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How Patriotic is Ezekiel’s “The Patriot”? : An
Analysis
Abstract
India as a nation underwent various changes while rebuilding itself
after independence. Transformation for a stable future in the area of
academics was a noteworthy phenomena in this process. Literature and
arts reflected not only the reality experienced by the people in this
restructuring of the nation but also envisioned the challenges, its people
would have to face.
Keywords:
noteworthy, envisioned, restructuring
Introduction
Prashant Mahajan
Guest Lecturer
Dept of English
R.D.V.V.Jabalpur
[email protected]
A new voice was discovered by the Indian writers. The
nineteen sixties and seventies witnessed the rise and development of a
new kind of poetry in India. “Indian reality” was the major concern of he
poets (Chandra 40). The Post Independent poets aimed at creating a new
poetic style with which they could connect the people to their future dreams
and aspiration of the newly developing nation. The subject under
discussion in this paper is to throw light on patriotism and its meaning in
post independent India. “The Patriot” whose love for country has a different
meaning and connotation, is focused for the purpose.
It was at this juncture that Nissim Ezekiel emerged with an entirely
new poetic technique. India in all her diversity was the interest which he
explored. The beliefs and traditions of the country and her people of every
caste and creed attracted him. Ezekiel was also concerned “[...] with the
way art should relate itself to life‟s problem” (Kurup 12). He showed that a
poem need not deal with great and philosophical truths. A poem dealing
with the day to day situations of common life can be equally great and
revealing “If a man cannot understand matter of ordinary existence or the
lower world, he is equally incapable of apprehending the higher world.”
(Kurup 20)
A study of mankind, is the work of Ezekiel. He had trapped an
entire Indian sensibility in his fists. His poetic techniques also
encompassed the Indian culture and effectively made use of Indian English
in a light hearted humour.
Ezekiel is essentially a great Indian poet writing in English without
losing his national identity. His works prove that his roots lie deep in India.
He inherited a dual culture of being both an Indian and a Jew. Ezekiel says:
The Indian landscape seas my eyes.
I have become a part of it.
To he observed by foreigners
[…………………………….]
[…………………………….]
I have made my commitments now
This is one; to stay where I am. (Background Casually 66-72)
Ezekiel is one of those post independent poets who had flavored
poetry with Indian spices, the ingredients of which included both content
and form. While poets tried to create a modern English poetry in India,
Ezekiel emerged as a pioneer and even set standards for Modern Indian
English Poetry. The prominent feature in his poetry is the social and ethical
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changes taking place in India. He was very close to
the ordinary human relations and their situations.
In “Night of the Scorpion” he integrates the
family with the community, the superstitions with the
rational and scientific.
“May the sins of your previous birth/be burnt
away tonight, they said.(19-20). In “Guru” he clearly
shows how the „guru‟ in the poem succumbs to
prevalent vices, “the saint is still a faithless friend”
(12). “The Truth about the Floods, showcases the
difficulties experienced by the corrupt and in-sincere
government officials. More demands and appeals for
relief funds are ever on the increase without providing
any relief to the afflicted villagers:
but the villagers would not
tell me anything/
until I convinced them I
wasn‟t a government off (32-33)
The hypocrisy of Indian life is yet another
reality. They conceal their real life and put on a show
of righteousness. “Half the day hazy with the previous
night / The non-drinkers drinking, non smoker
smoking”. (Hangover 1-2)
Ezekiel has written a collection of “Very
Indian Poems in Indian English” which reflect the
Indian sensibility. These poems are widely
appreciated for their wit and humor arising from the
exact use of the tone, voice and idiom of Indian
English. These poems are an attempt by Ezekiel to
sketch the characteristic Indian attitude in Indianised
English. “The Patriot” is one such recognizable poem
of Ezekiel minced with Indianess.
A patriot is “a person who strongly supports
his country and is prepared to defend it” defined by
Augus Stevenson in Little Oxford English Dictionary.
The poem however centers on the protagonists
inclination towards “foreign things” (9) even after
independence. The fear that imperialism many again
rule us if we are attracted towards foreign things
prompts the patriot to accept whatever belongs to his
own country. The person needs to resist the
temptations of imported goods as well as be watchful
against colonizing forces. But there are some
remnants which the persona cannot resist. One such
attraction is to attain proficiency in English. Thus the
poem is a mocking satire of the term “patriot”.
