Unit - I Poetry

1.The Bird Sanctuary- Sarojini Naidu

In the poem “ The Bird Sanctuary”, the poet Sarojini Naidu evokes the
delightful imagery of different kinds of birds living happily in a sanctuary.
There are birds of varying colours – from amber and ebony to jade green and
sapphire blue. Small birds like the bulbul and the oriole fly around happily.
There are colourful birds like the kingfisher and wandering birds like the gull.
The pigeons are trying to build a home while the parrots are out to eat ripe
figs.

The poet portrays the bird sanctuary as a gracious and generous place where
all kinds of birds live freely and joyfully. She ends the poem with a prayer to
God asking him to grant shelter to a homing bird with a broken wing.

This beautiful poem is an allegory to a safe place in Nature where all kinds of
people can live freely and happily. The poet’s prayer to God asking for shelter
for a “homing bird with broken wings” is in fact a prayer for herself. She longs
for a resting place and solace from her pain, and prays to God to provide her
shelter in his sanctuary.

Video explanation:
https://youtu.be/Hv-I6LLt8vw

2. Meeting at Night – Robert Browning

"Meeting at Night" is a poem by Victorian poet Robert Browning, which follows the
journey of its speaker to a meeting with a lover. It was published in Dramatic
Romances and Lyrics (1845) with an additional "Morning" section (that section was
later separated into a different poem titled "Parting at Morning"). Browning
composed the poem during his courtship of Elizabeth Barrett, his future wife, who
was already a successful poet at the time. Barrett's father did not approve of
Browning, and perhaps a hint of this can be detected in the hushed and secretive
nature of the "meeting." The poem is unusual for the Victorian era because it is so
sensual and sexually suggestive in a time of moral and social conservatism.
Video explanation:
https://youtu.be/u6LLfpeA_XQ

3.Different History – Sujatha Bhatt

The poem Different History begins with “Great Pan is not dead; he simply emigrated to
India” The delivery of this line as well as the meaning of these opening lines should be
noted: where the confidently stated sentence creates a critical tone. The pause mode
shows how the narrator firstly wants to dismiss any misconception regarding the Ancient
Greek god of nature and that the truth is that “emigrated to India”. With this short and brief
opening the reader is able to know that the poem deals with conflicting theories on tradition
and culture.
The narrator then continues to speak against untraditional behavior with the repetition of the
phrase “a sin” due to how wrongful acts as listed in lines 9-14. The sins include actions such
as “to shove a book aside with your foot”, “to slam books down hard on a table, a sin to toss
one carelessly across 0a room.”With repeating the phrase, Bhatt manages to reinforce the
negative commentary and intensifies the critical tone of the poem with each sin described.
What is also to be recognized is how the narrator does not specify and indentify responsible
for the committing of these sins, but still communicates a sense of tension towards other
cultures who have disrespected traditional literature and therefore the meanings within the
theme. Perhaps what is also meant by featuring a list of sins is to empahsise the wrong in
mistreating books, to the extent of religious injustice which could evoke emotion and
thought into anyone within the large and dominating Christian religion which crosses
international borders.

In line fifteen, the narrator tells the readers that they “must learn how to turn the pages
gently”- use of second person narration. This language feature is greatly effective with how
it speaks to the reader directly and includes them in the issue, whatever culture they may
be. The line is a universal message, for how the narrator wishes to communicate the
immense importance and urgency of having a respectful approach towards books. The line
is also an imperative, where the commanding word “must” seems to give the readers no
option but to obey. What this language feature contributes to the theme of cross cultural
differences, is not an explanation or description but a universal solution to maintain the
heritage within the books.

One of the key aspects of the poem is Bhatt’s notable efforts to

not disturb identities such as “Sarasvati”, the Hindu goddess of arts and knowledge, due to
her extreme importance to the Indian culture. But what is interesting as well, is how the
narrator says “without offending the tree/from whose wood the paper is made” It is through
this personification that the non human object is acknowledged as a figure which deserves
as an individual, for the significant role it plays in the nation’s culture. The personification
also emphasizes to perhaps anyone of a different nationality, that as an individual, the tree
should be seen with a sense of humanity- a sense which anyone from any culture could
accomplish.

Towards the end of the poem, comes the rhetorical questioning of the cross cultural issue.
The narrator provocatively asks, “Which language has not been the oppressor’s tongue?
Which language truly meant to murder someone?” The questions not only indentifies a
harmful and dangerous oppressor or colonist but it shows how the Indian culture has been
part of the damaged cultures and tongues that have been lost due to colonialism, which is
also becomes a prominent theme in the poem. The tone of the questions should also be
considered, the passion and sadness of the narrator is given through the questioning of the
current world order.

An extended metaphor also exists within the closing lines of the poem, where the parallels
between the agriculture and the cross cultural difference are drawn, This is done with “after
the soul has been cropped with a long scythe” and how they grow to love that “strange
language”. The suggested outcome that the traditions, culture and language will fade into
the words of other foreign language is made to seem sad, but with more analysis one could
see that the narrator is indeed sad, but seems to accept the idea. This makes the final tone
of “history”- where the pain and hurt has turned into peace. The peace may come from the
narrator’s relations that the plant of Indian Culture has in fact, not died as suggested before,
but that the plant has always been growing and developing even before the narrators time.
The narrator may have realised that there was one moment where the traditions and
language they held dear was once seen as radical by those further in the past.

Through a well selected series of language and literary techniques/terms, Bhatt achieves to
produce a poem which discusses the mistake made after the collision of very different
cultures and then explains the truth and proper customs which have been lost. The narrator,
in the process of this discussion also resolved the intense emotions they once had, by
accepting that cross- cultural consequences such as colonialism do not ruin a history, but
creates a different tone. The aspect of the poem which makes it so abundantly powerful is
how the poet uses their own personal life experiences to write from the narrator’s
perspective. Bhatt was born and spent her childhood in India and then moved to the united
states of America for her education- knows best of the cultural difference between two
vastly distinct nations and writes the poem as one of the “unborn grandchildren” hoping to
hold on to the past, as she goes on into the unknown future.

Video Explanation:

https://youtu.be/vLKSxVD4aF0