INDO-ENGLISH POETS

INDO-ENGLISH POET’S AND THEIR POETRY’S

Pandya Disha Prashant ISSN 2277-7733

Principal, Parivar Vidhyalaya (Gujarati Medium),Vadodara, Gujarat Volume 7 Issue 1,
June 2018
Abstract
Poetry is the expression of human life from times eternal. India in fact has a long tradition of arts
and poetry from ages. Colonialism gave a new language, English for the expression of Indians. The
poetry written by the Indians in English in the last 150 years may be said to have three phases: the
imitative, the assimilative and the experimental. Modern poets are considered as the post independent
poets who turned anthologists and self styled. It has earned its own distinct characters. A large
number of Indian poets in English appeared in sixties and after. The paper presents poets and their
poetry style.
Keywords: English, India, Indo-English, poet
Poetry is the expression of human life from times eternal. India in fact has a long
tradition of arts and poetry from ages. Colonialism gave a new language, English for
the expression of Indians. The poetry written by the Indians in English in the last 150
years may be said to have three phases: the imitative, the assimilative and the
experimental. The period from 1850 to 1900 is the imitative phase when the Indian
poets were romantic poets in the Indian garb. The British romantic poets like
Wordsworth, Scott, Shelley, Keats, Byron etc. were the chief sources of inspiration for
the Indians. The period from 1900 to 1947 is the assimilative period when the Indian
poets still romantic tried to assimilate the romanticism of the early nineteenth century
British poets and the "new" romantics of the decadent period for expressing the
consciousness of the Indian renaissance between nationalism and political changes
which ultimately led to the attainment of political freedom in 1947.
Now, Indian English Poetry is more than two hundred years old. It is believed that
Henry Derozio’s ‘Poems’ was the first volume in 1827 in Indian English Poetry. To
understand the development of Indian English Poetry and its proper perspectives, it is
necessary to consider its origin and continuity. Some critics consider Indian English
Poetry into two parts: Pre Independent and Post Independent. A group condemns the
poetry written before independence while some hail the poetry written after 1947.
V.K. Gokak in his introduction to ‘The Golden Treasury of Indo-Anglian Verse’ and
also in his studies ‘Indo-Anglian Poetry’ traces the growth and progress of Indian
English Poetry. He classifies the pre independent Indian poets as neo-symbolist and
neo- modernist. The neo-symbolists have mysticism and neo- modernist’s vision is
coloured by humanism. Derozio, Toru Dutt, M.M. Dutt, Aurobindo, Manmohan
Ghose, Tagore, Naidu, Harindranath Chattopadhyay and R. C. Dutt etc. are
considered as the notable names in pre- independence poetry. Modern poets are
considered as the post independent poets who turned anthologists and self styled. It
has earned its own distinct characters. A large number of Indian poets in English
appeared in sixties and after.
Early Indian English Poetry
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio(1809-1831) is the noteworthy first Indian English poet.
He was a son of Indo Portuguese father and an English mother. He had started

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writing in his teens. Before joining as a lecturer in Hindu College, Calcutta he worked
as a clerk. Here his spirit of enquiry, his passion of ideas, his reformist idealism and
his romantic enthusiasm fired the imagination of many of his students. As a result the
public opinion compelled the college authorities to dismiss Derozio from his service
in 1931. He started a daily ‘The East Indian’ and suddenly died of cholera. Derozio
lived too short poetic career which was of hardly half a dozen years.
Indian English Poetry in the Period of Freedom Struggle
This is the second phase of the Indo English poetry. ‘The Dutt Family Album’ (1870)
is the first notable poetry work of this period. It is the only instance of family
anthology in Indian English Poetry. This is a collection of 187 poems by three Dutt
brothers. They are Govind Chunder, Hur Chunder and Greece Chunder and their
cousin. These poets can hardly with India. They treat their Indian material as
something poetically serviceable. Their major subjects are Christian sentiment, nature
and Indian history and legend. Reading and music were her hobbies. She learnt
English in France and England. She sailed for Europe in 1869 and returned to India
in 1873. She died at the age of twenty one when her talent was maturing. There are
two collections of poems on her name. Out of which one appeared in her own life
time. However it was not in the nature of original work. It was ‘A Sheaf Gleaned in
French Fields’ (1876) which comprised 165 lyrics by about a hundred French poets.
