Critical Analysis Of Indian Poetry Before Independence

Final draft- Creative Writing.
Submitted to- Professor Madhuri Maitra.
Submitted by- Anvi Dadhich (1555)
Indian poetry before and independence has been a debatable topic among the critics. Critics are bifurcated into two groups on the achievement of Indian English poetry, especially. There is group of critics like C.D. Narasimaih and V.K. Gokak who applaud the poetry of Sri Aurobindo and Sarojini Naidu, while critics like Parthasarthy and others have appreciated the poetry of post-independence era (after 1947) and have outright condemned the poetry of pre independence period. According to these critics, there has been no serious poetry written before independence and this poetry was lacking the voice of protest and common mass had steeped more
The post - independence poetry underwent a sea change as far as the themes are concerned. The poets were faced with the crisis of identity so their poetry is one of quest, a search of their self, a search for their cultural roots.
In the 50s, Nissim Ezekiel’s poetry had defined the tone and trend of the Indian poetry in English in the contemporary period. For Nissim, the aim of poetry was to voice the desires, feelings, emotions and aspirations of the individuals. In the poem ‘The Poet, Lover and Birdwatcher’ Nissim Ezekiel tries to highlight the common qualities in a poet, lover and the bird watcher. He compares and contrasts the qualities of all the three revealing how their quest ends. Kamala Das wrote during that transitional period when Indian English poetry marked a departure from colonial and nationalist themes as the re-writing of legends, praise of peasants and from general ethical statements to ‘writing-the-self’ tactics and personal experiences.
She asserts her female identity with self-celebration and a counter-colonial discourse in her poetry:
Why not let me speak in Any language I
K. Ramanujan speaks of myriad poetic selves which a poet possesses during his encounter with the dynamic context of reality. He hasn’t written particularly Indian poems, but more generalized, and has also through his poetry commented on foreign affairs.
In his poem "Still Another View of Grace” he portrays the picture of hunger:
“ I shudder to the bone at hungers that roam the street Beyond the constable's beat.”
Beyond protesting poetry, in the fifties, we had also found a new form of poetry developing which was short and expressive but free in style. Haiku has to expresses the momentary impression, emotion and contemplation of nature, but Indian writers wrote short poetry, not necessarily on nature.
Example of a Haiku close to my heart-
On a leafless branch,
A crow comes to rest–
Autumn nightfall.
Another short form of poetry is Ghazal, both influenced by a religious worldview—Haiku by Buddhism and Ghazal by Islam. One of the most important common feature of Ghazal and Haiku lies in their emphasis on Seize the day. The shortness of these poems is a reflection of Zen philosophy which emphasizes being in the moment. Many of the old poetic forms in Indian languages are short and suggestive, like Doha and barve in Hindi, Obi in Marathi, Boli and mahia in Panjabi and Tirukural in