MODULE 1 : POETRY

SONG TO THE MEN OF ENGLAND

- P. B Shelley
The poem is a call to action to the ordinary worker to stop allowing
himself to be exploited and to work for his own profit instead of
benefitting someone else. Shelley wants the rest of England to see the
country they way he sees it: a tyrannical, imbalanced usurper of the
people’s power, where the rich reap all the fruits of the poor’s hard
labour.
Shelley is a Romantic revolutionary and an iconoclast. He played a
decisive role in the democratisation of Western Europe. As a supporter
of socialism, he formed a theory of non-violent resistance. In fact, he
presented his political ideas in poetic form. ‘Song to the Men of
England’ was Inspired by the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. In the event,
a group of working class men, women and children demanding the right
to vote were attacked by the British army. The Theme of the poem is
the oppression and suppression faced by the workers in England.
The ordinary workers in England plough for The sake of the lords. The
landlords, on the other hand, live like ‘ungrateful drones? Without
doing anything, they lead a life of luxury. The labourers work very
hard. But they are deprived of the fruits of their labour. In this context,
the poet calls upon the men of England to sow their own seed and to
reap their own harvest. They should weave the robes so that they
themselves can wear them.
Similarly, they should forge arms so that they can use them to protect
themselves. Or else, they would be digging their own graves. The poet
ironically advises the working class people to shrink to their cellars,
holes and cells. That means, he does not spare the workers from their
responsibility to fight for their rights. Just as he is angry with the
tyrants, he is angry with the men of England too. They wilfully allow
such blatant injustice to be perpetrated upon them. Here the poet
changes from the inquisitive to the suggestive. The poet encourages the
people to retain the fruits of their own labour in the preparation for
fighting back. In fact, the call is for a tax strike whereby the people
would keep working only for themselves.
The last two stanzas of the poem area warning to the men of England.
If they do not change the ways of the society, the society in turn would
subject them to slavery permanently. And then, the working class
people of England will never experience the Joys of liberty, equality
and fraternity.
A revolutionary is a person who causes constant changes around him
wherever he is. In this sense, Shelley was a revolutionary poet. Song
To The Men Of England opened up world’s eyes to the torture, brutality
and exploitation workers were subjected to in England during the time
of her colonial prosperity and raised the question: Why can’t we revolt?
Shelley’s poem isolates three industries which can be seen to represent
the bulk of this workforce: farming; textiles; manufacturing.
Unfortunately, very little of the wealth and material they produced
through forced toil was allowed to trickle back into their pockets, most
of it concentrating instead in the hands of a privileged few: members
of the aristocracy, landowners, landlords etc.

I CAN’T HELP BLOSSOMING

-Dr K Ayyappa Panicker
The poem “I Can’t Help Blossoming’ is written in the form of a
monologue. The Golden Cassia is fulfilling its duty by blossoming fully
in the season of Vishu. Despite all the adverse situations, the Golden
Cassia discharges its duty faithfully, once the season of Vishu has
arrived. It is the responsibility of the Golden Cassia to blossom and to
be the part of the ritual of sighting of the Vishukkani which is believed
to bring prosperity. The central theme of the poem is the importance of
accomplishing one’s life mission on this earth and this idea is illustrated
by the story of the Golden Cassia. The Golden Cassia reminds us of the
happiness gained by achieving the goal in one’s life.
Dr. Ayyappa Paniker is one of the pioneers of modernism in Malayalam
poetry. In his poem 'I Can't Help Blossoming', he speaks about the
importance of having the contentment of accomplishing one's own
life's mission on this Earth. The poet exemplifies this theme with the
tale of a Golden Cassia, who cannot help blossoming in the season of
Vishu. The duty entrusted with the Golden Cassia is to blossom during
the festival of Vishu and it is bound to perform its duty.

The theme of change is evident in the poem as the poet makes a contrast
between the past and the present of the Golden Cassia. The withered
sprigs of the Golden Cassia have now changed into golden flower
lockets, and are celebrating the splendour of the festival. Another
dominant change in the poem is the change of green into yellow. The
Golden Cassia undergoes a transition from a period of hardships to
hopeful days of luck and goodness.

