The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt–Chief Features

The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt–Chief Features

The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt– Chief Features

The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt– Chief Features

Ramesh Chunder Dutt (1848-1909) was an Indo-Anglian poet of late nineteenth-century India. During his lifetime he published two volumes of poetry, as (1) Lays of Ancient India (Selection from Indian poetry rendered into English verse) and (2) The Ramayana and The Mahabharata (condensed into English verse). Almost all the themes of his poetry are mythological. Through his poetry, he reawakened the legends and myths of ancient India and added new vigour to them and thus he held up the cultural pride of ancient India in front of the world in a very lucid and easy style. Even a rough and hurried study of his poems proves him to be so.

For illustration, we can take the poem entitled ‘Buddha’s Death’. It is based on the legend of Buddha who was a sage, reformer and founder of a new set of Hinduism called after him Buddhism. Through this poem, he has portrayed Buddha’s greatness, wisdom and teachings which are full of ideals. Buddha gave emphasis on the piety (holiness) of human soul. The poet writes:

”Not by flowers or sandal powder

Not by music’s heavenly strain, 

Is the soul’s true worship rendered,

Useless are these things and vain!”

But the brothers and the sisters,

Man devout and woman holy-

Pure in life, in duty faithful,-

They perform the worship truly!

The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt– Chief Features

As Jesus Christ gave emphasis on the piety of the soul so did Buddha and, writing a poem on him, the poet shows the world that there was such a spiritually wise man like Jesus in ancient India also. 

‘Sita Lost’ is another poem taken from Indian mythology. ‘The Ramayana’ by Balmiki is the main resource of the poem. Through this poem, the poet Ramesh Chunder Dutt shows Sita’s virtues and devotion to her husband, Ram. Along with it, the poet shows Ram’s love for his subjects and his honour to public opinion. The poet expresses through the mouth of Ram:

”Pardon, if the voice of rumor drove me to a deed of shame,

Bowing to my people’s wishes I disowned my sinless dame

Pardon, if to please my subjects I have bade my Sita roam,

Tore her from my throne and empire, tore her from my heart and home.”

The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt– Chief Features

‘Night of Slaughter: Duryodhan’s Death’ is another such poem through which the poet shows the social as well as the political conditions of ancient India. In ancient India, there were great religious princes like the Pandavas and likewise irreligious and envious princes like the Kauravas. But the pious princess and the kings like the Pandavas could influence the cultural sides of society considerably.

Ramesh Chunder Dutt’s poems are simple in language, no doubt, but the imageries which he has used in his poems are vivid, lucid and appropriate to the matter. He often uses the imageries of heroism and horror in his mythological poems. In the poem entitled ‘Night of Slaughter: Duryodhan’s Death’ the poet invokes imagery of horror when Duryodhan was given a fatal blow by Bhim and he made a loud cry which is vivified in such heart-rendering imagery, as:

”Through the sky a voice resounded as the great Duryodhan fell,

And the earth the voice reechoed over her distant hill and dale,

Beasts and birds in consternation flew over land and azure sky,

Men below and heavenly Siddahs trembled at the fatal cry!”

The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt– Chief Features

His poems are free from any obscurity and difficulty in syntax and construction. But his poems suffer from a default that his poems need a pre-study of the backgrounds to comprehend and appreciate them fully. Foreign readers who are not acquainted with the Indian myths and legends well; would face difficulty in understanding his poems. 

Thematically Ramesh Chunder Dutt is not an original poet. His originality lies in style only which is easy and easy to receive. 0 0 0

The Poetry of Ramesh Chunder Dutt–Chief Features