Mutofa Munir :
Romantic poems in general contain much ethical content and values as those poems are adorned with nature’s beauty, divinity, emotion, humanism, sacrifice, self-respect, social emancipation, social oppression, poverty and equality. The twentieth century poet Kazi Nazrul Islam is highly regarded for his talent, skill and individuality in the style of writing romantic poetry.
He wrote thousands of romantic lyrics and manyelegant romantic poems, a few of which I would love to quote below.
Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam beautifully encapsulated the essence of poetic romanticism in his masterpiece, ‘The Devotee’ (Pujarinee). This poem serves as a poignant testament to his profound emotions and sentiments for his cherished sweetheart, who was the devout object of his affection.
Within the verses of ‘The Devotee,’ Nazrul emerges as a paragon of romanticism, with feelings that ran immeasurably deep. The Poet, the narrator, became selfish and greedy in search of her love. He consumed the pains and torments of love for not having her as his own; he is now the Nilkantha Poet symbolising his powerful desire to be a deathless in her love.
Nazrul’s words in ‘The Devotee’ mirror the intensity of his passion and the unwavering commitment to his beloved.
In the following lines of the poem ‘Devotee’ (Pujarinee) Poet Nazrul, the narrator, expressed his deep turmoiled emotions-
“Dead is he, the restless, insatiate,
Ever-selfish, greedy!
Becometh he immortal in thy love, he will be
Deathless forever with torment
Of poison- the Nilkantha Poet!”
Nilkantha Poet, a reference that becomes a metaphor of total pain, agonies, trials and tribulations with profound symbolism.
‘Pujarini’ (The Devotee) is one of the finest and longest romantic poems in Poet’s poetry book ‘Dolan Chapa’. In each verse, Poet’s intense emotions of separation and pain resurface time and again.
“I came like a dawn,
Half sleepy, half awaken’d was my adolescence,
The colorful dawn of my life is about to spread-
An unhinder’d wanton dance, indomitable force of songs
And endless laughter I brought like whirl winds -”
[Quoted from ‘Devotee’ (Pujarini), Sanchita, translated by Mustofa Munir)
In essence, this above passage highlights the essence of Nazrul’s romantic poetry, where love is depicted as a powerful and consuming force, and the poet is willing to endure suffering and make sacrifices for the sake of this love. It also emphasises the role of symbolism discreetly as the poem carries a testament to the enduring themes of love, devotion, and passion in the realm of romantic altruism.
Poet Nazrul entrusted us with some classic romantic poems from his Book of Verses, ‘The Swinging of the Sea’ (Shindhuhindol). One of those poemsis ‘My beloved needs no Name’ (original name: Onamika, 1926).
“Altruistic lamp of thine is yet to be kindled in my lightless
Home! O the infinite! Comest thou not at the finite edge”,
“By being the pleasing wine,
Not in my cup, but conceal’d thou art in the grapevine,”
[Lines are quoted from the poem in Sanchita, translated by Mustofa Munir]
She is a pleasing wine to him- that wine is still concealed within the grapes of the grapevine but not within his cup.
A romantic theme burgeoned from Poet Nazrul’s poem ‘A row of betel-nut trees by the window. (Original poem: (?????? ???? ????? ???? ????) Book of Verses: Chakrabak.
Poet Nazrul sat by the window that overlooked a pond with a vivid view of a row of betel-nut trees.
In this poem, the narrator Poet Nazrul mingled the human emotion with an element of nature. The poem is rich in allegorical theme and a symbolic imagery, transforming the whole row of betelnut trees into a tint that accents femininity- a sweet-heart.
The Poet, the narrator, would neither see any shimmering on the edge of the window in the moonlit night nor would he be engaged in silent conversation with his beloved (the betel-nut trees) anymore.
“As of today, moonlight will not shimmer at the window,
No more will be our silent conversation though. ….”
[Lines are quoted from ‘A row of betelnut trees by the window’, Sanchita]
From the beginning to the end, Poet Nazrul’s romantic poems are very much akin to a pattern of sea waves with ups and downs, high up with toughness and down with softness of emotions illustrating the soothing human virtues.