These lyrics are translated by her. To Edmund Gosse, the volume is ‘a wonderful
mixture of strength and weakness’. Toru Dutt’s Keatsian progress during the last two
years of her life is revealed in her posthumous publication ‘Ancient Ballads and
Legends of Hindustan’ (1882). The themes of these poems indicate that Toru Dutt is
the first Indian poet who used Indian myth and legend extensively. Though she was
brought up in Christian living or in a half anglicized environment, she gives the
treatment of instinctive and spiritual understanding of the legends. Toru Dutt’s poetic
technique shows a sure grasp more than poetic mode. Her diction is naturally of the
Victorian romantic school. She shows her prosodic skill in using different forms like
ballad, blank verse and the sonnet. They belonged to the then Bombay Presidency.
But it is said that Bengal was the first home of Indian English literature. Moreover it
continued its dominance on the Indian English poetry for many more years. Sir
Aurobindo has a parallel record of poetic achievements as a translator and narrative
poet, as a metrical and verbal craftsman, as a lyricist and dramatist and as a ‘futurist’
poet. ‘Urvasie’ and ‘Love and Death’ are his beautifully articulated narrative poems.
‘Baji Prabhu’ is a first rate action poem, ‘Percus, the Deliverer’ is a blank verse drama.
‘Thought the Paraclete’ and ‘The Rose of God’ are the finest mystical poems in the
language. His long poems ‘Ahana and Ilion’ are the best examples of classical
quantities’ meters. ‘Savitri’ has created a new kind of epic poetry.
Mahatma Gandhi called him as ‘The Great Sentinel’. He touched and enriched
modern Indian life in many ways. He was poet, dramatist, novelist, short-story writer,
composer, painter, thinker, educationist, nationalist and internationalist also. He as a
bilingual poet occupied the significant place in Indo-Anglican poetry. ‘The Child’ and
a few other poems are written in English. His ‘Geetanjali’ (1913), a prose poem,
compelled a world – wide attention and he won the Nobel Prize for literature. His
prose works too were written originally in English for international public. Tagore’s
verse in English had lyrical quality; it had rhythm of free verse. He dealt with
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simplicity, seriousness and passion. He used colloquial idiom and archaic vocabulary
like ‘thee’ and ‘thou’. Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949) started her career as a poet but later
she became a prominent politician of Gandhian era. She had recognition in England
much earlier. Her first volume of poetry, ‘The Golden Threshhold’ (1905) was
followed by ‘The Bird of Time’ (1912) and ‘The Broken Wing’ (1917). In this period
Indian English literature came into existence. India’s rediscovery of her identity
became vigorous. The Indian English literature began to progress, though by
absorbing, learning and imitating from the West.
The Post Independent Indian Poetry in English
Like American, Australian and Canadian English literatures, Indian English literature
used to express the British influence. But the post independent poetry of modern
India discarded the so called influence of the West. The post independent Indian
poetry in English shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, etc. of the society. The
poetry gave wide range cultural trait through symbols, situations, themes and others.
They presented the real world conditions, i.e. the contemporary India. Indian legends,
folklores, situations, idioms, and themes became the features of Indian English
Poetry. Naturally the variety of myths, symbols, images, emotions, sentiments became
associated with Indian tradition and culture. The poets’ attempts were consciously
Indian. Even the conventional poetic language was replaced by colloquial. The
modern Indian English poets reflected perspective and milieu after the independence.
