By the Lake - Tu Fu

By the Lake is a poem, originally written in Chinese in the early 8^th century. The piece, though seemingly very complex, actually has very simple and prominent themes. There is a pronounced historical tone in which the poem progresses. Themes of upheaval and exile are equally present. The contrast between nature and man is explored extensively in the piece.

                While reading the piece we must consider the historical events which were occurring at that time. The poem is set during the An Lushan Rebellion that took place in China. During this time many people were forced to leave the country owing to the violence. The poet Tu Fu, had to leave the country too; thus the themes of upheaval come into the picture.

                The contrast between man and nature is shown by the irony in the question, “For whom have the willows and the rushes put on their fresh greenery?” The fact that the plants remain beautiful as ever despite the turbulent times is a comment on how whimsical man’s fate is, unable to remain constant and peaceful like the plants. The turbulence of the times is emphasized by the contrast of how good things were (implied as being prior to the usurper) and how things are now.

Though the above themes are not really open to interpretation, countless other themes and meanings can be taken from the text owing to the surreal sense in which the historical events are described. One could interpret the poem as being representative of memory or death; this is primarily possible from reading into the lines at the ending:

“It is human to have feelings and to shed tears for such things … my way is towards the south city but my gaze turns northwards”

The vagueness of the above line is a suitable habitat for sundry strange and seemingly unnecessary interpretations. However, fret not! If you can read into the poem and suitably justify your take on the poem, nobody can say you’re wrong. 

The Pianist (2002 movie)

The Pianist is a historically based film highlighting the plight of the polish Jews during the Second World War. The director of the film, Roman Polanski, is himself a holocaust survivor, who had witnessed the execution of several women at a young age; being a Polish-French director, he had personal ties to the topic of the film.

The film begins with the beginning of the war, the 1939 invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. The suffering of the people in the Warsaw Ghetto is also highlighted extensively throughout the film. The concept of State sponsored genocide, and the mass murder of Jews, is shown for the ridiculous xenophobic ideal that it is in the movie.

The protagonist of the film, Wladylaw Szpilman, was a Polish musician of Jewish decent; the film is based on his memoirs. The gradual mental deterioration of his character is shown extensively in the film. Owing to the general style in which the film is made, Wladylaw Szpilman is the only sustained character, and the only one who’s developed throughout the course of the movie.

Hosenfeld, a sympathetic Nazi who spares Szpilman’s life and gives him clothing and food, is a perfect example of how not all Nazis are anti-Semitic. Also, by showing the Jewish ghetto police beating other Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, along with a scene of a Jewish man stealing from an old lady in the ghetto, the film further attempts to undo polarization; showing not all Nazis were evil, and not all Jews were victims. 

The degradation and dehumanization of the Jews is an important theme of the movie. They are stripped of all humanity and are treated as contaminated objects by their German superiors.

Strangely, the film is less about the holocaust as it is about the protagonist’s never ending fight for survival. The power of music is highlighted in the film by a scene in which beautiful music, played by the protagonist, changes the mind of a Nazi officer who proceeds to spare his life.

The color and lighting of the film play an important role in symbolizing the gradual erosion of the protagonist’s hope, as all begins to look bleak. The film begins in a bright summer, and concludes in a bleak cold winter.

The aspects of luck and chance are incredulously present throughout the film. Despite being from a relatively wealthy family, Szpilman has no say over the events  that unfold, as he too, ends up in the ghetto.

The protagonist of the film is portrayed as being detached, and indifferent to some extent. Rather than standing up strong, he accepts German injustice in order to survive. When his friends organize the famous Warsaw uprising, he does nothing more than watch, resulting in the aforementioned event being shown from a third person perspective in the film.

The subplot of Szpilman’s love for music underplays the magnitude of the situation. The climax occurs when the Nazi officer finds the protagonist. There is a resurgence of hope in the viewer once the music is played.