“The Patriot” is a humorous poem of forty six
lines which describes the blind patriotism of an Indian,
who firmly believes that India has the panacea for all
things from outside. The poem opens with the
surprise and wonder expressed by the Indian at the
world which is involved in “fighting (2). The speaker
feels that the principles of Gandhi combined with
“Ancient Indian Wisdom” (6) can solve all the problem
of the world. People who are after “fashion and
foreign things” (9) are foolish.
In the next stanza the poet, makes fun of the
Indians, for their attraction towards English language.
He makes an effort to master the English language.
He tries to pose his familiarity with Shakespeare and
feels elated in using impressive terms like
“Regeneration,
Remuneration,
Contraception”.
Further Ezekiel refers to a very Indian drink “lassi”
(21). The habit of Indian to give free advice “Very
good for digestion” (22), is expressed with a pinch of
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salt. To highlight himself he says but I drink only tea
and those who drink wine are drunkards. The pun is
“drunkards” is a suggestive of faulty usage of the word
as well as meaningfulness. In the fourth stanza the
poet mocks at the Indian habit of commenting on
world politics just for the sake of entertainment. The
Indian is completely puzzled why the neighboring
countries cannot keep peace with India, displays his
hollow involvement. The Patriot is also proud of the
fact that the Indians believe in “Ram Rajya” (41) the
world of our eternal dreams. Lastly the informal way of
life of Indians has been made fun of. They like to
assure everyone that their company is welcome at
any time of the day, this is an unconscious display of
their own worthlessness rather than hospitable nature.
In this way Ezekiel draws the picture of a
typical Indian who is full of contradictions. The patriot
in the poem is infactuated with the English language
even at the cost of his national language Hindi. The
poet has not portrayed the qualities of a patriot but
has rather mocked at the fascination of Indians for
foreign goods.
Poets like Nissim Ezekiel, A.K. Ramanujan
and Kamala Das in order to create a new Indian
English Idiom, different from the writers of all over the
world, concentrated themselves to the Indianess of
their experiences, which was necessary to give Indian
Poetry in English a new identity. A similar attempt is
made by Ezekiel in “The Patriot”. Although Ezekiel felt
cut off from the spiritual past of India yet is attracted
towards its religion and beliefs. One such example
being the “Ram Rajya” (41) which the Indians believe
will certainly reign; the Indian Utopia. He has shown
the effect of the religious traditions in most of his
poems. In the poem “In India”, Ezekiel clearly brings
out his distaste for dogmatic prayers and blind faith.
“They curved the table broke the charts/ But never
missed their prayers.” (19-20)
Ezekiel believed that the Indian characteristic
in his poetry is because of the environment, his
upbringing in an Indian surrounding, contact with
other Indians, which is reflected in his poetry. “I regard
myself essentially as an Indian poet writing in English.
I have a strong sense of belonging not only to India
but to this city. I would never leave Bombay - its a
series of commitments”. (Das 20-21)
Indian English has its own set of structures
for example, many people love to use double verbs to
describe the event in action as in “Why world is
fighting-fighting.”(2). Indians live in an affected belief
that they know how to speak English without realizing
the mistakes they make. An average Indian speaks
with faulty grammatical structure. “Really, most
harassing me” (33). Ezekiel wrote the poem in a
conversational tone, “You want one glass lassi ?” (21)
which was a new trend in poetry. Ezekiel made the
language very flexible. “[...] student unrest fellow” (15)
by the addition of the word fellow the poet tries to give
it a humorous effect. The speaker says “Wine is for
the drunkards only” (28) whereas „drunkards‟ are
those who are heavy drinkers and not those who drink
wine. The speaker is in the habit of using words
wrongly, yet the meaning is conveyed by them. The
poet also imitates a well known speech of Antony in
Shakespeare Julius Caesar. “Friends, Romans,
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Countrymen” (16), but the humor does not take the
readers away from the truth of the situation. Ezekiel
can be serious and light hearted at the same time.
The popularity of free verse in Indian English
poems was brought by Ezekiel. His poems are a
deliberate attempt at the free verse structure. “[...] he
began by writing both free verse and rhymed metric
poetry [ ... ] although the portions and kind of freedom
and formality keep changing”. (King 38)
He worked on the poems till he found that no
more improvements can be made any further.
“The Patriot” is a casket full of common
Indianised English phrases used by the Indians such
as “lovely drink” (23) “goonda fellow” (13) “Indirabehn”
(14), the sentences are incomplete eg.” All brothers”
(37) “But I say” (27). Ezekiel has an entirely new form
of expression for conveying spiritual encounters as
well as experiences of ordinary day to day life. “[...]
the best poets wait for words” (Poet, Lover,
Birdwatcher 3). and so does Ezekiel. He selects the
words which would convey all the thoughts with the
economy of words.