Due to the changes in the modern world, the nature, living standard and behavior of
the man was being changed. The persona in this poetry was also changed. His inner
conflict, alienation, failure, frustration, loneliness, his relations with himself and
others, his individual, family and social contexts, his love, etc. became the themes of
the poetry. At the same time the modern Indian poetry in English became complex,
harsh and defiance of tradition. Indian poetry in a true sense was being appeared by
the fifties. Indian expatriate poets do not write from the position of distinct foreign
community, such as the exiled black or West Indian novelists, but their writing reflects
the perspective of someone between two cultures. They may look back on India with
nostalgia, satirically celebrating their liberation or asserting their biculturalism, but they
also look skeptically and wryly on their new homeland as outsiders, with a feeling of
something having been lost in the process of growth. The ability to tolerate,
accommodate and absorb other cultures without losing the consciousness of being
Indian mark the expatriate poets.
The post independent Indian poetry in English is abundant but the quality of its
minor verse does not match its abundance. B. K. Das remarks, ‘Indian poetry in
English is Indian first and anything else is afterwards. Its base is pan-Indian and it has
audience all over the country.’ Moreover, the Indian English poet is concerned with
‘Indiannesss’ of his experiences. Indian poetry in English stands in comparison with
the poetry of the third world countries. Thus, the first period of Indian English
literature may be said to the end of 1850s. During this period in India, the British rule
was accepted generally most of Indians thought that it was a great boon. The
holocaust of the Revolt ushered in different ideas. Ultimately the combined results
during the next two generations took place. After the Revolt of 1857 India’s
rediscovery of her identity became vigorous. The thought of freedom and nationality
overwhelmed the literature. The Indian English poetry also learnt enough from the
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West through imitation and assimilation. The post independent poetry in Indian
English established its own character and voice. It has abundant in quantity and up to
some extent in quality also. It has made its own place in the realm of world literature.
It has three manifestations. The modern poets are brilliant commentators on Indian
scene. The future of Indian poetry in English is very bright.
The Role of Bilingualism in the Growth and Development of Indo English Poetry
Bilingualism is another important factor that influences Indian– English poetry. Many
Indian – English poets are bilingual or trilingual in their speech and writings. They
write in one of the Indian languages besides English language. So quite naturally, the
poet’s other languages affect his or her writing in English to a certain extent.
However, it is construed and argued that the poet’s bilingualism exercises a negative
impact on the poet’s writing in English, compounding the poet’s creativity and
impairing his craftsmanship. Contrary to such a view, A. K. Ramanujan, Kamala Das,
Arun Kolatkar, Dilip Chitre, Gouri Deshpande who are bilingual poets have produced
English Poetry of high quality that won them global acclaim. For the Indian Poets
writing in English for the English speaking world, the “real” English-speaking world
outside India always holds a special attraction. The modern Indian – English poet,
fascinated by the real English-speaking world of the west justifiably longs to be at the
centre of English language. However, he refuses to cut himself off from his own
country. Thus, the modern Indian-English poet is torn between two worlds. Some of
these Indian English poets settle down either in England or in America and the rest
remain in India. However, their allegiance continues to be mixed. The Indian –
English poets who have settled abroad temporarily or permanently continue to be
insiders though they live outside. On the basis of the poet’s settlement and choice of
milieu, the Indian-English poets may be divided into three groups; those who have
lived in the west for a few years – particularly during their formative years and
returned to India, those who have decided to make their home in the west and those
who have never lived abroad for any substantial period.
The Indian English poets with their mastery of the English language and the fruitful
cross-fertilization of the English language with Indian-culture learnt to think and feel
in English and transmute their felt experience. So Indian English poetry can hardly be
dismissed as a meaningless, unintelligent stuff of sentiments and emotions and
abstract metaphorical and philosophical out-pourings. Invested richly with complex,
mosaic Indian experience, shaped by Indian sensibility and steeped in Indian ethos
and Indian millieu and enriched by Indian traditions, customs and myths, Indian
English poetry has grown into a significant branch of Indian English literature. He
belongs to the mystical school of Sri Aurobindo Ghose and Rabindranath Tagore. He
never blindly aped master seer-poets of India and he evolved himself into an
individualistic, authentic voice. He is a poet gifted with a vision which is largely
mystical like that of Aurobindo Ghose or Rabindranath Tagore. Though he dwells on
mystical, universal subjects and spiritual heritage of India, he is modern in his
sensibility, perceptions and modes of communication. He portrays contemporary
reality in his poetry. He achieved compactness of verse, through economy of words.
Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, unlike most Indian English poets, is a traditionalist and
a modernist as well. Like Sri Aurobindo Ghose and Rabindranath Tagore,
Harindranath is a Seer-poet with a vision. Harindranath’s poetry is a fathomless ocean
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with currents of water surging on its crest, clusters of billowing waves beating
eternally against its shores and with millions of pearls lying hidden deep down in its
bottom. This researcher has attempted sincerely and dedicatedly a series of dives into
the poetic ocean of Harindranath to pick up a few of the poetic pearls. Still a vast
treasure of innumerable pearls invites the researchers to embark on further
explorations.
The Major Themes of the Indo English Poetry
It is very much clear that Indian poetry in English in the post independence period is
different from the poetry in the pre independence period or rather colonial period. All
literature, as Taine, the French critic said, is the product of the triad, the race, the
moment and the milieu and since for the Indians the attainment of independence in
1947 marks a great watershed in the annuals of India's political history, the period
preceding independence was naturally full of political ferment and turmoil and the
urge of the nationalist Indians to acquire a distinct national identity to avoid being
brow - beaten by the imperialist forces. The Time - spirit that permeated colonial
India and began to permeate independent India were different. The sources of
inspiration derived from the Indian ethos were ipso facto different. What England
and America witnessed in the early part of the 20th century, India witnessed in the
post independence period. Indian English poetry therefore acquired a new dimension
of modernity and modernist trait in the 50s when the English and the American
poetry had acquired it in the 20s.
Pre-independence Poetry Themes
Poetry in English written in the colonial period, though of a different order, cannot be
just dismissed as insignificant however imitative or derivative it may be. Whatever its
deficiencies, it has no doubt certain areas of excellence in the works of Toru Dutt and
Sarojini Naidu, Tagore and Ghose. Literary history shows how the succeeding
generation tends to run down and disown the preceding generation, the predecessors.
Most of the early poetry was inspired by the Indian freedom struggle and the western
romantics. Derozio, Kashiprasad Ghose and the Dutt family wrote romantic poetry
highlighting the Indian culture and ethos. The themes were vivid like Indian legends
and myths, epics like Ramayana, childhood memories under the Indian sun etc.
Sarojini Naidu with a deep sense of rhythm wrote romantic poetry basically. She also
wrote about the unique Indian culture and nationality. Tagore and Aurobindo Ghose
were philosophers and mystics. They put in the Indian philosophy of oneness of God,
religion, childhood, spirituality etc. In fact they both are even today the most widely
read and critically evaluated Indian English poets.
Post - Independence Poetry Themes
The post - independence poetry underwent a sea change as far as the themes are
concerned. The poets are faced with the crisis of identity so their poetry is one of
quest, a search of their self, a search for their cultural roots. The reason for such a
theme of Indian poetry is not far to seek. The Indian poets who express themselves in
English have their cultural roots in their community. Many of these Indian poets have
been educated abroad but since they belong to the middle - class, they find themselves
alienated within their own immediate circle and even from the westernized ethos.
Alienation and exile, the crisis of personal identity and of cultural identity, childhood
memories, familial relations, and love, nostalgia for the past and cultural traditions
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therefore constitute the themes of Indian poets. In the case of some poets, the sense
of alienation from the family or the community becomes so overwhelming that they
turn completely inward. The result of such inwardness is a highly personal poetry,
confessional in tone and obsessed with loneliness and insecurity from which the
escape is sought either in the erotic fantasies or the self- probing of a tortured soul.
Such is the poetry of Kamala Das, Eunice de Souza and Shiv Kumar. The poets of the
80s seem more interested in depicting and evaluating their family background,
personal and social landscapes. So do the poets Agha Shahid Ali, Dilip Chitre.