Finally, the futility of the Jewish plight is expertly portrayed in the film by the dining room discussion in the beginning of the movie. The family discusses the newly passed law, ordering Jews to wear armbands, allowing them to be identified as such, when in public. The family, the older brother in particular, vehemently disagrees with the proposition, and, as a result of this, the family secedes and agrees to not wear the armbands. From this, the scene abruptly cuts to a shot of one of the family members walking down a road with the armband on. Such a contrast symbolizes the futility, and lack of ability to change anything, that the Jews were forced to endure.

Songs of the Ganga - Arvind Krishna Mehrotra

Songs of the Ganga by Arvind Mehrotra personifies the Ganga into different things and also uses it as a symbol for life. The Ganga rises in the Western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal.(…)This river is precious as a religious entity and also acts as a lifeline for millions of people who use the water from Ganga. Considering this, the river Ganga is a very good symbol for life and the poem bring it out beautifully with vivid descriptions.

1.

I am Ganga Snow from the mountains. The keeper of water. 

I am the plains I am the foothills I carry wishes of my streams, to the sea.

I am both man and woman.

I am paper boats for children. I am habits for fishermen. I am a cloud for shaven monks. I reflect all movements.

I am the bridge. I am the fort and the archer taking aim. I am the great dissolver of men 

I give life and I take it back. 

·         The first line of the stanza is Ganga describing itself and its point of origin, i.e. the Ganga is formed from the snow of the Himalaya. By the keeper of water it says that it isn’t water but an entity which carries water, like the goddess Ganga.(…)

·         The second line suggests the path that the river treads, it travels the plains as well as the foothills after descending from a mountain. The wishes here mean the baths that people take to wash away their sins are taken from the streams to the Bay of Bengal. Desires of my streams can also mean the natural force of gravity which carves way for the river.

·         The third line says that it is middle way, neither man nor woman. This suggests that the Ganga doesn’t differentiate between man and woman. And there is also a Hindu concept having to do with seeing through or resolving opposites.

·         The fourth line basically says that it contains everything that a human may need. May it be fun, fish, inspiration etc. (respectively).

·         The fifth line. I am the bridge is a symbolic element here suggesting the bridge between life and death, from material existence to spiritual existence, as the ashes of most dead Hindus are given back to the Ganga as it is said to be the source of life. The Ganga has enough power to guard an area (fort) with its tides and still enough power to destroy it too (archer). It dissolves the ashes of the dead (Great dissolver).

·         The sixth line. As Ganga is the bridge connecting material existence and spiritual existence it says that it gives life and takes it back. Putting it in a rational context this could mean that the water from the Ganga helps millions of people to survive, and when the Ganga gets flooded it could take all the life back.

2. 

I go out into the world, I am the world, I am nations, cities, people I am the pages of an unbound book.

My room is the air around me.

I am dressed in water, I am naked as water, I am clarity.

A friend comes along offers me a flag and says a government has toppled.

I’m going to catch rain, I say and spread out a net .

I am poison.

·         The first line here shows how Ganga spans along a wide area and is a part of people’s life. It is an unbound book as there is no telling how the Ganga may grow what would happen next with the Ganga, will it flood? Would it not? Etc.

·         The second line just says that the only thing that’s around Ganga is the air around it. This line is kind of important as air is seen as a free element of nature, but thinking about it closely, so is water. Water is just more disciplined than air and is also very free.

·         The third line. The waters of the Ganga are clean and clear. You could see through them. By clarity it means that it can give you the answer to all questions. This is religious symbolism considering all travellers in search for enlightenment visit the Ganga River at least once in their lives.

·         The fourth line. This line suggests independence and the fall of the British Government.

·         The fifth line. As it is going to rain, the river Ganga spreads out a net and increases in volume.

·         The sixth line in relationship with the fifth line can be used to trace out an aspect of death. This suggests that the fifth line could mean that the Ganga is going to flood now.

3. 

Billy goats, come down from the mountain. Without finding solitude, camels return from the desert. 

I make two lines in the sand, and say they are unbreakable walls. 