The poem is an exaggerated form of Indian
English another interesting error is the use of the
present continuous tense, “I am simply not
understanding”(5), “Other day I am reading in
newspaper” (10) etc. In another poem entitled “Soap”
the speaker uses Indianised English saying, “I am
needing soap” (4). Still the speaker is so confident of
his spoken English language that he speaks the
correct language, he says further “[...] my Hindi is not
so good as my English/Please to excuse me (13-14).
In the above quoted poem Ezekiel has been
successful in bringing to light the attitude of Indians
who inspite of their mistakes are confident of their
command over the language. The use of the phrase
“English language” (12) where only English is
required. The interrogative “no“ ( 7) at the end of the
sentence is also often practiced among the Indians.
In the poem. Ezekiel does not make fun of
Indian English, rather, has very effectively captured
the exact intonation and peculiar grammatical aroma
of Indian English. “The Patriot” reflects the Indian
attitude where the principles of Gandhi are often
discussed by the people but no one actually follows it.
The „patriot‟ in the poem is only attracted to high
sounding words “peace” and “non-violence” because
they are quite often in vogue. The poet mocks at the
“modern generation” (8) who believes that modernity
is reflected only through being fashionable in
appearance, a typical layman‟s attitude.
The poet also directly remarks on the
mentality of Indians, who often think that by “reading
newspaper” their English will improve. To show his
knowledge the speaker of the poem even dares to
misquote “Friends, Romans, countrymen”, which
clearly reflects his lack of complete knowledge.
A superfluous patriotism by projecting “lassi”,
“Better than wine”, shows how (24) people by their
trifle likes and dislikes try to assert their love for their
country. A common Indian drink “Lassi” (21) is
contrasted with “wine” (24) a western drink. The poet
depicts the attitude of Indians of having a dual
personality, which is reflected in the lines, “Not that
I„am ever tasting the wine” (25) the speaker tries to
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project he doesn‟t drink wine yet lie is innocently
uncovering the truth. His very emphasis in the lines
“I‟m the total teetotaler, completely total” (26) throws
light on his ignorance of language. The person uses
words like „peace” and “non violence” with shallow
knowledge. He talks of fraternity and at the same time
differentiates people as “Gujratis, Maharastrians and
Hindiwallas” (38) India proclaims unity in diversity,
then why do these differences prevail. If we are all
one then why do we “tolerate” (40) each other. The
patriot of Ezekiel has vague sentimentality regarding
fraternity. “The Patriot” is a fine caricature of the
Indian Politician fond of talking about big issues, the
depth of which he hardly understands. Ezekiel, by
using local speech conveys serious meanings, as
recording emotions, common suffering and social
ironies.
Ezekiel completes the poem in a satirical
tone displaying the garrulous nature of Indians. As
though they have nothing else to do, the common
Indian without even realizing whether the other person
is interested or not, invites him insisting, “But you will
visit again/any time, any days” (43-44).
A similar example is seen in “Irani
Restaurant Instructions” another poem of Ezekiel
which reads as “Come again/, All are welcome
whatever caste” (7-8).The tone seem to be mocking
but the poet recreates these characters as they
appear in real life.
Next Ezekiel talks about the international
boundaries in the poem “The Patriot”, people of the
same land are at draggers drawn after partition is and
issue of great concern expressed by the speaker. A
similar thought concerned Robert Frost who in his oft
quoted poem, “Mending Wall” crosses the man made
barriers and extends a hand of friendship and
brotherhood to all humanity in spite of the neighbors
belief “Good fences make good neighbors” (27). Frost
seeks to convey the message of brotherhood not only
with his neighbors but across the seas. Ezekiel in his
poem “The Patriot” clearly portrays that, in spite of
bridging the gaps, the nations are fighting with each
other. The concrete wall of Frosts “Mending Wall”
separates the neighbors, similarly the nations are
separated by geographical boundaries and people are
moving away from each other. The question of world
unity and brotherhood has been demanding the
attention of great philosophers. With the use of the
phrase “All men are brothers no ?” (34) Ezekiel in a
way helps the reader to extend his brotherly hand
beyond boundaries.
Walt Whitman the representative poet of
America sang of the glories of his country like a true
patriot. He achieved complete identity with the
American people and became their articulate voice.
His elegy “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom‟d”
is a patriot‟s tribute to the president of America.
Whitman wrote a number of patriotic poems which
comprehensively reflect the culture, the life and the
spirit of America. “[…] body and soul - this land” (Lilac
89).