Mahapatra portrays the rural Indian landscape of the state of Orissa. The poets thus
reveal their awareness of raw Indian identity. The poetic sensibilities are oriented
along three distinct avenues: the modes of affirmation in terms of myth and history,
quest for the self in and through love, modes of negation in terms of longing for
dissolution and death. In other words, modern Indian poetry has centered itself
around self in relation to society, history with family as the core unit and in relation to
self, its own propelled emotions and feelings. So the themes of modern Indian poetry
are secular and more introspective - contemplative.
Indianness in Indian English Poetry
Modern Indian English poetry is Indian first and everything else afterwards. In Indian
English poetry Indianness is a matter not only of diction and syntax but also of
imagery, myths and legends. The thoughts are Indian but drapery is English. M. K.
Naik has raised three basic questions about the Indianness of Indian English poetry.
Some critics disregard the Indian sensibility and argue that Indo-Anglian writers have
imitated British and American literature. They have committed to the western
consciousness and catered the western readers. But this is a blind criticism. Most of
the writers have written on Indian traditions and cultures. They have presented a
justifiable, artistic image of India to the people outside India. Hence Indianness is
striking feature of Indian poetry in English. According to K.R.S. lyengar, ‘to be Indian
in thought and feeling and emotion and experience is a novel experiment in creativity’.
Indian English literature is conditioned by Indian Geography, Indian style of life,
culture, the grammar and speech habits of Indians. They write only in an alien and
borrowed medium, that is, English language. Most of the pre-independence poets
took inspiration from Indian mythology, legends and philosophy.
The Indian poet’s Indianans may also find expressions through his imagery. The
feudal imagery in Tagore establishes his links with the medieval Indian saint poets;
Naidu’s imagery stamps the Indian soil. While the archetypal imagery of light and
darkness in Aurobinodo’s poetry shows his affinities with all mystic poetry. His use in
‘Savitri’ of images drawn from science shows his modernity. The quality of Indianness
can be seen in the ethos of the best Indian poetry in English. Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali,’
Aurobindo’s ‘Savitri’, and Naidu’s lyrics are the finest examples of Indian ethos in pre-
independence poetry. In the post-independence poetry, Ramanujan shows how an
Indian poet in English can derive strength from going back to his roots. The post-
independence poets write not only for Indian but for non-Indians also and their
appeal is universal. It is true that the achievements of the early Indian poets in English
are not quite satisfactory. Their poetry is imitative and derivative.
The post independence poet faces a special problem related to the expression of an
Indian sensibility. He lacks Indian sensibility. His poetic roots are superficial. His
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themes are alienation, restlessness and disillusionment. His poetry is city-centered and
urban-oriented. But it does not mean that he does not belong either to India or to the
west. The most important thing is the use of English language. He has to use English
to convey the feel of the culture. Since 1950, there is a change in the poets, attitude,
outlook, themes imagery and the use of English language. His language is typical
Indian English. He creates new idiom. He brought everyday conversational language
very close to poetry. Moreover, the Indian poet is concerned with the indianness of his
experience. The validity of Indian poetry in English depends on the creation of Indian
English idiom. In the post -1960, poets have succeeded in it. In Ezekiel’s poetry, we see
a number of Indian words; Kamala Das and Kumar use a new kind of unconventional
vocabulary in their love poems. Indian English poetry has now taken its themes and
various Indian subjects from legends, folklore to contemporary Indian situations. The
images of Indian pervade in Mahapatra’s poetry. He evokes history, myth and the
tradition of his land of birth. He speaks of the myth of Sun God and Konark temple.
Daruwalla evokes Indian landscape in his poetry. Kamala Das’s feminine sensibility
finds its true expression in her love poems. In a poem ‘Ghanashyam’, she invokes Lord
Krishna with a heart filled devotion and joy. Indian sensibility is transparent in her
poetry. She plays her roles of unhappy woman, unhappy wife, mistress to young men,
and mother. She is a poet of love. From the woman’s point of view, she uses English
as an Indian speaks, writes and perhaps understands it. Shiv K. Kumar deals with the
theme of landscape and national identity in ‘Trap falls in the Sky’. In ‘Relationship’
Mahapatra creates myths out of folk-tales in Orissa.
