The
Odyssey – Homer (8C. B.C.)
Homer
is one of the greatest Greek poets, who is revered from ancient times for his
two epic poems- Iliad and Odyssey. They
were transmitted through generations as oral poetry for centuries. The Trojan War between Greeks and Trojans is
believed to be taken place around 12th C. and 13th C.
B.C. Homer wrote Iliad and Odyssey in 8th
C. B.C. Iliad describes the ten year
war of Greeks with Trojans where as Odyssey deals with the return journey of
Odysseus, one of the Greek heroes. The
Odyssey consists of 12,109 lines divided into 24 books. It has a series of conversations, advice,
requests and inquires between the mythical characters, monsters and human
beings. It reveals human nature with all
its complexities in simple and subtle ways.
Thus it has stood the test of time reigning as a classic due to its
universal appeal to humanity.
Odysseus,
the King of Ithaca returns home after the Trojan War. The poet requests the divine Muse to tell him
the adventures of Odysseus and begins ‘The Odyssey’ in the middle of Odysseus’s
journey, who is held captive by a nymph, Calypso. Calypso wants to get Odysseus as her
husband. However, after 7 years of
imprisonment at Ogygia, Odysseus escapes from the Island. Once when he stayed at Thrinacia, the Island
of Helios, his men killed a herd of cattle and a flock of sheep. This made Helios become his enemy. Moreover, Polyphemus, the one-eyed son of
Poseidon held Odysseus and his men captive with the intention of swallowing
them. But Odysseus succeeded in getting
Ployphemus drunk and blinded it to escape from that place. This made him become an enemy to Poseidon.
These all prevent him to get a favourable wind to reach Ithaca to get united
with his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus.
In Ithaca, as all believe that Odysseus is dead, the suitors who want to
marry Penelope trouble her a lot.
Athena,
the Greek Goddess of war comes to his rescue all the time. She tells Telemachas that his father is alive
and asks him to kill the suitors who dishonor the State. Zeus too helps Odysseus by sparing him from
the wrath at the Sea-God Poseidon. God
Hermes saves him from Circe, the daughter of Helios and God Aeolus gives him a
strong wind to sail home against the rough seas created by Poseidon. Thus, he gets helps from all Gods for his
good nature and qualities. On his way to
Ithaca, Odysseus faces so many difficulties and he does his best to save his
life as well as the lives of his men.
However, he returns home only after 20 years to get united with his wife
and son. Thus Odyssey narrates the adventures of Odysseus and his victory at
the end.
In
Kyoto’ and ‘The Old Pond – Basho
Matsuo Kinsaku (1644-1694), whose
pen name is Basho, is a well-known Japanese poet and traveller. He was a master of ‘haiku’ and ‘haibun’
poems. His poems influenced Ezra Pound
and the poets of the Beat generation greatly.
Haiku is a traditional Japanese poem of seventeen syllables arranged in
three short un-rhymingliness. It
contains kigo, a seasonal reference and is separated by Kireji (a cut) two
complementary or contrasting images. Basho’s ‘In Kyoto’ highlights the sense of
yearning for something that is lost. He
uses an auditory image of the cuckoo’s song that evokes a longing for home in
the minds of travellers who hear it.
Though the poet is already in Kyoto, the cuckoo’s call evokes a sense of
nostalgia for home. Apart from this the
bird’s song is also symbolic of the passing of pleasant season and arrival of
harsher one.
‘The old Pond’ of Basho is actually
the most celebrated haiku poem that has been translated into English. The poem ‘The Old Pond’ opens with the image
of an old ancient pond, representing the continuity of tradition. The Frog’s jumping into the pond and its
disrupting the peace of the pond indicates a break in tradition in its
metaphorical sense. It is the water that
becomes the source of the sound that disrupts the quiet. The translation of the poem is done by Robert
Hass, the American poet, translator and critic.
Thus, these two poems reveal Basho’s mastery of the haiku form and his
ability to convey complex emotions and ideas in just a few words.
