ISSN 2454 -1109
The South Asian Academic Research Chronicle
A Refereed International Interdisciplinary Monthly e-journal
Vol. II Issue 6 June 2015
Anatomy of Poetry: A Case study of
Yuvakbharati; A Course book in English
for Standard XII
Mr. V. M. Kurhadkar
Department of English,
MSP Mandal’s
Shri Shivaji College, Parbhani
Abstract:
Poetry is usually defined as right words in right order. It is a metrical composition in general.
But it is understood at the best when seen from a stylistic point of view. This is a case study
of the eight poems from Yuvakbharati; A Course book in English for Standard XII. Hence,
the present paper attempts to study the selected poems from linguistic and figurative point of
view. There is a clear and precise analysis of the selected poems leading to practical criticism
of the same.
“Thy words are like a cloud of winged snakes.”
Shelley: Prometheus Unbound
Introduction:
The language of poetry is connotative. No poem is a simple composition with only one
denotative meaning. Almost every piece of genuine poetry carries several aspects of a single
subject or theme. Words are the only means and tools in the hands of a poet to pass his
message to the intended readers. Therefore, he has to use words properly and appropriately.
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The South Asian Academic Research Chronicle
A Refereed International Interdisciplinary Monthly e-journal
ISSN 2454 -1109
Vol. II Issue 6 June 2015
In this connection Marjorie Boulton observes that, “poetry is made of words, and obliviously
the choice of words is important in poetry; indeed, in a sense it is the whole art of writing
poetry”.
Poetry in Yuvakbharati;
Yuvakbharati is a course book in English for Standard XII by Maharashtra State Board of
Secondary and Higher Secondary Education based on National Curriculum Framework 2005
and State Curriculum Framework 2010. It has several sections including poetry. The course
book includes eight poems. The poems selected represent a variety from the point of view of
poets, themes, poetic techniques, etc.
Selection of Poems:
The text book covers the following eight poems by renowned poets respectively.
1) “The Person I Am Looking For” by Hazara Singh
2) “I Ran Into A Stranger” by Anon
3) “Suburbs” by Pablo Neruda
4) “Old Women” by K. Satchidanandan
5) “The Felling of the Banyan Tree” by Dilip Chitre
6) “A Nations’s Strength” by R. W. Emerson
7) “Peace is a Woman and A Mother” by Ada Aharoni
8) “Concrete Jungle” by Ali Gartner
Figures of Speech and Poetic Devices:
The selection of poems covers a wide range of figures of speech and poetic devices used by
the creative artists in their poetic expressions. Here is a comprehensive list of a few of them.
1) Antithesis
2) Metaphor
3) Alliteration
4) Simile
5) Paradox
The extensive use of these poetic devices in the selected poems is discussed and analyzed in
the following discourse.
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The South Asian Academic Research Chronicle
A Refereed International Interdisciplinary Monthly e-journal
ISSN 2454 -1109
Vol. II Issue 6 June 2015
Antithesis:
Antithesis is a popular poetic device. In it the poet uses Anti means opposite idea of his
thesis. Usually the poet uses two contradictory words. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary
Terms refers to it as, “a contrast or opposition”.
In the first poem from text entitled “The Person I Am Looking For” Hazara Singh makes an
effective use of it as in, ‘If you have the will to live and courage to die’ (02). Here, ‘to live’
and ‘to die’ are an absolutely antithetical to each other. The poet uses a contrast or opposition
either any dispositions of words that serve to emphasize a contrast or opposition of ideas
usually by the balancing of connected clauses with parallel grammatical construction in “The
Person I am Looking For” as in the above line.
The second poem entitled “I Ran into a Stranger” Anon also applies antithesis. For instance
look at this line: “How we treat our loved one young and old”. Here, young and old are the
two opposite ideas brought together. K. Satchidanandan also successfully uses antithesis to
put together two opposite ideas like ‘down’ and ‘dark’ (75).
“The Felling of the Banyan Tree” by Dilip Chitre uses this figure of speech to describe the
pictorial scene of the felling of the banyan tree in these lines: One by one the structures were
demolished / only our own house remained. Renowned American poet like Ralph Waldo
Emerson also uses Antithesis as the opposite ideas are put together in ‘Sinking sand and
abiding rock’ (118).
