Wind” , “The Cloud’ and others. He wrote a verse drama “The Cenci” and philosophical poems such as “Queen Mab”, ‘Alastor”, “Adonais” , “Prometheus Unbound” and his final unfinished work “The Triumph of Life”.

Shelley’s writing feature the prospects of mysticism. He explores the realm of inexistent beings rationally and its manifestation on human mind. “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” shows the shadow of “unseen power” which moves and “floats though unseen among us” manifests upon the physical object of nature. He calls it as a ‘Spirit of Beauty” which he further adds that it’s manifestation on human mind can make any individual omnipotent and extremely powerful.

One of the important aspects of Shelley’s writing was the treatment with satire. His satire is directed against the political tyranny and rulers. “Ozymandias” is a classic poem and a sonnet with the ironical message of the temporal physical power that decays with time. Shelley mocks at the tyranny of king Ozymandias whose political power could not hold its dominion for a long period of time but is surrounded with “Nothing beside remains. Round the decay”.

Shelley’s imagination is different from other Romantics. The faculty of imagination is expressed as closely resemble to the divine. Shelley in his essay “A Defence of Poetry” argue that the poet is the creator and his creative process are almost close to divine. In “Adonais“, he compares the “mind” or the creativity of John keats to “A godlike mind soars forth, in its delight”. However, he amalgamates between facts and nature to give his creative imagination. “Ode to a Skylark” shows the amalgamation by bringing forth the atmospheric refraction of light in parallel comparison to the moon diminishing during the day once “white dawn clear” and likewise the physical appearance of the skylark gets blurred as the sun sets down which is due to the atmospheric refraction of light.

Shelley was a revolutionary poet and derives much influences from the French Revolution. The French Revolution destroyed the old setup of order and brought a new order to the society. “Ode to the West Wind” shows the destruction of old ideas to emerge a seed of new ideas. He compares old ideas to “leaves dead” and pleads the West Wind to drive away “like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing”. He talks about the emergence of new ideas where “the winged seeds” are preserved like a “corpse” until “the spring shall blow” resulting of the harbingers of change.

“Ode to the West Wind” sprouts a Romantic elements of subjectivity. Shelley was a victim of mob torment and a bully. He addresses his own personal emotions in the statement ” A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed” him and “I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed”. These lines suggest the sufferings and pains he went through in his own life and pleads the West Wind to use him as a “lyre” and swept away his old self to a new life stating “be thou me,/Impetuous one!”.

Lastly, Shelley exhibited Hellenistic writing in his poems. “Adonais” is a poem of fifty five Spenserian stanzas and a clear imitation of Theocritus and Moschus pastoral tradition. It is an elegy written in commemoration for Keats and Adonais is a representation of Keats in the poem. Adonais is dead as the wild boar killed him while he was hunting and the wild boar is the representation of the critics especially the reviews who criticized Keats poetry. He tries to suggest that the career of Keats is killed by the critics and hence the hellenistic elements are revolutionary in its approaches and filled with subjective spontaneity of poet’s own emotion.

Shelley Adonais as a Pastoral Elegy

Hymn to Intellectual Beauty as a Romantic Poem

Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind as a Romantic Poem

Shelley’s Ozymandias Analysis

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William Wordsworth “Lines Composed Upon Westminster Bridge” as a Romantic Poem.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) belonged to the First generation of the Romantic Age. He is the major contribution in the field of Romantic movement in English Literature. He is mostly known for his famous work on “Lyrical Ballads”(1789) in collobaration with ST Coleridge. He has also written a famous literary piece of criticism which shapes the colour and essence of the Romantic school of poetry in his essay “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”(1800).

The Sonnet “Lines Composed Upon Westminster Bridge(1802) deviates away from the Romantic essence. The representation of London city in the morning dawn is an inspiration of the sonnet and one can consider the Romantic elements in the poem. It can assume some Romantic elements in the poem such as subjectivity, individualism, spontaneity , critique of industrialization and beauty.

Wordworth believed that the poetry is the “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and emotions recollected in tranquility”. The spontaneity is the result of his heavy inspiration of perception on the natural tranquil state of London city in the morning dawn. It led him to draw a beautiful scenery of calm state of city as seen in the movement of nature. These entire inspiration made Wordsworth to objectify its scenic beauty in parallel comparison to the landscape of nature.

The Romantics believed in the subjective experiences and emotions. The subjectivity is clearly portrayed in the sonnet which is the poet’s own personal experiences while passing the River Thames. The sonnert gives the poet own personal point of view to the beauty of London city at the morning dawn. He states that “Earth has not anything to show more fair” and critiques the passers who failed to notice the “sight so touching in its majesty”.