I
have a Broom – Zhai Yongming
Zhai
Yongming was a prominent figure in Chinese literature during the 1980’s, a
period that brought literary renaissance and cultural reform to china. The American poets, Sylvia Plath and Emily
Dickinson influenced her a lot. Her work
shows the influence of literary breakthroughs in the Post-Mao Era. She is always against the Chinese distinction
between Yin and Yang. Yin represents the
feminine, the shadowy side of the mountains whereas Yang, that represents the
masculine the sunny side of the mountains.
She stands for women and captures the contemporary experiences of
Chinese women in her poems.
Zhai
Youngmin’s poem ‘I have a Broom’ explores the theme of identity and power. Michael M Day has translated this poem into
English. The broom is a tool to clean the filth and a tool of empowerment. A woman’s work is her identity and it helps
her claim control of her own life and defends against ridicule of others. She finds courage and draws strength from her
familial roots, especially from her mother.
The
Broom in the hands of Zhai Yongming, who narrates the poem is actually the work
that provides her a colourful life, fresh air and a path and so sweeps away the
rubbish of today and yesterday. She puts
on work cloths. She puts on new work
cloths. When she looks into the mirror she finds the mildness of her mother in
her eyes. She decides not to have
worried looks on the colours of billboards kept at the corner of the
streets. She says that she will move on
greeting the morning breeze behind her with the broom in her hand and also
clean the street ahead her.
Thus
the poem ends with a note of determination that helps her sweep the fears, gets
strength from her roots and finds a new sense of clarity and purpose towards a
bright future.
Won’t
you celebrate with me – Lucille Clifton
Lucille
Clifton (1936-2010), an African American poet, served as the State of
Maryland’s Poet Laureate from 1974 to 1985.
In addition to her numerous poetry collections, she wrote many
children’s books. Clifton’s poem “Won’t you celebrate with me” that talks about
making of a self was written on her getting inspired by Walt Whitman’s poem
“Song of myself”. In the 1960s, when
this poem was written, the struggles of the civil rights movement awakened a
new sense of self-awareness for African Americans. They actually experienced both a historical
exile from Africa, as they had their roots in Africa and a metaphorical exile
from the so-called American dream.
Clifton, through this poem celebrates her hard earned sense of identity
and her place in the world. As ‘race’
and ‘gender’ become points of difference and defiance in the poem, she defines
herself as both ‘non white’ (not ‘black’) and ‘woman’ (not character).
As
Clifton was a non white American, she had to live amidst racial discrimination
from whites and as she was a woman, she had to suffer gender discrimination
too. By saying ‘born in Babylon’ she
compares the non whites in America to the Jews who were exiled to Babylon from
Zion, referred in the book of Genesis. By
saying ‘Star shine and Clay’ there is a reference to the origin of the universe
and the creation of Adam. Though her
race and gender make others feel that she is smaller, she has made her life up
with which she is quite satisfied.
Though something wants to kill her, it fails and she has won. By
'something', she refers racism and patriarchy. Though they tried to silence
her, they couldn't, she is still very much alive and active. So, she wants to celebrate her victory. That is how the poem moves from rhetoric to
image, argument to resolution. So, this
poem can be considered as a modern sonnet.
The under statements used through the usage of ‘non-white’ and
‘something has tried to kill me and has failed’ add beauty to this poem. The apt use of the lower case ‘i’ instead of
‘I’ is another attraction. Thus this
poem of resistance and self assertion written by Clifton is undoubtedly a poem
to be celebrated in every sense.
To
see him again – Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) is a
Chilean poet, educator and diplomat, who was the first Latin American poet to
receive the Nobel Prize in 1945. Her
real name was Lucila Godoy Alcayaga. She
coined her name from her favorite poets Gabriela D’ Annunzio and Fredric Mistral.
Celebrated Chilean author Pablo Neruda was deeply influenced by her. Her love for the downtrodden and poor as well
as personal sorrows is well reflected in her poetry. The suicide of her first lover had a
traumatic impact on her life.
Gabriela Mistral’s ‘To see him
again’ depicted the intense grief and trauma fallowing the loss of her
lover. She realizes that she can’t see
him at night packed with a few stars, in the morning and in the afternoons. Neither at the edge off a pale road that
encircles the fields nor upon the rim of a trembling fountain. Never beneath the forests’ luxuriant Poplar
trees, where she yelled at him once. Not
in the grotto that returned the echo of her words. Just to see him again she is ready to go even
to heaven’s dead water and inside the boiling hole of hell. She wants to get united with him again and
embrace him putting her hands around his neck.
