Shri Aurobindo as a Poet in Indian English Literature

Intoduction

Shri Aurobindo is popularly known as a patriotic, revolutionary, a social thinker, a philosopher and a mystic. He is also an interpreter of truth, a leading intellectual of his time and a great man of letters. Literature, Yoga and Politics were the tree main occupations of his life. Infact literature was his first passion, almost his first love. He wrote voluminously and has left behind him a rich harvest of poems, literary and philosophical essay and poetic dramas. They are an impressive and lasting contribution to world literature. His poetical output includes, ‘Savitri’, ‘Urvasie’, ‘Love and Death’, ‘Baji Prabhu’, ‘Last Poems’, ‘More Poems’, ‘Ilion’ and so on.

His Place in Indian Writing in English

His poetry bears the imprint of master’s hand. His mighty imagination, his command over language, his handling of traditional English metrical form and his mastery to use the rhythm of English poetry make him an outstanding poet. There is in his poetry a strain of philosophical contemplation. It gives it a distinctive place in the whole range of Indo Anglian poetry.

Lyricism in poetry

Shri Aurobindo’s poetic genius finds in its must characteristics expression in his dramatic and narrative poetry, but lyrical gift also is of a higher order. His art mainly acts though melodic and tonic arrangement of the elements of sound and sense. According to Prof. Iyenger “As a lyric poet, Shri Aurobindo’s range is of the widest and covers a period of sixty years…….. There is no question regarding the variety, richness and cumulative impressiveness of the achievement.”  Some of greatest lyrics are “since I have seen your face”, ‘immortal’, ‘Radha’s Appeal’, ‘The Rishi”, ‘Ahana’, ‘Rose of god’ etc.

His Narrative Poetry

Shri Aurobindo’s poetic genius is lyrical but it is primarily dramatic, narrative and epic. His narrative poetry is an important segment of his poetic outputs. He wrote log poems in blank verse, an ideal medium of narrative poetry. ‘Urvasie’, ‘Love and Death’ and ‘Baji Prabhu’, are his three poetical narratives. They show his mastery in handling the long poems. The first two are blank verse romances on the theme of love. The last deals with an inspiring theme. It is a metrical tale of Maratha chivalry and heroism.

Treatment of Love

Like most other Indian poets, love is major theme in Shri Aurobindo’s poetry. Love runs as an important motif in the entire body of his poetry with the remarkable regularity. Bothe his early poetry and his later narratives varies his approach to love from earthy, sensuous, romantic tone to divine vision. In his treatment of the love theme in his earlier poetry. He is romantic idealist live in Sarojini Naidu and Tagore. His later poetry is bold in his visionary and divine concept of love. ‘Savitri’ is narrative of the triumph of love and time, Destiny and Death. Savitri is a symbol of immortal love and its power. She is an embelishment of all love. Love is key motif in ‘Urvasie, ‘Love and Death’, and ‘Chitrangada’. Really his love engages his creative imagination creatively.

His Poetic Style

His variety of poetic style is an interesting aspect of his poetry. He developed different poetic styles. In Words of V K Gokak – “Shri Aurobindo developed many kinds of styles….”  There are his narrative dramatic, romantic, symbolic and modernistic styles on the other hand; the poet was a brilliant and sensitive prosodist. Of all the Indo-Anglian poets, he alone could attain proficiency in the use of blank verse. His use of figurative language in ‘Savitri’ helps him to point out things which are uncommon.

Conclusion

Indeed, Sri Aurobindo’s poetical achievement is of higher order. He made a mighty reputation and still remains unrivalled in his immense poetic outputs and others. His poetry bears the imprint of a master’s hand. He was a great innovator also.

Shri Aurobindo As a Poet

Jayant Mahapatra as an Indian Poet in English Literature

Introduction

       Jayant Mahapatra is one of the rising stars on the firmament this spices of Indian Poetry. He has begun late but his work is of such intrinsic worth that he has already come to be regarded as the fourth great poet writing in Indian English today. The poetry of these new poets voices the joy and sorrows of the Indian people. The contemporary Indian reality also universalized and generalized. Like many other Indian poets writing in English Jayant Mahapatra is bilingual. Before taking to writing in English, he had been writing in Oriya, his mother tongue. His Oriya poetry also ranks very high. His poetic collections are: ‘Close To Sky’,  ‘Ten by Ten’, ‘Swayowara and other poems’ and ‘A Rain of Rtes’, his tour de force.

Indianness

        Mahapatra’s sensibility is really Indian. His indianness is seen at its best in his poems about Orissa. There the local and the regional are raised to the level of the universal. ‘Orissa Landscapes’, ‘Evening in Orissa Village’, ‘The Orissa Poems’, ‘Dawn at Puri’, etc are Oriya first, and thus Indian too. In such poems he is an Oriya poet first but he is Indian also because here the local becomes symbolic of India as a whole. In the ‘The Indian way’, the woman is idealized in a typically Indian way. 

Passimistic Themes

        Poverty, hunger and Starvation have been chronic in India. They are the most Significant facet if life of the Indian masses. They also constitute a major theme in Mahapatra’s poetry. The theme is studied from various angles and points of view. ‘Hunger’, ‘The Whore House in Calcutta Street’ and ‘Man of his Night’ is such poems. They are also three different studies of male sexuality and exploitation of women. The poet’s poetry has tragic and pessimistic tone because of woman is the victim of male. Lust and suffering of Indian masses.

Other Themes

        Another major theme of Mahapatra’s poetry is human relationship. His love poetry is praised. The encounter between man and woman is grippingly presented. His treatment of sex and love is quite different from that of Ezekiel, Kamala Das or Shiv Kumar. Love marriage and sex loom large in poetry of Jayant Mahapatra. His interest in politics is revealed by an early poem on Gandhi. Other poets of Indian English poetry have tried to avoid such subjects, but Jayant Mahapatra deals with complete success.

Diction

       His diction is remarkable for his economy and brevity. He uses the fewest possible words to express his meanings. Another important aspect of his diction is his use of imagery. It is startling in his freshness and originality.

Form of His Poetry

Most of his poems have a closed from the structure of the verse is tight. There is a close logical connection between the opening image and the closing one. Such structure is well found in the poem ‘Bazaar, 3 P. M. in Orissa’.

Symbolism

       The poetry of Jayant Mahapatra is also symbolic. The crows in his poetry are the symbol of evil, guilt and destruction. Water symbolizes clarity and wisdom. Rain is symbol of purification. Very often the poet uses an image in the manner of T. S. Eliot and metaphysical.

Conclusion

     Really, Jayant Mahapatra is a poet of promise. He has essentially Indian Sensibility. His mastery of English, his mythopoetic imagination, his economy of phrasing and startling images are all the signs and symbol of a great poet. They are blind to take him to heights not yet attained by any other Indian English Poets.