I make the four directions one, I know the secret of walking. 

I am the death of fire.

·         The first line. Goats come down from the mountains to quench their thirsts and camels return from the desert for the same.

·         The second line. A small stream of water can turn into a canyon over years of erosion forming structures similar to huge unbreakable walls.

·         The third line. The Ganga washes away four directions and makes it one. Contrasting this statement the secret of walking states that the Ganga understands all kinds of movements. The arrogance in the last statement is balanced with the humility of this one.

·         The fourth line. This line is self-explanatory.

4. 

From smoke I learn disappearance from the ocean unprejudiced 

From birds How to find a rest-house in the storm 

From the leopard How to cover the sun with spots 

In summer I tend watermelons and in flood I stay near the postman’s house 

I am a beggar I am a clown and I am shadow less.

·         The first line talks about the evaporation of sea water and romanticizes with the subject. The ocean is unprejudiced as it does not distinguish between man and animal and devours them both at point.(Life of Pi Reference)

·         The second and the third line tells us about the things that the Ganga has learned from the animals. (More romanticization.)

·         The fourth line. In summer watermelons which grow in the waters of the Ganga are eaten by us, hinting us that in one way or other the Ganga has given water to us all. The postman’s house is usually located in the most suitable location which is easily accessible.

·         The fifth line. Here beggar, and clown are used in a very random sense suggesting that the Ganga can be anything and is everything. I am shadow less means that, the Ganga does not have an end nor do people know where it properly starts (until recently).

This stanza tells us of the experiences the river Ganga has had. And how instead of us learning from it al the time it learns from us too. Us meaning everyone else other than itself as it is non prejudiced it takes humans and animals and birds as one.

_________________________________________________________________________________

References:

https://www.englishforums.com/English/HelpMeWithThePoemGanga/wcch/post.htm

Songs of the final meeting - Anna Akhmatova

“Song of the Final Meeting” is a poem by Anna Akhmatova, a famous Russian poet who lived most of her life in the early 20^th century. Owing primarily to the time into which she was born, a time in which many atrocities and horrific crimes were being perpetrated by the Communist government, she was a strong voice against Stalinism. This, combined with the fact that she was a woman, provided her poems with a unique touch, one not present in the other contemporary poetry of that time.

The poem, “Song of the Final Meeting”, examines, with the usage of colorful imagery and numerous apt metaphors, the end of a relationship between two lovers, as narrated by the female party.

The poem begins with the following lines:

_____________

My breast grew helplessly cold,

But my steps were light.

I pulled the glove from my left hand

Mistakenly onto my right.

_____________

The first line itself establishes the tone and emotions associated with the poem. The first line in this stanza serves to evoke a sense of impending doom, a cold unshakable dread that fills one’s chest. The use of the word, “helplessly”, in this line, induces a melancholic sense of bleak inevitability in the reader, the knowledge that the final outcome cannot be changed, try as one might. The second line can be interpreted as the poet’s mental response to these emotions.  It suggests that, bleak as the future may be, there is nothing that she can do about it (linked to concept of inevitability on first line), and being such, there is no need to worry about it, thus, her steps are light.

In the 3^rd and 4^th lines of this stanza, the poet, citing an apt example of her putting on the wrong glove, conveys her absence of mind to the reader. The probable and logical cause for her being preoccupied, based on the previous lines, would be her anticipation, and simultaneous dread, for the meeting

The second stanza is as follows:

_____________

                It seemed there were so many steps,

                But I knew there were only 3!

                Amidst the maples an autumn whisper

                Pleaded: “Die with me!”

_____________

In this stanza, the first line can be interpreted as being indicative of the ever growing sense of anticipatory dread felt by the poet. Anticipation so much that one can hardly focus on their surroundings, is the general concept put forth. The second line shows, once again, the absent-mindedness of the poet at this stage, linking back to the same concept in the last two lines of the first stanza.

