Introduction of the Poem:
The poem entitled "Anxiety" explains the true character of anxiety which is universal. In the whole world there is hardly any person who is not victim of anxiety. Anxiety has made everyone its prey. In the poem, the poet speaks of the nature and character of anxiety. The poet observes that the nature of anxiety is beyond description. He shows his inability to tell something about the nature of anxiety. He brings in various similes and metaphors in order to give a clear and accurate picture of anxiety but he is unable to do so.
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| A.K. Ramanujan’s Poem Anxiety—Summary and Critical Analysis |
He thinks that it is the inability of all the theorists and poets like him. All things and feelings, except anxiety can be defined either in straightforward manner or in a poetic manner through the use of similes and metaphors. Through this poem, the poet presents his own gloomy temperament, his inner fears and anxieties. His imagery in the poem is complex. He uses a few words to convey his meaning.
Summary of the Poem:
Stanza 1:
Not branchless as the fear tree.
It has naked roots and secret twigs
Not geometric as the parabolas
Of hope, it has loose end
With a knot at the top
That's me.
Explanatory Word - Meanings:
Not branchless ... tree= anxiety is universal and unending. It is indescribable. It has many forms and manifestations beyond description. Forms and nature of the fear can be known and defined, but the anxiety cannot be brought within the range of study. It has ... twigs = it remains visible before us but its cause cannot be observed. Anxiety remains in hidden form. Twigs = small shoots or branches of a tree or a plant. Not geometric ... hope= it has no geometric designs like the curves in a state of happiness. Hope = happiness. Parabolas = curves. It has ... that's me = in this line he has given a metaphorical description of his own gloomy temperament.
Paraphrase:
While depicting the real and true character of anxiety, the poet observes that the study of anxiety is beyond the understanding. It is difficult to reach in the bottom of anxiety. According to the poet, it is indescribable. All things and feelings, except anxiety, can be defined either in a single or straightforward manner or in a poetic manner through the use of similes and metaphors. Like the tree of fear, it is also branches i.e., it has many forms and manifestations. Fear can be defined, understood, studied and judged, but wherever there is the question of anxiety, it cannot be known and studied. In spite of its presence and visibility, its reason remains unknown and hidden. There is also no geometric way to know about anxiety. The state of happiness can be studied in a geometrical way, but no structure of anxiety can be drawn. In fact the state of anxiety is perpetual. It affects the human mind, that is, human thinking and thus causes a state of utter hopelessness, despair and gloom. It seems that the poet describes his own gloominess.
Stanza 2:
Not wakeful in its white snake
Glassy ways like the eloping gaiety of waters,
It drowses, viscous, and fibered as pitch.
Flames have only lungs. Water is all eyes.
The earth has bone for muscle.
And the air is a flock of invisible pigeons
But anxiety
Can find no metaphor to end it.
Explanatory Word - Meanings:
Not wakeful ... snake= it is not perceptible like the white - skinned snake. Glassy ways = anxiety as such, is not glassy but is impenetrable because it is fibered and has high viscosity. Like the eloping ... waters= it means the uninterrupted movement of the water, which is completely oblivious of the state or other things. The poet compares this condition with the joyous feeling of lovers when they elope and look forward to a future full of hope. It drowses ... pitch = anxiety is not clear and active like flowing water, but slumbers and flows lazily along a thick, fibrous fluid or tar. Flames ... lungs = it refers to the fire that needs air to sustain. Water is all eyes= it refers to the fact that water needs channels to flow.