However, the notion of the Romantic individualism is one of the fundamental writings. Wordworth highlighted in his essay that “Poetry is just the image of man and nature” and he mirrors the self of an individual in the lap of the nature. Considering the sonnet , he gives the outer self of London city who “wear ” like a “garment” of “the beauty of tyhe morning” but the inner reflection of London city is miserable and dull due to the process of industrialization. In contrast to the representation of London city, he emphasizes on the self of an individual where the outer self appears bright and colorful but the inner self is filled with hidden sights and unknown perceptions.

The Romantics critique the industrialization . In the sonnet. he indirectly critiques the dullness of industries and appreciates the beauty of London city under the appearance of morning light. He states that the city is “silent, bare ,” and “Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie/ Open unto the fields and to the sky” which are “All bright and glittering in the smokeless air”. The mention of “smokeless air” represents a beauty without the intervention of industrial fumes which hinders its beauty.

Lastly, the beauty is the basic element which all the Romantics appreciate. The sonnet reveals the appreciation of the morning dawn of London city where the “sun is personified to beauty that shines in “his first splendour, valley, rock , or hill” and the beauty of the tranquil state of “the river glideth at his own sweet will” shows the beauty of the morning landscape of London city.

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John Keats as a Romantic Poet.

John Keats(1795-1821) belonged to the second generation of the Romantic Age. He is famous for his odes which are written in 1819. His influences as a poet emerge from his famous odes beacuse of his unique writing skills. His writings embody the Romantic essence of negative capability, hellinism, sensuousness, imagination , interconnection between man and nature, beauty, medievalism and others.

The important essence of Keat’s poem is the spirit of medievalism. “The Eve of St.Agnes”(1820) shows the influences of Spenser as it is written in Spenserian Stanza and set in a medieval castle and medieval beliefs. Madeline’s assurance of her ritual rites and fasting to enable a vision of her lover is a clear reflection of the medieval cultural beliefs and the sensuous touch is dived in the poem when Porphyro makes her dream come true.

The faculty of Keatsian imagination in the poem of “The Eve of St.Agnes” is the connection between conscious and unconscious creative mind through the representation of conflict between thought and feeling. It is the thought of Madeline’s belief to see a vision of her lover in her dream and the feelings of Porphyro for her which enabled her dream to come true shows the imaginative faculty that connects the realm of unconscious to conscious mind. Keats stated in his letter to his friend Benjamin Bailey “The imagination may be compared to Adam’s Dream- he awake and found it truth”.

The application of hellenism is important with Keats and are usually drawn from Greek images and objects. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is a classic example weaved with Greek imageries and hellenistic writings where the sequential images on the urn are frozen in time. The depiction of “Sylvan” , “Tempe” and the “dales of Arcady” reflects the the Greek natural landscape and beauty of the Urn which are objectified to represent the timeless existence of Greek culture.

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” shows the Romantic maturity of the concept of beauty. Romantics believed that the beauty is the ultimate truth to perceive the world and to comprehend the world of nature. The concept of beauty is interconnected with life as a pictorial sets of images that provides some cognitive insights into culture and life of the Ancient Greece. Thus, the beauty remains immortal in the form of an image and the concept of such immortal beauty evokes the truth of life which the urn provides as he suggests “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, -that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”.

Keat’s coined the term negative capability which is the ability to negate oneself and objectify oneself in a particular object. It is about substracting one’s self and objectifying in the other objects to portray objectively. “Ode to a Nightingale” is a beautiful poem where Keats is able to negate himself and objectify himself in the melodious voices of a nightingale that eases his pain. He further highlights the desire to taste the “draught of vintage” which is of “flora and the country green ” to aid him to leave the world and fade away to the wrold of a nightingale.

Keats was considered as a sensuous poet. The sensuousness comes from his use of senses that he applies in his poems to soothe his subjective emotions and sprouts the pleasure from it. “Ode to a Nightingale” exemplifies the ideal world in the realm of nightingale where he feels the immense pleasure as he states “the flowers are at my feet” neither intoxicate the fumes of “what soft incense hangs upon the boughs”. Furthermore , he highlights the elevation of the senses which connects to the past the voice of the nightingale had been heard “In ancient days by emperor and clown” and diminishes the pain of “the sad heart of Ruth” as it had a “charm’d magic ceasements” on the listeners.