Here the ‘painted knot around his bloody neck’ also has a reference to the
suicide of the lover by hanging himself.
It happened on the day when she yelled at him beneath the poplar tree
one night. Now she is ready even to die
to meet her lover. Thus Mistral has
broken heartedly conveyed her emotions of her grief and loss towards her dead
lover. Thus this poem that is translated
into English by Mariela Griffor ascends from the personal melancholic stage to
a stage of a eulogy that speaks of the universal experience of grief and loss
at the end. The effective imagery used in
this poem appeals to the senses of sight and sound. Repletion is another literary device that
portrays the intense emotions of desire and longing of the poet.
A century later – Imtiaz Dharker
Imtiaz Dharker (born in 1954) is a
renowned poet, artist and film maker.
Though she was born in Lahore, Pakistan, as her family migrated to
Glasgow, she spent her formative years in U.K. She describes herself as a "Scottish
Muslim Calvinist". She was
appointed as the chancellor of New Castle University from 2020. She has six collections of poetry to her
credit. With ‘Poetry Live’, an
organization formed by her deceased husband Simon Powell, she reads poetry to
thousands of students every year travelling across counties along with
celebrated poets. Apart from exhibiting
her paintings, she has directed near around 300 films. Gender Justice,
Identity, geographical and cultural displacements and communal conflicts are
the recurring theme in her poetry.
Imtiaz Dharker’s ‘A century later’,
written in 2014 alludes to Wilfred Owen’s a century old celebrated war poem,
‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’. It draws a
comparison between school going firls and soldiers in the warfront. The school ground is also compared to battle
ground. The school girls in the poem are
striving for education and to attain their egalitarian rights. They are all denied by those in power. The poem
specifically alludes the schooling of Malala Yousafzai in 2012. A girl who is from her school is the target
of the gunmen, when they shoot. So, she continues to walk. The bullet cuts a pathway in her mind. She reaches an orchard full of puppies. Now the girl has won the right to be
ordinary. Now she can wear bangles,
paint her finger nails and go to school.
So, she tells now that the bullet is stupid and so it has failed. It can’t kill a book or the knowledge and
wisdom in it. There is a swarm coming,
the school girls take their places on the front line to get their education and
rights.
Malala Yousafzai, who survived the
bullet continued her education in England and was awarded Nobel Peace Prize in
2014 for her fight for right of education to all girls. Through this poem Imtiaz Dharker urges girls
to assert their identity and be proud of their women-hood. They have to line up in the fight and win the
battle. Moreover the symbols and imagery
in the poem and the Onomatopoeic words like ‘buzzing’, ‘murmur’ and ‘humming’,
echo the rising awakening of a revolution.
Text – Card Ann Duffy
Carol Ann Duffy (born in 1955) was
the first poet laureate of the U.K. in 2009 and a queer. Duffy’s writings offer compassionate insight
into over looked female and marginalized view points. Her works delve into both personal conflicts
and larger social issues. Duffy’s ‘Text’ is a short 8 – line poem that offers a
sad perspective on how over-reliance on technology for communicating can remove
authentic human connection from romance.
Here she talks about the over analyzing of the romantic text messages
from the partners and the limitations of the digital-only communication.
Though the poetess uses mobile
phone for texting messages, she only treats it as an injured bird. As the messages are in broken chord they are
not strong and deep. A text message misses the warmth and affection that one
can find in a face to face talk. They can only be felt in the tone, voice,
physical closeness and in the touch.
Though the small ‘xx’ represent kisses in a text message, it lacks the
real warmth of the beloved. So, the love
and affection that are sent through the ‘blurred’ text will never be
heard. Thus the poet concludes the poem
with a sobering note regarding the over reliance on technology. The 14 lines of this poem are divided into 7
couplets. The poet has used simile,
repetition, asyndeton, and epigram to make this poem a memorable one. Her comparing the phone to ‘an injured bird’ and
the repetition of the word ‘text’, attract us. Similarly, omission of
conjunction in reading of first, second, third and the paradoxical usage of
‘heard’ towards the end make the poem remember worthy.
---- Thulasidharan V
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