Paraphrase:
Anxiety is known as the antonym of hope and cheerfulness because it may be summed up as a nervous feeling caused by fear that something bad is going to happen. Fear always accompanies anxiety because of being its constant companion. Anxiety cannot be perceived clearly like the white skinned snake. As a white - skinned snake is lying in the bushes in invisible state, but its presence can be felt, similarly anxiety can be felt only. But it remains in dark. It does not come before us in a clear form. It is very difficult to understand the state of anxiety. Like the uninterrupted movement of the water it has its constant flow. It remains indifferent from the other things. In fact the victim of anxiety is always engrossed in himself after being indifferent from the other things. It has a thick consistency that is often quite sticky. It is not clear and active like flowing water, but slumbers and flows lazily along a thick, fibrous fluid or tar. It has no metaphor to explain or resolve it as it has no fixed shape or definite movement. Like tar it is sluggish and sticky. Hence it is always dark, mysterious and frightening. Ultimately it may be said that each and every object can be defined, but it (anxiety) is only felt and experienced.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
Introduction:
In the poem, the poet puts anxiety in a process of continuity. He explains it indirectly, not directly. He presents fear the kindred of anxiety. So he begins with it. He thinks that the source of all tension is the individual. Perhaps the poem refers to the complex Indian problems like growth of population, poverty, illiteracy, lack of hygienic sense and the problem of unemployment. “Fear” is the source of all tension in the poem. Fear may be because of communal conflict, Maoism and terrorism, apparently the problems are having loose ends. The problems are because of the lack of individual consciousness also. That's why the poet says that the anxieties are “with a knot at the top / that's me”.
Thought Content:
The poet points out the indescribable nature of anxiety. Things can be defined or described in specific terms, either in a straightforward way or by the use of similes and metaphors. But anxiety is a state of mind which cannot be described either in direct terms or by means of a metaphor. In the first twelve lines of the poem, Ramanujan tries to describe anxiety by means of various similes and metaphors but, not feeling satisfied with them, he says in the last two lines that anxiety can find no metaphor to end it.
Autobiographical Elements:
Through this poem, we see the poet's own gloomy temperament, his inner fears and anxieties. In the poet's case, anxiety is a perpetual state of mind. The poet, as many of his other poems also show, is a pessimistic poet. His gloomy nature is indicated clearly in the lines in which he says that anxiety “has loose ends with a knot at the top that is me”. He has given a- metaphorical description of his own gloomy temperament.
Moral of the Poem:
Anxiety affects the human mind that is human thinking and, thus, causes a state of utter hopelessness, despair and gloom. Anxiety is the antonym of hope and cheerfulness because it may be summed up as a nervous feeling caused by fear that something bad is going to happen. Worry and fear are its constant companions:
“Not wakeful in its white - snake
Glassy ways like the eloping gaiety of waters,
It drowses, viscous, and fibreed as pitch.”
The Use of Images and Symbols:
“Flames have only lungs” and “water is all eyes”, both this and the image of the flames are granted human attributes for the enhancement of the effect. “And the air is a flock of invisible pigeons” offers to the fact that anxiety, is always in contest with hope; the potential for hope is always there, but it is not really known; the pigeon is a symbol of hope, and though it is in the air, it is not visible to the anxious mind. This inevitably seems to point to Ramanujan's own anxiety. The poet's employment of imagery in the poem is complex. He uses a few words to convey his meaning and is not very explicit, and appears to hold something back.
The Use of Figure of Speech:
‘Its’ white - snake glassy ways’ is not discernible like white - skinned snake, but dark, opaque and insidious; a condition that cannot be seen through. ‘Eloping gaiety of waters’ is the uninterrupted movement of the water, which is completely oblivious of the state or other things; the poet compares this condition with the joyous feeling of lovers when they elope and look forward to a future full of hope. Anxiety is likened to a tree, but unlike the ‘fear tree’ it has naked roots and secret twigs’. Its origin may be seen or guessed but its ‘twigs’ or growth, and its final evolution is secret or unknown. Ramanujan contrasts this quality of anxiety with the free - flowing nature of hope. Hope for him is represented by the open - ended loop - like curve of a parabola. The possibilities that hope may lead to is seen positively. ‘Fibreed as pitch’, anxiety is complex and knotty, not something that can be unravelled very easily. The metaphor here relates to both music and landscape.