Experimentation in Indian English Poetry
Prof. V. K. Gokak, in his introduction to ‘The Golden Treasury of Indo-Anglian
Verse (1970)’ and in his ‘Studies in Ind-Anglian Poetry (1972) traces the growth and
progress of Indian English poetry. He claims that Tagore and Sri Aurobindo are the
great innovators of the art of versification. Prof V. K. Gokak classifies Indian Poets as
‘neo-symbolist’ and ‘neo-modernist’. They were the poets of mysticism and humanism
respectively. Tagore’s ‘Geetanjali’ is a transcreation in English. Poets like Prof. P. Lal
and K. Raghavendra Rao dismissed the old Indo-Anglian school of poetry. The poetry
became the private voice to demonstrate their age, its mass approval and hysteria. It
was a reaction against the Indian poetry written in English before and during the
nineteenth century.
The Independence in India brought new movements in literature, for example the
new uses of language. The new minds required new voices and new voices discovered
the poets’ genius to register the idiom of their age intimately. The ‘new’ poets of the
post independent India have won recognition both in our country and abroad. They
speak in new voice. Their idiom, style, syntax speak of their freedom. The Indians
won not only political freedom but also cultural freedom to creative literature. Post-
colonial Indian English poets registered a protest against the imitative poetry
influenced by the British and American poetry. Modern Indian English poetry depicts
the contemporary India. The tradition and culture of India is depicted in order to
establish its own identity. The Modern Indian English poetry has acquired the distinct
features and its own voice. The ethos of the post-independence Indian English poetry
and pre-independence Indian English poetry are different. The modern Indian
English poets became self-conscious about their language and form. They tried to
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make a creative use of English in the most effective manner. The themes of these
poems are very quite new regarding innovation and creation of modern poetry.
Modernity, Indianness, Use of Indian idiom, Bilingualism, Exile and certain motifs are
the distinctive features of Modern Indian English poetry. Indianness has been very
distinct feature of Modern Indian English poetry. These poets reveal the Indian
sensibility in their poetry. History, myths, legends, folklores all go together to establish
a distinct Indian idiom and identity. Modern Indian English poetry is truly Indian
which draws artistic material from its heritage. Mostly the Indianness is expressed
through imagery. The Indian idiom has been the validity of Indian poetry in English.
Very few of the modern Indian English poets write in English only. Most of them are
bilingual poets. The poet like Nissim Ezekiel writes only in English. Otherwise all
these poets wrote in their regional languages as well as in national language. These
poet tried to mold enrich Indian English in a true sense. The Modern Indian poets are
classified on the basis of their exile.
Conclusion
Thus, the Indian English poets with their mastery of the English language and the
fruitful cross-fertilization of the English language with Indian-culture learnt to think
and feel in English and transmute their felt –experience. So Indian English poetry can
hardly be dismissed as a meaningless, unintelligent stuff of sentiments and emotions
and abstract metaphorical and philosophical out-pourings. The living contemporary
situations are largely presented the modern poetry in Indian English. The poets try to
bring innovations in both form and content. They are conscious in creating new
images and idiom. There is variety in Indian poetry and they write in living Indian
English. Some of these poets are recognized by offering the commonwealth and the
Third World Countries like international awards in literature.
Work Cited
Dodiya K, Jayadisinh (2000) Critical Perspectives – Indian-English Poetry: Imitation And
Authencity New Delhi: Sarup and Sons
King, Bruce. ed. (2001) Modern Indian Poetry in English New Delhi: Oxford University
Press
Lall, E. N. (1983) Beyond Poetry as Family History, the Poetry of Encounter. New Delhi:
Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd..
Raghavacharyulu D.V.K (1981) Critical Response, Selected Essays Madras: Macmillan
Rukhaiyar, U.S., and Amar Nath Prasad, eds. (2002) Studies in Indian Poetry in English
New Delhi: Sarup and Sons

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