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| Stanza-Wise Summary of the Poem Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher by Nissim Ezekiel |
Text of the Poem:
To force the pace and never to be still
Is not the way of those who study birds
Or women. The best poets wait for words.
The hunt is not an exercise of will
But patient love releasing on a hill
To note the movement of a timid wing;
Until the one who knows that she is loved
No longer waits but risks surrendering-
In this the poet finds his moral proved
Who never spoke before his spirit move’d.The slow movement seems, somehow, to say much more.
To watch the rarer birds, you have to go
Along deserted lanes and where the rivers flow
In silence near the source, or by a shore
Remote and thorny like the heart’s dark floor.
And there the women slowly turn around,
Not only flesh and bone but myths of light
With darkness at the core, and sense is found
By poets lost in crooked, restless flight,
The deaf can hear, the blind recover sight.
Difficult word-meanings of poem:
Stanza1: 1. To force the pace=to force oneself to
go at a fast pace; to compel oneself to make haste (in a particular sphere of
activity).2. Is not the way=is not the method.3. Of those------birds=of
birdwatchers 3. Of women=or of those who study women; of those who
pursue their beloveds. 4.The hunt=the search for birds, or the search
for rare birds, or the desire to win a woman’s heart.5. A timid wing=a
bird flutters its wings and hopes watching here and there for fear of being
entrapped or caught.6. The one=the woman
Stanza 2:1. Deserted lanes=paths where no human being
is to be seen; untrodden pathways. Here the word “lane” does not mean a city
street but a country pathway. It is only in deserted place that one can see
rare birds.2. By a shore=near a sea shore.3. Myths of light=it
means a radiance which does not really exist but which is something mythical or
imaginary or a product of fancy. To the lover, the woman no longer seems to be
a physical presence; to him she now appears to be all light and radiance. 4.The
deaf-----sight=when the mind is illumined, the deaf man would be able to
see.
Introduction to the Poem:
In the poem entitled “Poet, Lover and
Birdwatcher”, there is a comparison drawn between the poet, the lover and the
birdwatcher. All the three have to wait patiently for their various objects of
interests. Waiting is a strategy for them to succeed in their pursuit. It is
the patience and waiting that finally rewards all the three with success. The
poet has made an attempt to define the poet in terms of a lover and a
birdwatcher. The three categories of people can identify with each other, they
respectively search for words, love and bird. The three are one, only their
pursuit is for a different goal. In the poem the transition from one image to
other is so unobtrusive that the poet, lover and birdwatcher lose their
separate identities for once and merge into one another to carry the poem
forward to its end. The poet or birdwatcher begins by defining the mood in
which all those who study birds or women place themselves-birds or women
symbolise freedom, imagination, love and creativity.
Paraphrase of Stanza 1:
Those who have keen interest in the observation
and the study of the birds, never make any hastiness in their sphere. They
never force themselves to go at a fast speed in their task. If they want to
make a careful observation or study of the birds’ nature and activities, they
have to wait for longer, but they never become inactive and motionless. They
keep on waiting and watching patiently in order to get favourable result in
their purpose. Similarly, those who study and observe the women's nature and
tendency, have to wait patiently. If they remain in hurry, they cannot get the
best consequences. For them to be relaxed and inactive means to go very far
from the minute observation and the best results. The best poets also maintain
liberty during their composition of the poem. They are never bound with certain
and particular time. They never force themselves to utilize their particular
time in composing poem when they are completely exhausted of the expressive
words, they have to wait. They always wait for words to come to them. At
the end of this patient wait, the poetic word appears, and then they start
writing. If they do not wait for the words and force themselves to write at the
same moment, their poetry will lose its natural sense and will be dull. If a
bird watcher goes to search a rare bird to observe its nature and activities,
be bas to wait on a hill so that he can observe the movements of such a bird
fluttering its wings in a timid or hesitating manner. A lover has to wait
patiently until the woman, whom he loves, feels convinced of his love and decides
to surrender herself to him though she believes that she is taking risk in
certain amount because she might be mistaken in thinking her lover to be a true
lover. In these two examples namely that of the birdwatcher and of the lover,
the poet would find the right parallels and would be able to draw a lesson for
his own guidance. He will understand the value of patience that patience brings
reward in course of time and he should never start writing a poem until he
hears a call.
Paraphrase of Stanza 2:
Indeed, slow movement is somewhat of greater
value than the quick movement. Patience brings the best reward in one's sphere.
If someone wants to get the best result in his purpose, he will have to wait.
The work done in a great hurry brings only disaster. If a birdwatcher wants to
get the knowledge about a rare bird, he has to go some deserted places or to a
place somewhere near the source of a river or to seashore. It is much more
difficult to reach such places because these places are very far and the birdwatcher
has to travel to a long distance. It is as difficult as to probe the mysterious
ting of the human heart. In this way, the birdwatcher has to take great pains,
hence, he must have patience. A lover has to wait for the positive response of
his beloved. With his determination, he cannot win her feelings of love. He
cannot force her to accept his love. He pines for her love and waits until she
accepts his love. The lover too must have patience when the woman inclines
towards her lover, it is the greatest moment of lover's happiness. When she
responds to her lover's love, she is no longer a woman made of flesh and bone
but becomes a myth of light. She is transformed into a radiant spirit. Although
she turns into a spirit of radiating light, yet it is difficult to understand
the feelings of a woman's heart. She remains a mystery for man. Similarly, a
poet has to wait for the expressive words and thoughts in order to impart
sublimity to his poem. When his mind is empty of thoughts and words, he feels
puzzled and perplexed. He does not know what to write. But if he waits, his
mind will ultimately be illumined by a light. And at the same moment his
faculties of hearing and seeing become active and he starts composing the poem
again.