Metaphor:
Metaphor is a figure of speech in which one thing or idea is referred to by a word or
expression normally denoting another thing, as to suggest some common quality shared by
the two. In the line, ‘You are a beacon light for people far and wide’ (02) ‘you’ is implicitly
compared with a beacon-light, sharing a common quality of serving as a signal or guide to
other.
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39
The South Asian Academic Research Chronicle
A Refereed International Interdisciplinary Monthly e-journal
ISSN 2454 -1109
Vol. II Issue 6 June 2015
In “Suburbs” Pablo Neruda a poet and translator, uses metaphor in the lines, ‘with the
fleeting passage of a runner / or of a shy hotel for travelers’ (51). In This poem the
middleclass person is a runner and the middle class people are the travelers. Fleeting passage
stands for a short time and hotel stands for the world. K. Satehidanandan’s line, ‘Old women
once were continents’ (75) makes an implicit comparison between old woman and continents.
The concluding lines of “The felling of the Banyan Tree” by Dilip Chitre succeed in using
metaphor. The lines run, ‘Soon after words we left Baroda for Bombay / Where there are no
trees except the one / Which grows and seethes in one’s dreams, its aerial roots / Looking for
ground to strike’ (90). Here, the banyan tree and its roots are implicitly compared to the
deeply rooted life of the pet to his birth place.
Alliteration:
Repletion of consonant sound in quick succession at the beginning of the words is called
alliteration. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as, “the repetition of the same sounds – usually
initial consonants of words or of stressed syllable – in any sequence of neighbouring words”.
In the first poem from text entitled “The Person I Am Looking For” Hazara Singh makes an
effective use of it as in, ‘If you carve not for praise when you win’ (02). Here, the use of
repetition of the ‘/w/’ sound adds a musical quality in the above line.
In “The Felling of the Banyan Tree” Chitre has used alliterative style, i.e. ‘father told tenants
to leave’. Here is use of repetition of the Sound ‘/t/’ gives musical quality in above line. Ali
Gartner’s “Concrete Jungle” also used alliteration as in, ‘The snow sprinkled trail’ (152).
Here, is use of repetition of the sound ‘/s/’. It lends musical quality to the above lien. In ‘on
my winding way to the word’s fare’ (138) Ada Aharoni uses repetition of the sound ‘/w/’
which lends musical quality to the above line.
Simile:
Smile is an explicit comparison between two different things, actions or feelings using that
uses words like ‘a’, and ‘like’. The poem “I Ran into a Stranger” written by Anon uses simile
in, ‘I picked’em because they are pretty like you’ (30). There is a direct comparison between
the flowers and the mother with the use of the word ‘like’. As in K Satchidananda’s line,
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The South Asian Academic Research Chronicle
A Refereed International Interdisciplinary Monthly e-journal
ISSN 2454 -1109
Vol. II Issue 6 June 2015
‘they shiver like December Nights’ (74) it is a very common of figure of speech. The
shivering of the old women is compared to the cold December Nights.
Paradox:
Paradox is an important poetic device through which poet uses shock technique to surprise
his readers. Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines it as, ‘a statement or expression so
surprisingly self- contradictory as to provide us into seeking another sense or context in
which it would be true’.
In the poem entitled “Suburbs” Pablo Neruda makes an effective use of paradox. Look at
these lines, ‘we, heroes and poor devils, / the feeble, the braggarts, the unfinished, / and
capable of everything impossible / as long as it is not seem or heard’. Here, the poet feels that
we are heroes and can do anything until we come across a difficult situation when we find we
cannot act. This is a contradictory statement and hence a perfect paradox.
Works Cited:
Baldick, Chris. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms. OUP: Oxford. 2004. Print.
Boulton, Marjorie. The Anatomy of Poetry. Kalyani Publishers: New Delhi. 2002. Print.
Patil, W. and Mistry etc. Yuvakbharati. MSBSHE: Pune. 2013. Print
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