ibn suleman
07-09-07, 03:54 PM
Reflection on Poetry (http://tariqh.blogspot.com/2007/09/reflection-on-poetry.html)
The power of poetry, in my opinion, lies in extreme imagery AND at the very same time in implication and subtlety. The subtlety is the key.
This couplet demonstrate that pretty well.
http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBxeD9L07z4/Rt2XBu9ogSI/AAAAAAAAAJY/NdNL7Wp8tVY/s400/ghalib.JPG (http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBxeD9L07z4/Rt2XBu9ogSI/AAAAAAAAAJY/NdNL7Wp8tVY/s1600-h/ghalib.JPG)
Translation:
Don't be afraid to tell me what happened in the garden when I'm in the cage, my friend
Where the lightning struck yesterday, why would it be my nest?
I know it sounds terrible and confusing in translation, but even the Urdu speakers would be confused by this couplet.
The beauty here lies in the implication. This couplet is one sentence spoken by someone to someone else in a certain context. Although it seems like it's out of place, the poet has carefully placed many key words that tell us exactly what is going on.
First key word is "in the cage," implying that the speaker is a prisoner of some sort. Later on, we see the word "garden" and "nest." The implication here is that the speaker is a caged bird. So now we know the speaker.
The "person" being spoken to is referred to as "my friend," which implies the speaker is another bird, possibly not in a cage. So what is being said?
The caged bird says to the other bird, "don't be afraid to tell me what's going on out there," or "don't hesitate to tell me what's going on." The implication there, of course, is that the other bird was talking to the caged bird about something, but then suddenly hesitated to go further or trailed off in his conversation.
The second line clues us in to what could have possibly made him hesitate to talk. Apparently a bolt of lightning had struck the garden where the caged bird had formerly had its nest. The bird outside the cage is hesitant to talk about that incident, why? Perhaps because it did in fact strike the former nest of the caged bird. So not only was he captured and put into a cage, but his nest was subsequently struck by lightning.
So what have we learned from these two lines? A bird was flying about the garden one day when it was captured and placed inside a cage near a windowsill. An old friend of the caged bird is perched on the windowsill talking to the prisoner and tell him the ongoings of the garden, but suddenly becomes quiet and hesitant to talk further. The caged bird then tells him, "don't hesitate to tell me, my friend, I heard the lightning yesterday, but there's no way it could have struck my nest, right? right?" The bird on the windowsill is hesitant to talk about it because it did, in fact, strike his nest and he didn't know how to break the news to him.
So all that was said in two lines through the power of implication. But what is the poet trying to say with this imagery? Well, I hope to hear what everyone else thinks. I think it could be interpreted any number of ways.
The caged bird is constantly being given hardships in life. He was captured and imprisoned, and then his nest (presumably with eggs or chicks) was destroyed by lightning. And there's a very tragic moment when he incredulously poses the question to the other bird, and we all already know the answer. Yes, it did it strike your nest.
Another way to look at it is that the caged bird heard the lightning and knew inside from the demeanor of his friend that it was his nest that was destroyed. But at the same time he knows that he didn't really "own" the nest. It was given from Allah alone and taken by Allah--as was his freedom. So he comforts the news bearer by telling him not to be afraid to tell him the news, because it's not HIS nest that was destroyed, it was Allah's nest, that he was simply using for a while.
What about the element that being captured and imprisoned saved him from being struck by the lightning? Or perhaps the lightning represents something entirely different. Other poets have described the responsibility of Prophethood as "lightning that fell on Moses (peace be upon him)?" Of course there's stuff that I haven't even thought of. Hopefully someone else can come up something that I'm not seeing.
The power of poetry, in my opinion, lies in extreme imagery AND at the very same time in implication and subtlety. The subtlety is the key.
This couplet demonstrate that pretty well.
http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBxeD9L07z4/Rt2XBu9ogSI/AAAAAAAAAJY/NdNL7Wp8tVY/s400/ghalib.JPG (http://bp1.blogger.com/_CBxeD9L07z4/Rt2XBu9ogSI/AAAAAAAAAJY/NdNL7Wp8tVY/s1600-h/ghalib.JPG)
Translation:
Don't be afraid to tell me what happened in the garden when I'm in the cage, my friend
Where the lightning struck yesterday, why would it be my nest?
I know it sounds terrible and confusing in translation, but even the Urdu speakers would be confused by this couplet.
The beauty here lies in the implication. This couplet is one sentence spoken by someone to someone else in a certain context. Although it seems like it's out of place, the poet has carefully placed many key words that tell us exactly what is going on.
First key word is "in the cage," implying that the speaker is a prisoner of some sort. Later on, we see the word "garden" and "nest." The implication here is that the speaker is a caged bird. So now we know the speaker.
The "person" being spoken to is referred to as "my friend," which implies the speaker is another bird, possibly not in a cage. So what is being said?
The caged bird says to the other bird, "don't be afraid to tell me what's going on out there," or "don't hesitate to tell me what's going on." The implication there, of course, is that the other bird was talking to the caged bird about something, but then suddenly hesitated to go further or trailed off in his conversation.
The second line clues us in to what could have possibly made him hesitate to talk. Apparently a bolt of lightning had struck the garden where the caged bird had formerly had its nest. The bird outside the cage is hesitant to talk about that incident, why? Perhaps because it did in fact strike the former nest of the caged bird. So not only was he captured and put into a cage, but his nest was subsequently struck by lightning.
So what have we learned from these two lines? A bird was flying about the garden one day when it was captured and placed inside a cage near a windowsill. An old friend of the caged bird is perched on the windowsill talking to the prisoner and tell him the ongoings of the garden, but suddenly becomes quiet and hesitant to talk further. The caged bird then tells him, "don't hesitate to tell me, my friend, I heard the lightning yesterday, but there's no way it could have struck my nest, right? right?" The bird on the windowsill is hesitant to talk about it because it did, in fact, strike his nest and he didn't know how to break the news to him.
So all that was said in two lines through the power of implication. But what is the poet trying to say with this imagery? Well, I hope to hear what everyone else thinks. I think it could be interpreted any number of ways.
The caged bird is constantly being given hardships in life. He was captured and imprisoned, and then his nest (presumably with eggs or chicks) was destroyed by lightning. And there's a very tragic moment when he incredulously poses the question to the other bird, and we all already know the answer. Yes, it did it strike your nest.
Another way to look at it is that the caged bird heard the lightning and knew inside from the demeanor of his friend that it was his nest that was destroyed. But at the same time he knows that he didn't really "own" the nest. It was given from Allah alone and taken by Allah--as was his freedom. So he comforts the news bearer by telling him not to be afraid to tell him the news, because it's not HIS nest that was destroyed, it was Allah's nest, that he was simply using for a while.
What about the element that being captured and imprisoned saved him from being struck by the lightning? Or perhaps the lightning represents something entirely different. Other poets have described the responsibility of Prophethood as "lightning that fell on Moses (peace be upon him)?" Of course there's stuff that I haven't even thought of. Hopefully someone else can come up something that I'm not seeing.