Romantic poems are subjective in its essence and expresses poet’s own personal emotions and personality. “ode to Autumn” is the finest ode that expresses Keats own personal emotions. The images in the poem imbues the objectified personal emotions of Keats. The image of “maturing sun” shows the poet’s own personal emotion delineating his life to an old age as he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and an impending death. Keats own personality is also evoked when he highlights that the flowers that will bloom later will be feed upon by the bees and shall think of unending “warm days”. The image shows a clear picture of Keats greatest works will bloom after the autumn season as “summer has o’er- brimm’d their clammy cells”.

Hence, in conclusion John Keats was the finest Romantic poet. His classicism shows very much influenced from Homer and Edmund Spenser. He had placed himself as a great Romantic poet in the English literature. His writings are shows much insights into the essence of Romantic poems and he was original in his aspect of writing with his own development of negative capability which he induced in his six great odes.

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Feminism in Kamala Das’s poem “An Introduction”

Kamala Das is primarily a feminist. Her writings are bold and critiques the patriarchal society. As the concept of “feminisms” is highlighted, the ideas of feminism in her writing is derived from the Indian patriarchal society which is completely different from Western society. Her writings also shows the “ ecriture feminine” style of writing. As a confessional poet, she uses self- expression which helps in exploring the interior insights of her experiences in a patriarchal society.

                       The poem “ An Introduction” weigh the feminist style of writing. She shows the definition of a “woman” which Beauvoir established in her book that she is a “human”. Das also addresses in her poem when the society and her relatives tells her not to use or speak “English” to which she replied “It is as human as I am human”. She evokes the definition of a “human” in comparison to the language she wants to use and indirectly addresses her identity. The repetition of the subjective “ I ” shows her existence and throws insight into the personal experiences in the patriarchal society. Feminist argues that woman are identified as “other” sex and Das repetitive use of “ I ” her equal measures relevant to the male in the society to which she says “I too call myself I”.

                         Moreover, the poem critiques the patriarchal society. Indians generally practiced child marriage and Das highlights the fact that she was married when she was only “sixteen” and “The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me”. Das hint at the ignorance of a woman’s feminine qualities of a woman where she says that she “ignored the womanliness”. The word “womanliness” is a subjective emotions and female experiences which the society fail to recognized.

                        Furthermore, feminist argues that gender is a construct and it is a role passed down to the two sexes. She mentions the role passed down to a woman and stereotyping stating “Dress in sarees, be girl /Be wife ,they said. Be embroider , be cook / Be a quarreller with servants”. the lines are suggestive of gender stereotyping and a construct by the society which is passed down to a woman. Das addresses in a confessional tone which sought to breakaway these constructs and passing down of role for a woman in the society.

                        Das’s writings contain “ecriture feminine” where the lines “ Fit in. Oh, /Belong, cried the categorizers”. The word “Fit in” and “categorizers” are bold and shows the centuries of woman attached to the constructed gender roles. It also evokes the years of oppression a woman had endured fitting in the role and the word “categorizers” is a strong implication towards the woman who had fit in the constructed norms and conventions passed down to a woman. It is evidently directed towards the idea of a gender role in the society. She states that “Be Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better/ Still , be Madhavikutty. It is time to/ Choose a name, a role”.  The word “role” directly throws upon the construction of a gender roles in the society which a woman is supposed to “Fit in”.    

                Therefore in conclusion, the feminism is a broad concept. It argues the stems of inequality and unequal prejudices among woman and man. They try to highlight the differences between sex and gender and delineates the equal measures of both woman and a man in the society. In the literary field, feminist poets such as Kamala Das evokes a woman’s position in the society and she attacks the patriarchal society. Her poems addresses the sought for equality and explores the female experiences in the society which is ignored. Hence, the basic concept of “feminisms” can be utilized as the very nourishment is Indian and arguably presents the Indian perception of a woman in the society.

Click Here to know about The Looking Glass – https://getsetnotes.com/critical-analysis-of-the-looking-glass-poem-by-kamala-das/

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Easterine Kire’s “Narcissus” critical analysis

The poem “Narcissus” draws a mythological symbol of self-centered and self- involved. It is written in free verse and the poetical devices use are personification, metaphor, hyperbole , allusion, antithesis and transferred epithet. It deals with the narrator”s failure to connect with her lover and shows the self- centered behaviour of her lover.