A colourful assemblage of romantic thoughts and emotions prevailed all over Poet Nazrul’s poetic personality. With the romantic aspirations he composed thousands of romantic lyrics in his poetic life. In the world’s romantic society of poets, Kazi Nazrul was the genuine poet of romanticism with artistic independence, and excellence. Within the turmoil of his emotions, one can notice a dense layer of an emotional strife occurred and settled in his poetry, prose and novels; a hint of love and separation that could be traced back to his high school life; that hint was delineated in his note of dedication that he wrote for his famous story book ‘Bethar Dan’ (The Gift of Pain); therein he wrote: ‘My Sweet heart! You did not forgive me for not keeping my word that I gave you, today I expiated that guilt in exchange of tormenting pains of my heart!’
(????? ????! ????? ????? ????????? ??? ????? ????, ??? ????? ????? ???? ???????????? ??????)
Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam created his lyrical poetry with a musical touch, filled with musical richness. In his poetry, he brought the emotional depth of music through his expressive words. Along with the love, union, and pains, he responded to the ambience of alluring nature through the ragas of Indian classical music.
Kazi Nazrul Islam, a lover and a poet, kept his talents buoyantin the vast expanses of Poetic Ocean and illuminated both the blue and Siya (somber) sky of the literature. Even amidst torture in prison he portrayed the bitterness and agony of the real world. In his poem ‘For the joy of creation,’ he found the joy and enthusiasm amid strancorous life, and created a poem unparalleled.
“Today I speak out,
My chest bursts out,
From my bitter sorrows
Happiness emanates!”
[Quoted from anthology Sanchita, translated by Mustofa Munir]
Poet Kazi Nazrul wrote the poem ‘Deep in the sleep’ (in Bengali ‘Ghumiye geche chranta hoie’) when his four-year old son Bulbul died in the year 1930. The tragic untimely demise of his son shattered him terribly. The poem is an elegy for his dead son- the ‘songbird nightingale’ (Bulbuli). The theme is a lamentation on the death of his dearest child- the narrator’s heart was burdened with deep sorrows. The poet constructed the entire lyric with the words that emanated from his wretched heart.
“Deep in sleep is my wearied Nightingale,
The dull flaccid flowers of the evening
Cast at him their plaintive look, but his all
Songs made flowers to bloom in the morning,
Then which cruel hunter’s arrow silenced
Him? In the forest the queen of evening
In her disheveled hair for his death wailed,
Oh! No buds tomorrow will be sprouting
From creeping tender vines, O listen! Whose
Melancholic breaths in the leaves murmur?
Flown far away my singing bird, exists
Now only a stark desolate nest there,
In my voice crowd not my words anymore,
No trick of light can tempt no one, no more.”
(The lyric is translated and constructed in the form of sonnet by Mustofa Munir from the original poem of Shandya-malati, Nazrul Rochonabali, Vol. 7, page 210,)
[Shakespearean sonnet style, Iambic pentameter, Rhyme Scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg]
The Narrator upholds a veritable approach in bringing up features from nature amid infinite griefs and bereavement. The evening-flowers, vines and leaves bemoaned the death of their companion, the nightingale, the bulbul. Then, in the evening all flowers gazed at him with plaintive look as the nightingale was in deep sleep.
In the forest the melancholic breaths of leaves murmur in the quietness of nature’s ambience; the narration is streaming down in such a wayas if the poet himself is in a somber meditation.
The glory of nature is embedded deeply in romantic poems. Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam conveyed human love, dejection, and spirituality through the beauty of nature and brought therein a theme of romanticism in the domain of high morality and ethicality. Love is a cardinal virtue that incorporates ethical values. Human behaviour is guided by morals and ethics, and moralsare guided by love. The everlasting gracefulness of nature and human love are always bound together in a strong bond and together they build a new ethic of romanticism.
(The writer is a poet, writer, translator and published author).