A river poem by ak ramanujan pdf

At the time of his death he was professor of linguistics at the university of chicago and a noted translator of poetry from the ancient tamil. Ramanujan has ironically exposed the heartless attitude of both the old and new poets. The river,i stanza introduction linkedin slideshare. Here the poet has compared and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new poets to human suffering. Through the poem the poet raises the question of an artists commitment to the society.

Ramanujan was a poet, scholar, professor, a philologist, folklorist, translator, and playwright. Before charging so the poet brings out the river when it is dry during summer. For example, ramanujan makes use of slant or half rhymes. Both the old and modern poets doesnt care for the other. The poem shows the view of ramanujan against the orthodoxy of the hindu religion as well about the old poets and the new poets. The poem among school children was composed after the poets visit to a convent school in waterford ireland in 1926. The glories of river vaigai were nourished by the tamil poets of the past and the present, far. Read download the poetry of ak ramanujan pdf pdf download. At a time when the american indological establishment regarded native indian. Ramanujan is a literary work that has the author, in the poem, waxing nostalgic about a fathers life and death. Ramanujan, is a great indian poet, scholar and playwright. Ramanujan higher national diploma in english hnde 2nd year 1st semester a river in madurai, city of temples and poets, who sang of cities and temples, every summer a river dries to a trickle in the sand, baring the sand ribs, straw and womens hair clogging the watergates at the rusty bars under the. Parthasarathy, in his introductory note on ramanujan in ten twentieth century indian poets, reads a river as a poem that exposes the callousness of the old and the new poets to suffering.

Attipat krishnaswami ramanujan was a poet, translator, linguist and folklorist. Ramanujan was a leading poet of modern indian english poetry. In the poem, the poet concludes that both the groups of the poets, past and present are callous and indifferent to human suffering. He details the underbelly of the river that stays hidden. A native of mysore, india, attipat krishnaswami ramanujan grew up during the latter part of english rule in india, exposing him to the languages that would form his lifes work as a poet and translato. It is a poem on the vaigai which flours through madurai. Ramanujan wrote in both english and kannada, and his poetry is known for its thematic and formal engagement with modernist transnationalism. Critical appreciation of ramanujans poem a river or what. Critical appreciation of ramanujans poem a river or.

Ramanujan criticised the old poets for writing poems bout the river and the cause cause by the river during the rainy seasons. Ramanujan s a river is of his finest poem taken from his magnum opus, the striders 1965. Ramanujan was born in south india and made a career of probing the meanings of its language, literature and culture for an audience that was formally and professionally american but which in. In the summer season, the river is dry and only a very small and thin stream flows. Nov 8, 2018 a river by ak ramanujan summary the poem a river written by ak ramanujan describes the coldness of new poets towards the harsh reality of the thin. The poem a river written by ak ramanujan describes the coldness of new poets towards the harsh reality of the things that they. Visible now, are the bits of straw and womens hair that chokes the rusty gates of the dam and the bridges that are plastered over with patches of repair. K ramanujan 1 introduction 2 about the author 3 prayers to lord murugan 3. Ramanujan died in chicago, on july, 1993 as result of adverse reaction to anesthesia during preparation for surgery. The world of ak ramanujan girish karnad, guillermo rodriguez with chandan gowda duration.

Please wash your hands and practise social distancing. Attipate krishnaswami ramanujan 16 march 1929 july 1993 also known as a. Ramanujan is a four stanza poem that is separated into uneven sets of lines. These lines do not do follow a specific rhyme scheme, but that does not mean that there arent moments of rhyme and rhythm in the text. In this poem,the poet points out the implicit reality of the river and the devastation it brings about in monsoon, unlike other poets who mostly focus on the beauty of a river. Hence in the quest of all the material things the man forgets to be himself. Ramanujan which remind us of hashya, vyangya and vakrokti, satire, irony and doublespeak and the oblique approach as the chief forte of the poet which he handled so deftly and excelled in too as the master artist of the genre. A river is one of ramanujams finest poems appeared in the striders in 1966. Ramanujan memory opens up endless possibilities for poetry. His poems like the conventions of despair reflected his views on the cultures and conventions of the east and the west. In the poem the black hen ramanujan portrays the art of writing poetry. Ramanujan s work reveals that cultural tradition in india is a conflict between the. Attipat krishnaswami ramanujan is a great indian poet writing in english. The indian panorama of marriage tradition is aptly described in the poem.

Attipate krishnaswami ramanujan 16 march 1929 july 1993 popularly known as a. He earned degrees at the university of mysore and deccan college in pune and a phd from indiana university. His academic research ranged across five languages. Ramanujan was a, indian poet and scholar of indian literature who wrote in both english and kannada. Attipate krishnaswami ramanujan is one of the best poets scholars and playwright in indian english writing. A poem about dravidic town with an aura and circumference of historicity, mythology and scholarship where the poets and pundits resided, sang of the vaigai river and the myths connected with it, contributing to sangam literature, the poet ramanujan has taken the humorous side to delve into the heart of the matter. The poets in madurai quite often pen poems about cities and temples. He was born in mysore, karnataka, to a brahmin iyengar family that loved and encouraged learning. Towards the end he says that the other poets sang the praise of the river when it is flooded. Oct 15, 2014 attipate krishnaswami ramanujan 16 march 1929 july 1993 also known as a.