On the contrary Ezekiel brings out false
patriotism posed by the people of his land. “Other day
I‟m reading newspaper/Every day I‟m reading Time of
India/To improve my English Language” (10-12). The
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effect of colonization is clearly seen in these lines
which lingered on and still does.
Whitman glorifies America with a view to
establish its positive identity before the world. On the
other hand, Ezekiel projects negative aspects of
Indian emergence as an independent nation. He
appeals to the concerned about the social, economic
and related obstacles that come in the way of a
nations progress. Some of the most obvious ills that
he observe are; the superstitious beliefs, the
prevailing corruption in the social structure and even
points out at the leaders who inspite of representing
their country and working towards the progress of his
countrymen are busy filling their pockets. Ezekiels
excellence lies in bringing a true picture of the modern
times. Ezekiel is a realist and wants his people to be
aware of the present condition of their country.
Rabindranath
Tagore
being
a
preindependent poet praised India in his verses. His lines
“Where the Mind is Without Fear” from Gitanjail echos
the greatness of India where “the head is held high”,
where there is truth and people are not confined to
themselves but live in unity. Tagore dreams of a free
nation and prays to God for his country‟s development
and prosperty.
Where the mind is led forward by
thee into ever widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my father
let my country awake. (xxxv Gitanjali 7-10)
Even Derozio worshipped India as a deity.
Tagore and Derozio among many other preindependent poets aimed at enlightening the spirit of
patriotism among the people. And hence glorified
India in their poems. On the other hand, Ezekiel being
a post independent poet brings forth the real picture of
the contemporary society. He very aptly felt this to be
a need serving a purpose with pleasure.
The study of the poem “The Patriot” brings to
light Ezekiel‟s aim of presenting India‟s ethos before
the world. The problem of unemployment.
superstitious beliefs, poverty, the economic instability
faced by the newly freed nation was what shaped it
initially. He was a minute observer of the peoples
behavior, their speech, their life—style and even the
negative impact of colonization. Despite of being
alienated as a Jew, it paradoxically added to his merit
as Ezekiel was able to look at the present times with
an objective eye without being biased. This acute
observing power was achieved only because he had
an unconscious sense of belongingness with the
nation and its people.
What makes him a representative poet of the
post independent India is that previously poets
worshipped and glorified India in their verses like
Rabindranath Tagore, Sarojni Naidu, Toru Dutt and
Derozio, but Ezekiel dealt with the realties of life, the
struggle and prevailing social system, its drawbacks
which came with Indian independence.
Ezekiel treats serious themes in light heated
manner. Any reader who lends a cursory glance over
the title of “The Patriot” will certainly expect something
serious related to patriotism but Ezekiel‟s treatment of
theme in the poem is very humouros and simple. He
was fully comprehended and ironically also inherited
the average Indian attitude ; the Indian who talk about
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big issues without actually being seriously concerned
about it. The speaker of the poem talk in cliche‟s.
Poets like Whitman, Derozio etc. while
expressing their feelings of patriotism arouse the
readers emotion with feelings of love for their country
but Ezekiel in “The Patriot” hits upon the duality of
Indian characters realistically. Patriotism has become
a formality now. People blame each other. Every one
loves to dreams of better India but no one wants to
work for the same. Every second Indian politication
can be compared to the Anthony of Julius Caesar who
charged the mob for position, made promises but
once in power every covenant is forgotten.
References
1. Das, B.K. “Nissim Ezekiel and the Making of
Indian- English Idiom.” Critical Essays on Poetry,
New Delhi : Kalyani Publishers, 1993 . 19-33
2. Ezekiel, Nissim. Collected Poems 1952-1988.
New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 1999.
3. Frost, Robert. “Mending Wall.” American Poetry
and Prose. Ed. Norman Forester. Boston :
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1962. 1309.
4. King, Bruce. “Ezekiel-Later Poems”. Three Indian
Poets. Madras, Oxford University Press, 1994.
38-59.
5. Kurup, P.K.J. “„The Self‟ in the Poetry of Nissim
Ezekiel”. Contemporary Indian Poetry in English.
New Delhi : Atlantic Publishers and Distributors,
1996. 10-106
6. “Patriot” Def. Little Oxford English Dictionary. 8th
Eds. 2002.
7. Tagore, Rabindranath. Gitanjali . New Delhi :
Macmillan India Ltd, 2003.36.
8. Whitmen, Walt. “ When Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloom‟d.” American Poetry and Prose.
Ed. Norman Forester. Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 1962.898.
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