 She has represented nature as an antithesis to show the interconnection between man and nature and failure of communication with other human being. The antithesis shows a spark contrast of physical communication and relationship between man and nature. She depicts the connection between man and nature where she “spoke to the wild geese at dawn” and heard the singing of the “The paddy-birds in the rice fields”. In contrast to it, she mentions her lover who “did not hear my goodbye” and urges him to take care of his “solipsism” which clearly reflects the failure of communication between two human beings. However , there is a use of transferred epithet where the “dreams of autumn borrowed last year” semantically focuses on the narrator who had a past trouble sleeping in her stay at “Calcutta” which shows the hallucination and illusion through the use of nature.

 The use of personification shows the nightmarish and deeper dreams where the imagery of “shadows” and “wintermoon” are personified to human like quality. The chasing of “shadows” shows the deeper dream of the narrator and the screaming of the “wintermoon” clearly delineates the nightmare the narrator had staying at “Calcutta”. The metaphor is used to describe the city of Calcutta which seems to be a “silent city” which embodies “ A tapestry of poems, songs, dead roses / And a pair of deep brown eyes”. The lines are suggestive of detachment from the reality and a focus on one’s own space and a room which represents the features of “Narcissus”. The hyperbole is used to exaggerate where she saw “A thousand gipsy summers” shows her long duration of stay in the city of Calcutta and she describes the names of  city streets which shows a complete lack of communication. There are also some use of allusion referencing to “Arabian Night”, a medieval folktale. The allusion to the folktale could showcase the self-centered behaviour of the male ego. As far as the story is concerned, the king wanted her wife to finish the story as fast as possible so he could kill her but she completes it at the morning dawn. One can observe the egoistical references that is made in the poem.

Therefore , in conclusion the poem Narcissus” shows kire’s exploration of new vitality of writing. Her technical representation of the poems shows the command over the language. The structure of her poems is well organized and the poetical devices in the poems shows greater emphasis in decoding the meaning. Hence , the poem shows an embrace towards the nature and highlights failure of communication in city life.

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Click Here to know about Kire’s “Riddu Riddu”

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Easterine Kire’s “Riddu Riddu” critical analysis

 Easterine Kire was a Naga poet from the North East of India. Her first novel was A Naga Village Remembered(2003) and her latest book is Walking the Roadless Road: Exploring the Tribes of Nagaland(2019). She is also a translator and has translated 200 oral poems from her native langauge. She has written for children books, articles and essays and her first children books was published in 2011.She has won many prestigious awards for her writing which include Bal Sahitya Puraskar by Sahitya Akademi in 2018 for Son of the Thundercloud. She also won The Hindu Literary Prize for When the River Sleeps in 2015.

             The poem “Riddu Riddu” is the festival of Sami culture from the northern parts of Norway. The name of the festival is known as “small storm at the coast” and the main ambition of the festival is to showcase the culture and other indigenous to a wider global experience. The poem has a parentheses highlighting “(Indigenous people’s festival)” which shows the celebration of festival by Samis.

            She has represented the festival in a systematic order and nature is used to show the cultural colour and precepts. The poem opens with the imagery of the “mountains” and natural landscape of “arctic sky”. Nature is used to show the close association with man. The indigenous are linked to nature and the natural imagery of “Primeval men” who were dancing to the “sound of the didgeridoo” who were “cast in ochre” and rising from the “dull earth” clearly represents the movement and interconnection between man and nature which is the cultural precept of the indigenous.

Furthermore, it is systematic in organization as the festival moves in an order where the “eagles” comes to “Guide” and guard the indigenous dancing on the earth and progresses to a new step where the “wind and rain” should collide to complete the “cycle”. The setup of order moves in an organized manner where the collision of “wind” and “rain” completes the “cycle” is a folk belief where the storm should proceed as the ending of the festival and hence it pertain to other common name as “Small storm at the coast”. Kire tries to bring forth the encouragement of youth in her writing and she delivers it as the “harvest of man-seed begins” which represents the passing down of culture to younger generation. She also assembles the main criteria of the festival which is to acquire a global experience which she states “At this gathering of the nations”.

 The poem is enriched with the poetical devices such as anaphora, personification and metaphor. The repetitive lines of “There are mountains behind the mountains” shows the natural image and draws a mental landscape.The repetition is indicative of drawing attention to the readers mind of the festival which enables in magnifying to the movement inside the festival. The personification is used to show the interrelationship between man and nature. The “eagles” are personified to a leadership qualities of a man who “hover” , “Guide” and act as a “guardian” to the indigenous where they follow the steps of “eagles” depicting the relationship between man and nature. The metaphor shows the emancipation of youth where the “harvest” of “man-seed” clearly depicts the passing of cultural practices to the younger generation.