The heat burning in the warm summer and the cries in the wilderness
of the freezing frost are no more. They have vanished and the miseries
were shifted to sweet smiles of yellow. The Golden Cassia also laments
the loss of the last Vishu festival. The pain of that loss and the agony
of the hard time it had been through add to the theme of loss in the
poem. The Golden Cassia kept its eyes closed since the last Vishu and
it is relining in the memory of the past auspicious event.

The Golden Cassia is an inevitable item in the sighting of the

'vishukkani? It is believed to bring prosperity, happiness and good luck.
For many years, the Cassia tree has been fulfilling its duty. It never
failed to blossom in the season of Vishu. It always ensured its presence
in the good luck and happiness of the people who followed the ritual of
vishukkani. The Golden Cassia has been symbolising hope and good
luck for many years. The good old memories live in the Golden Cassia
and make the poem a nostalgic one.

The line "Am I not the Golden Cassia, and isn't this the season of the
Vishu festival” itself points to the themes of change, loss and nostalgia
in the poem. It is the season of Vishu and it is the Golden Cassia. It has
to blossom and it has to do justice to its responsibility. So the change is
inevitable. The Golden Cassia has to suffer the loss and it has to
recollect the good old memories. Still the Golden Cassia can’t help
blossoming once the Vishu season arrives.

WE ARE GOING
-Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Oodgeroo Noonuccals’ poem “We Are Going” is a poem centered
around the theme of Aboriginal oppression. This poem is part of her
protest poetry. Its a politically didactic poem as it contains a clear and
strong message. Here the poet comments on the fears of Aborigines,
and creates a voice that expresses the pain of dispossession. Oodgeroo
herself has described the poem as a cry for help. It is a critique of
colonization by white. This colonization drove the aboriginal people
away from their native land.

The poem opens with a poignant scene. The displaced tribals return,
subdued, to their bora ground, now swallowed by the 'little town' built
by the white settlers. They are vulnerable in every way. They can only
watch as their sacred ground is reduced to a place to dump rubbish. The
deliberate belittling of their culture and lifestyle causes the voice ‘we’
of the natives to awaken. The aboriginals who live in union with the
land and its creatures see the whites as mindless, busy workers- like
ants. The group of disappointed tribals assume the collective voice of a
self-contained culture. Thus it becomes a compelling, inescapable
statement of both their strength and vulnerability. Their warning is
quick, brief and terrible. It reminds the white man of his petty greed
and ignorance.

'We belong here, we are of the old ways'- they assert quietly. Their
words are measured and sharp enough to convey the gravity of the
whites' mistake. The natives imply that they are one with their rituals,
laws, tales, way of living, even the forces of nature. ‘We are the
lightning bolt over/Gaphembah Hill Quick and terrible'. This
illuminates the majestic idea which forms their culture. It could also be
read as a veiled assertion of their self-worth. Both the mountain and the
thunderstorm are forces to be reckoned with-old, deep and spiritually
strong. The depiction of white men as scattered ants is an amusing
contrast to their physical and spiritual strength. It reiterates the dignity
of their traditions as opposed to the white man’s blind urge to possess.

They mourn the passing of the scrub, eagle, emu and the kangaroo.
They understand the importance of living in harmony with the animals.
The ruin of their land, lifestyle and culture makes them predict their
extinction too. The grief of subdued and vulnerable tribesmen is
evident in both in both words and tone of the poem.

Noonuccals’ “We Are Going” criticises Western Societies

colonisation on the Indigenous world and “their old bora ground”.
Noonuccal criticises the white man throughout the entire poem, an
example of this is through the quote “gone and scattered” Here
Noonuccal is referring to the way White man had through civilisation
and development pushed the “subdued and silent” tribe out of their “
old bora ground”
The use of the simile “ the many white men hurry about like ants”
criticises the white mans ability to connect with the land, they only see
the land as a practical resource, rather than having a spiritual
connection with the land like the indigenous population.
Through the quote ‘Rubbish May Be Tipped Here’ Noonuccal depicts
and criticises how little respect the white man has for the land and it’s
people. The repetition of the the word “gone” emphasises the theme of
loss. Its through the repetition of the phrase “we are gone” that displays
that the Aboriginal culture is in fact gone. “The scrubs are gone, The
eagle is gone, The bora ring is gone, The corroboree is gone, And we
are going”. These quotes emphasises Noonuccal’s criticisms on the
White man. The use of irony is also shown through the poem, through
the quote “We are as strangers here now, but the white tribe are the
strangers.” This line criticises the fact that white man do not belong,
unlike the Aboriginals, “We belong here”, “We are the old ways” It
shows that although white man has taken over the Aborigines land, they
will never truly belong, as they share no spiritual meaning with the
land. The overall tone of the poem sums up the the fact that the
Aboriginals feel defeat and are in actual fact “Going”.