Ramanujan 19291993, indoamerican ramanujan would remark to friends that he was the hyphen between indoamerican attipat krishnaswami ramanujan was a poet, translator, linguist and folklorist. Issues such as hybridity and transculturation figure. Ramanujan was an indian poet and scholar of indian literature who wrote in both english and kannada. Ramanujan is considered to be the greatest indian english poet. Ramanujan 19291993 was, arguably, modern indias finest englishlanguage poet. The poem itself is ramanujans way of atoning for the neglect of previous poets, and repetition is one. In the opening lines of the poem, the poet gives us a list of the legacy left behind by hid dead father. The poem itself is ramanujans way of atoning for the neglect of previous poets, and repetition is one technique ramanujan uses to direct the readers attention to his objectives. Ramanujan describes how poets have romanticized a river in madurai, and ignored the suffering of. The modern world is that of materialism and capitalism. The poem a river written by ak ramanujan describes the coldness of new poets towards the harsh reality of the things that they romanticize. Women seem to be of no consequence to mankind except as an object for gratification. Ramanujan the city of madurai stands on the bank of river vaikai.

A k ramanujan says about the river vaikai in this poem. The poem self portrait by ak ramanujan depicts the struggle of modern man for identity. He explains that poetry should come naturally as leaves come to a tree. Explain the significance of the poem a river by a k ramanujan. A river by ak ramanujan famous poems, famous poets. The poet also expresses his concern about the tradition of copying the ideas and ways of old poets by the new poets and their inability to create something which is about the present rather than the past. He presents images to suggest the dryness of the river.

In madurai, city of temples and poets, who sang of cities and temples, every summer a river dries to a trickle in the sand, baring the sand ribs, straw and womens. It is a thumbscrew that a poet turns to his or her advantage. These works always had a sense of longing for ones motherland. Ramanujan s work reveals that cultural tradition in india is a conflict between the colonial english identity of the country as well as its historic and postcolonial ethnic identities. His unsentimental approach to the death of his father is very interesting. While the river is reduced to a narrow stream, its water cannot pass through the watergate as the debris of straw and womens hair obstruct. Download as docx, pdf, txt or read online from scribd. Check out our resources for adapting to these times. The first repetitions of poets and temples and cities and temples draws two. He has come to the conclusion that both the groups of the poets are indifferent to human sorrow and suffering. This blank widow faces make the readers to remember a typical indian widow.

In this paper, i attempt to study two poems on rivers by two indian english poets, attipat krishnaswamy a k ramanujan 19291993 and. A river in madurai, city of temples and poets, who sang of cities and temples, every summer a river dries to a trickle in the sand, baring the sand ribs, straw and womens hair clogging the watergates at the rusty bars under the bridges with patches of repair all over them the wet stones glistening like sleepy crocodiles, the dry ones. Ramanujan wrote in both english and kannada, and his poetry is known for its thematic and formal. He is the author of several volumes of poetry, including the striders, relations, and selected more about a. Many indian english poets have written poems on and about rivers. At find thousands of poems categorized into thousands of categories. Ramanujan s poetry reveals his strong faith in indian culture and tradition. Ramanujan develops the theme very well, with excellent pacing, through very solid use of imagery. Flood and pain of misery that goes with it has been the riveting theme of literature and poetry in many languages but ramanujan looked with a bit of skepticism at the extent and veracity of concern the poet felt for the victims. Ramanujans a river is of his finest poem taken from his magnum opus, the striders 1965. In this poem, the poet has compared and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new poets to human suffering. Even the breeze and his home cannot protect her from the ill effects of. Attipat krishnaswami ramanujan, popularly known as a. Ramanujan, wendi doniger says that before ramanujan the indian scholars residing in u.

India can be seen presented with all its shades, bright or dull. The second stanza of the poem at zero starts with the line blank brahminwidow faces. Their poems narrate how every summer a river flowing through madurai reduced itself to a narrow stream, and how later it got flooded with rain waters. Ramanujan describes how poets of the past and present have romanticized a river in madurai. But the irony in the poem extends to the speaker also, mocking the irrelevances he indulges in. His work, a mixture of the complex languages of which he was a master, is a production of flowing, metaphoric syntax and extremely concentrated composition. Madurai is a city celebrated for its temples and poets. Ramanujan is an eight stanza poem that is separated into sets of seven lines. Jul, 2011 before charging so the poet brings out the river when it is dry during summer. In the poem, we get a picture of the summer season and rainy season as well. The poem itself is ramanujan s way of atoning for the neglect of previous poets, and repetition is one.

This poem moves from a direct consideration of the children to yeats early love, maude gonne, and then to a passionate philosophical conclusion in which all of yeatss platonic thinking blends into an exalted hymn of raise to the glory and the puzzle of human existence. Jun 04, 2016 as a part of my initiative to publish poems that i deeply connect with or am moved by, i share this poem titled of mothers, among other things, which is weaved sublimely by a famous indian poet a. Ecological imbalances in ak ramanujans the criterion. Perpetuating past events and experiences across time and space, he makes them timeless and spacefree. He was a professor of dravidian studies and linguistics, who devoted his thirty years early life in south india and after that. He is very angry because the flowers of the red champak tree caused a severe headache to his mother. The poem begins with the speaker stating that every year, every poet sings the same songs about the sometimes flooding, and sometimes empty riverbed. What is the summary of river by ak ramanujan answers. Colvin professor of south asian languages and civilizations and a member of the committee on social thought at the university of chicago. The poet refers to the river as a helping as well as a destructive force. River has always been the poem much talked about, being the preeminent piece in his collection. In addition we can the sparkling of wit and humour in this poem. This natural way of writing the poetry is evidenced through the lines. His poem a river is a realistic description of a river that flows or sometimes does not flow through the city of madurai.