Poetry in Life or Life in Poetry

If we could divide poetry into two distinct kinds -- poetry attached to life, and poetry detached from life, then we have to think whether there can be poetry somewhere midway between these two. In such a condition what will poetry be? Detached in attachment or attached in detachment? Here we can think about poetry which is attached to life, but still keeps its own distance; or alternately even when not talking explicitly about life, would indeed be subtly hinting at life.

We mostly find that the poems which transport us away from life on the wings of imagination are mostly very attractive, but at the same time poems which talk to us directly about life leave us in a sad situation. But then the question arises that if poetry cannot talk about life, how then can it connect to people, society and humanity? But at the same time we see that highly imaginative poetry can attract people easily as they can carry them away to the happy realms of imagination. This world of imagination, though purely imaginary, evokes wonderful feelings, which generate a beautiful bond to this earth and life in spite of all difficulties. On the other hand, poetry expressing dire realities can be appreciated only by those who can empathize with the feelings expressed.

The next question is what does the word life mean? Is it the property of a man by which he can be bonded to the earth with his small joys, sorrows, desires and detachments? By which a man becomes a part of the earth, where he lives while dying and dies while living? Sometimes life becomes so cruel that it becomes the synonym for lifelessness.

When we talk about attachment to life, there are a number of meanings open before us. Attachment to life can be an attachment or affection for life, which has been persistently opposed by Indian philosophy. A number of great poets like Kabir have been discarding this world saying Maya Maha thagini, highlighting the world as a mere illusion which traps us in its folds. However, it was in this same land that Vatsyayan advocated temporal pleasures and projected a world full of vibrant colour. The concept of detachment is characterized by a dull colour which is quite removed from life. Life gets exciting colours from the earth, sky, and nature. It is bright, sometimes blue, yellow, brown and green. It is as rough as the earth, as wet as a cloud, as impressive as dawn. Words related to life should contain all these qualities; they should be bright and at the same time be capable of bringing the dullest emotions out. Alternatively they may be dull and at the same time bring out the finest feelings of the mind.

Words have the power to transform sad feelings of life into bright emotions, but in this case the reality of life becomes submerged in the beauty of words. It is as if life slips behind the curtain. When a clever poet talks about a poor beggar, it is possible that we enjoy the poet’s style and word power more than the sorrow of a poor soul. Once I was asked by an editor to write about the pains and sorrows of the fisherwomen of Kerala. He might have read about the difficulties faced by fisherwomen. I found it difficult to do it, as for me these women are symbolic of beauty, freedom and a certain individual style. Anyone who has seen them walking on the road wearing a typical dress, walking as if in keeping with some rhythm and talking freely among themselves, will agree with me. I too am very much aware of their plight. But whenever I think of them, I cannot ignore the evident brighter side of their life. I am astonished by their beauty, I wonder who might have taught them the snake walk on the road (like cat walk on stages), who might have created the dictionary of their particular language, who taught them to be so attractive. If I write about them, then how can I keep away their freedom from my nib, how can I ignore the bright smile on their lips, how can I forget that I am not allowed to walk in such a stylized manner along the road. Thus if I really talk about their life, it will be having both the shades – the bright side and the dull side, the positive and the negative.


If we want to cut away all emotive aspects from life and talk plainly about life regarding cruelty, sorrows and pains, then where will all those aspects go which are parts of life indirectly but help us to escape from all this sadness? Where will we keep those words which talk about the world of imagination, do we remove them from the dictionary? Sometimes the words themselves give the wrong picture. For example the word “mother” in Indian poetry has almost lost its reality. The poetic mother is sometimes very different from the real one. In the world of poetic imagination, we use the word mother as reverently as if we are referring to the Supreme Power. And thus we lose the real mother. There are a number of words which have similarly lost their original meaning in this poetic world.

Going towards artificiality and coming back from there is a continuous process. Artificiality has the capacity to attract fast and takes us away from reality. It is similar to the method of farming using chemicals which became popular in no time at all, as we could get a richer harvest and demon-sized vegetables. But when the demon starts troubling our stomach, we run back to natural products. Actually going towards culture is going away from nature; in this case each step towards progress can be kept in the category of artificiality. Progress of language can be considered similarly. We always like to take change in language as progress, we have a similar concept regarding literature too. In this case how long can we escape from change or a bit of artificiality? Literature talks about truth and beauty together, but how difficult it is to make truth beautiful, a writer knows very well.

Now we come back to reality, reality is never as harsh as it looks, nor is it artificially beautiful. Reality is reality which can be expressed with lots of care. Sometimes it is not difficult for the person who lives in it, but difficult for the person who looks at it from a distance. Reality itself is a little bit artificial in its own way. Thus reality might be more artificial in the literature of arts.

So does this mean that if without explicitly speaking about life, we loiter somewhere near to or far from the real topic of life, we are indeed speaking of life? And when we explicitly speak about life, we are straying far from life? Poetry can neither be too tied up with life, nor can it be too detached from life. It allows us to wander somewhere midway between the two.



By Rati Saxena

Edited by Dr.Jayasree Ramakrishnan Nair

Cultural Memory by Suma V S--- next