Kinger Yakin Ajay

POETRUSIC

Poetry across languages. Theme: Liberation.
Discussion of the pieces of poetry:In all the three poems various aspects of liberation have been talked about. In the work of Longfellow, there is a distinct ‘Veeraha raas’. The expression of the poetry seems to deeply resonate with the raag Puriya, which leads to a deeply introspective mood. The main points of reference in an octave are Sa and Pa, but raag Puriya completely omits the use of Pa, and Sa is also approached in a vakra manner and is used occasionally, leading to an unrest in the raag. This creates deep pathos. When Sa is touched, it creates a brief moment of piety and completeness before again leading to the dominant mood of the raag. Similarly, the slave is only able to return to his native land in his dream and the poem leads one to an introspective mood. The context of the poem is suggestive of the sufferings of the slaves and the loss of dignity. The story of a single slave has been portrayed here to imply the whole and thus it can be said that synechdoche has been incorporated by the poet. The strong imagery portrayed also describes the American idea of the African landscape. The rhyme scheme used is ‘abcb’ where alternate lines rhyme. The second piece discusses the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, an event which can not be separated from the Indian freedom struggle. The poem seems to dive into ‘kaarun raas’ as the poetess contradicts the nature of Basant and asks it to indulge in the mourning rather than in festivity. Here the idea of personification has been fully explored and the attribute which the poetess asks Basant to express seems to also indicate a direction which the people should follow and how they should pay homage to the departed. It is interesting to note that another poem by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan which describes the ‘Jhansi ki Raani’ set a tone of heroism and celebrates her courage. The brutality of the massacre seems to have shocked the poetess in this case as the tone here is that of sorrow. Within this tone of sorrow she has successfully attempted to immortalize the event through her poetry. The poem has incorporated alliteration as, ‘kaale kaale keet’ where the sound of ‘ka’ repeats. The poem has a melodic rhyme scheme, ‘aabb’. Some words within the lines also match in rhyme, such as ‘Chinna’ and ‘Bhinna’. The poem must have found widespread acknowledgment owing to its nature, context and writing. The third piece which is by Kaavi Bhushan predates the earlier ones. The mood of the poem is also strikingly different. It is a poem dipped in ‘Veer raas’. The poem narrates the march of a liberating force under the command of the Maratha King Shivaji. India was experiencing a difficult time under the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb and Marathas were involved in a freedom struggle against this oppression. The poem glorifies the imagery and one of the reason may have been that the poet composed it under the Maratha King’s patronage. The poet has also incorporated his own name in the poem as it may have been an oral tradition and in this manner he has left his mark. As the poem was written much after it was composed, a few versions with slight differences exist. The poet has composed the poem in such a way that it can be recited and it creates an impact, it fuels one with courage.?? ??? ??? ??? uses a distinct rhyme and alliteration which adds value to the poetic expression and the poem uses such poetic devices throughout the composition. The rhyme scheme is ‘aaaa’ as all the sentences end with ‘hai’ and each sentence is composed of two parts but they do not rhyme. All the three pieces explore different dimensions of the theme ‘Liberation’. Longfellow describes death as the liberator for the Slave and the idea of liberation is related to the liberation of the soul which leaves the hapless body. Subhadra Kumari Chauhan takes one incident and exposes the cruelty of the colonists. By expressing the torment which the people succumbed to, she is subtly pointing at the cause of it. Here death has been seen as a separator, which has separated the departed from their families and the land. The major theme though is the mourning of the loss. The third piece by Kaavi Bhushan is an extremely charged narration and the idea for the peculiar sequence is to conclude on a very positive note on liberation. The earlier pieces discussed the loss and suffering in the struggle for liberation but the third one discussed an overarching optimism, where the liberating troop sets a march to rid the people of oppression and the might of the liberating force is highlighted. The poem also seems to reassure the people that the time of trouble shall eventually give in to the might of the army. The circumstances under which the three poems have been written are different as well. The fight for the rights for the slaves was a different struggle than the struggle for independence in India and yet diverse was the context of the tussle for freedom in context of the Marathas where a part of the struggle had already been accomplished by Shivaji. These contexts seem to define the particular tone of the narration in context of liberation. Poetry comes across as an ocean of expression, the deeper one dives in it, the more can one explore. It takes the readers through various journeys and these leave one enriched in terms of language, understanding and thought.Link to the complete project:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W5jqogl2yPAwQk8ZblwzPltesBd_oOq4?usp=sharing