A river poem by ak ramanujan pdf

Please wash your hands and practise social distancing. Critical appreciation of ramanujans poem a river or what. Madurai is a city celebrated for its temples and poets. It is a poem on the vaigai which flours through madurai. Both the old and modern poets doesnt care for the other. Ramanujans a river is of his finest poem taken from his magnum opus, the striders 1965. Explain the significance of the poem a river by a k ramanujan.

Ramanujan has ironically exposed the heartless attitude of both the old and new poets. K ramanujan 1 introduction 2 about the author 3 prayers to lord murugan 3. Ramanujan s poetry reveals his strong faith in indian culture and tradition. A k ramanujan says about the river vaikai in this poem. Critical appreciation of ramanujans poem a river or. He was a professor of dravidian studies and linguistics, who devoted his thirty years early life in south india and after that. The indian panorama of marriage tradition is aptly described in the poem. The poet refers to the river as a helping as well as a destructive force. Ramanujan is a literary work that has the author, in the poem, waxing nostalgic about a fathers life and death. 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 was a, indian poet and scholar of indian literature who wrote in both english and kannada. The poem among school children was composed after the poets visit to a convent school in waterford ireland in 1926. 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 earned degrees at the university of mysore and deccan college in pune and a phd from indiana university.

Before charging so the poet brings out the river when it is dry during summer. The poem shows the view of ramanujan against the orthodoxy of the hindu religion as well about the old poets and the new poets. Download as docx, pdf, txt or read online from scribd. The poem a river written by ak ramanujan describes the coldness of new poets towards the harsh reality of the things that they. Ramanujan s a river is of his finest poem taken from his magnum opus, the striders 1965. River has always been the poem much talked about, being the preeminent piece in his collection. A river is one of ramanujams finest poems appeared in the striders in 1966. For example, ramanujan makes use of slant or half rhymes. 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. This natural way of writing the poetry is evidenced through the lines. 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. The poem a river written by ak ramanujan describes the coldness of new poets towards the harsh reality of the things that they romanticize.

Attipat krishnaswami ramanujan was a poet, translator, linguist and folklorist. 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. In addition we can the sparkling of wit and humour in this poem. Hence in the quest of all the material things the man forgets to be himself. Ramanujan died in chicago, on july, 1993 as result of adverse reaction to anesthesia during preparation for surgery. In the poem, we get a picture of the summer season and rainy season as well. 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. The river,i stanza introduction linkedin slideshare. Many indian english poets have written poems on and about rivers. 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. Read download the poetry of ak ramanujan pdf pdf download.

At a time when the american indological establishment regarded native indian. In this poem, the poet has compared and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new poets to human suffering. He presents images to suggest the dryness of the river. Ramanujan is considered to be the greatest indian english poet.

Ramanujan, is a great indian poet, scholar and playwright. 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. Even the breeze and his home cannot protect her from the ill effects of. This blank widow faces make the readers to remember a typical indian widow. He details the underbelly of the river that stays hidden. What is the summary of river by ak ramanujan answers. 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. In the poem, the poet concludes that both the groups of the poets, past and present are callous and indifferent to human suffering. 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. Ramanujan wrote in both english and kannada, and his poetry is known for its thematic and formal. 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. Towards the end he says that the other poets sang the praise of the river when it is flooded.

In the poem the black hen ramanujan portrays the art of writing poetry. 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. In the opening lines of the poem, the poet gives us a list of the legacy left behind by hid dead father. The poem self portrait by ak ramanujan depicts the struggle of modern man for identity. 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. His poem a river is a realistic description of a river that flows or sometimes does not flow through the city of madurai. 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. 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. His poems like the conventions of despair reflected his views on the cultures and conventions of the east and the west.

Ramanujan was a poet, scholar, professor, a philologist, folklorist, translator, and playwright. 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. The poets in madurai quite often pen poems about cities and temples. Through the poem the poet raises the question of an artists commitment to the society. Attipate krishnaswami ramanujan 16 march 1929 july 1993 also known as a. Jun 20, 2012 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. Attipate krishnaswami ramanujan is one of the best poets scholars and playwright in indian english writing. Ramanujan is a four stanza poem that is separated into uneven sets of lines. 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. Ramanujan s work reveals that cultural tradition in india is a conflict between the. The first repetitions of poets and temples and cities and temples draws two. Issues such as hybridity and transculturation figure.

Here the poet has compared and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new poets to human suffering. India can be seen presented with all its shades, bright or dull. The poem begins with the speaker stating that every year, every poet sings the same songs about the sometimes flooding, and sometimes empty riverbed. The poem itself is ramanujans way of atoning for the neglect of previous poets, and repetition is one. In the summer season, the river is dry and only a very small and thin stream flows. He is very angry because the flowers of the red champak tree caused a severe headache to his mother. Ramanujan 19291993 was, arguably, modern indias finest englishlanguage poet. Attipat krishnaswami ramanujan, popularly known as a. Oct 15, 2014 attipate krishnaswami ramanujan 16 march 1929 july 1993 also known as a. These works always had a sense of longing for ones motherland.

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. The second stanza of the poem at zero starts with the line blank brahminwidow faces. 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. In this paper, i attempt to study two poems on rivers by two indian english poets, attipat krishnaswamy a k ramanujan 19291993 and. Ramanujan memory opens up endless possibilities for poetry. 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. Check out our resources for adapting to these times. His academic research ranged across five languages. Ramanujan is an eight stanza poem that is separated into sets of seven lines. Women seem to be of no consequence to mankind except as an object for gratification. He was born in mysore, karnataka, to a brahmin iyengar family that loved and encouraged learning.

Ramanujan was a leading poet of modern indian english poetry. Jul, 2011 before charging so the poet brings out the river when it is dry during summer. 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. 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. 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. He has come to the conclusion that both the groups of the poets are indifferent to human sorrow and suffering. Ramanujan describes how poets of the past and present have romanticized a river in madurai. Ramanujan the city of madurai stands on the bank of river vaikai.

Colvin professor of south asian languages and civilizations and a member of the committee on social thought at the university of chicago. Perpetuating past events and experiences across time and space, he makes them timeless and spacefree. Ramanujan was an indian poet and scholar of indian literature who wrote in both english and kannada. Attipat krishnaswami ramanujan is a great indian poet writing in english. The glories of river vaigai were nourished by the tamil poets of the past and the present, far. The modern world is that of materialism and capitalism. Ramanujan describes how poets have romanticized a river in madurai, and ignored the suffering of.

The world of ak ramanujan girish karnad, guillermo rodriguez with chandan gowda duration. Ramanujan, wendi doniger says that before ramanujan the indian scholars residing in u. He explains that poetry should come naturally as leaves come to a tree. But the irony in the poem extends to the speaker also, mocking the irrelevances he indulges in. Ecological imbalances in ak ramanujans the criterion. His unsentimental approach to the death of his father is very interesting. Attipate krishnaswami ramanujan 16 march 1929 july 1993 popularly known as a. The poem itself is ramanujan s way of atoning for the neglect of previous poets, and repetition is one. A river by ak ramanujan famous poems, famous poets.

Ramanujan develops the theme very well, with excellent pacing, through very solid use of imagery. At find thousands of poems categorized into thousands of categories. Ramanujan wrote in both english and kannada, and his poetry is known for its thematic and formal engagement with modernist transnationalism. He is the author of several volumes of poetry, including the striders, relations, and selected more about a.