IDENTITY CARD
- S. Joseph
In the poem ‘Identity Card', S. Joseph presents a world where love
seldom triumphs over caste identity. Recalling his student days, the
poet says that a girl came laughing into his life. He reciprocated with
his love. They ate from the same plate. Their hands met while kneading
her rice and fish curry. They dreamed of becoming a Hindu-Christian
family. He whiled away his time reading Neruda’s poems like the other
intellectuals of the times. One day he misplaced his identity card.
She returned the card to him on the following day. While returning card
she said that she had noticed the entry in red of the accounts of the
stipend he had received. She found that he was a Dalit. That was the
end of the infatuation. Ever since whenever he sees a boy and a girl
deeply in love he is sure that they will depart very soon and their love
will not bloom in this caste ridden society. He is sure that if they unite,
their identity cards will not have scribblings in red. What the poet
encounters is not a traditional taboo, but a modern stigma.
The poem presents the plight of a Dalit who has no right even in his
love. What we encounter is the modern means of discrimination in
modern institutions. The modern society claims that everything is being
done to improve the conditions of the Dalits but intellectually,
emotionally, culturally and psychologically they are side-lined. The
poem is revolutionary in spirit. The element of protest which is at heart
of the Dalit poetry finds an echo in the narrator’s pessimistic view that
love does not bloom here the poem is a criticism of the machination of
caste hierarchy in India.

AGONY
- Anil Gharai
Anil Gharai was one of the leading Bengali poets. The agony, patience,
sufferings and sorrows of the Dalits moved him to poetry. The Dalit
consciousness is the remarkable feature of his poetry. His poem 'Agony'
is a critique of the indifference of the world towards the Dalit
community. It is also a whiplash against the inefficient political
bureaucracy and the supremacy of the upper class.
The poem centres around the plight of an old woman who is a Dalit.
Her face is wrinkled. Her famished body and moistened eyes speak
volumes about her sufferings. She is just symbol of the suffering
undergone by the marginalized communities.
At the outset, the poet says that he is so moved by her suffering that he
finds it difficult to express her tale in verse. Her suffering is
indescribable. There is nobody to take care of the aged like them.
Neither the government nor the public cares for them. Government
policies have been like stings of venomous snakes to them. The poet
does not know whether they belong to the forests, land or hearth?
She begs for essentials like food, water and shelter. She wants to be
amongst her people. She crouches towards the closed ration shop
supporting herself on a stick. She gasps for breath and stops time and
again in the sweltering heat. The woman with her blurred BPL card
becomes the symbol of the sufferings undergone by marginalized
communities.
The old woman is like a sketch in black and white. She represents all
the poor and forlorn souls in the world. Even the arid land around her
is hostile. When she trudges aimlessly happy days of her yesteryears
flash through her mind. The images of mad splash of colours during
Holi in the past sting her. She is now in the grip of pestilence, of gradual
decay in the ramshackle frame. Her body, mind and soul are burning.
The memories are painful for her. The poet is of the opinion that a
human being is not inherently Dalit, neglected or untouchable. It is the
system that degrades him/her in this fashion. Therefore, a change in the
system is the need of the hour.
Dalit aesthetics is distinct from traditional aesthetics in its emphasis on
social concerns rather than on beauty. It is an aesthetics which
concentrates on the artist's social commitment, the life-affirming values
present in the artistic creation, and the ability to raise the reader's
consciousness to fundamental values like equality, freedom, justice and
fraternity. By presenting the pitiable plight of the Dalit woman, the
poets make a critique of the callousness of the society in caring the
poor. The poet also points to the inefficiency of the political
bureaucracy to care for the betterment of the Dalits.