In the third line of the above stanza, an important aspect is introduced which, if interpreted on a physical level, serves to describe the environment. The short phrase used by the author, of the maple trees through which the poet walks, combined with the reference to autumn, induces a powerful image of her surroundings in the reader’s mind. The usage of maple trees, in particular, contributes greatly to this effect, seeing as how they possess their telltale bright orange leaves during autumn.

The use of the word ‘autumn’ in the third line, if interpreted symbolically, could be understood as a metaphor for unavoidable change. Autumn, the season in which leaves turn orange and fall from their branches, is the end of the spring and the beginning of the long, hard, cold winter. As it affects nature so drastically, reflected in the mass migrations of animals, and the telltale orange color taken on by leaves of trees in the North West, it is bound to, and does, evoke very strong emotions in one. In the words of Ernest Hemingway in ‘A Moveable Feast’,

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold wintery light…When the cold rains kept on and killed the products of spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.”

The above quote quite aptly epitomizes the negative emotions induced in one during such a season. The writer, Anna Akhmatova, manages to link the above emotions related to autumn, with the emotions and feelings associated with the end of a relationship.

In many pieces of classical literature, autumn is symbolic of the earth with respect to beginning and end, harvest, and the end of spring, the leaves falling from the branches. It is also commonly used to represent an end, in the literal sense; the end of summer is naught but the beginning of fall.  In poetry especially, spring is associated with youth and new, budding life. Summer is the pinnacle of life, when you are older, but still young enough to have family, success, etc. Autumn is often the time of retirement, but you have a sense of fulfillment, richness, wisdom, freedom. Winter is old age, illness, the death of loved ones and, ultimately your own death. The author has managed to take the above symbolism, and twist it, ever so slightly, so that, rather than the seasons being indicative of the course of one’s lifetime, they represent the inevitable stages of a relationship. The stage in which the author is currently, autumn, represents the inevitable and unstoppable transition of summer to winter, happiness to gloom, and joy to melancholy.

In the third line of this stanza, the autumn whisper could be interpreted as being the voice of change inevitable. The words which precede it, the reference to the maple tree, further strengthens this concept. The maple trees, whose leaves are green during spring, turn a bright signature orange-red color during autumn. This fact would strengthen the aforementioned interpretation of autumn representing an inevitable change, unavoidable, destined by time to occur. The fourth line, the pleading of autumn to the author, for the latter to die with the former, if interpreted with relation to the above metaphor (autumn representing change), could be likened to the end of a relationship. The ‘death’ of which autumn speaks, could be nothing more than the inevitable coming of change, the unavoidable transition from summer to winter through autumn. Just as autumn is but a temporary season, so is the life of the author’s relationship, bound to eventually draw to an end.

The second stanza, particularly the second half, deals primarily with the obstacles faced by the author (the symbolism of autumn, and the oncoming inevitable change the author is faced with, depicted through metaphors). The third stanza however, deals primarily with the author’s reaction to aforementioned events. The third stanza goes as follows:

_____________

I’m led astray by evil

Fate, so black and so untrue.

I answered: “I too dear one!”

“I too, will die with you…”

_____________

                The tone of the third stanza is quite dark. A sense of depression and treachery permeates the paragraph. The personification of evil in the first line, combined with the usage of the phrase, “Led Astray”, evokes a sense of betrayal in the reader. The second line, “Fate, so black and so untrue,” is reflective of the extremely bleak and seemingly desolate future faced by the poet.  The word ‘untrue’, links back to the concept of betrayal and misleading, as shown in the previous line.

                The third line of this stanza consists of the poet’s response to autumn’s whisper (concept introduced in the final two lines of the second stanza). She accepts the latter’s proposition, as stated in the next line. Her answer, her agreeing to die with autumn, is indicative of her acceptance of change, her indomitable will to move on. The ellipses, however, that is present at the end of the sentence, provides the image of doubt in the reader’s mind. Despite the poet’s attempt to accept the change, there is still a part of her that dares to hope for a brighter tomorrow.

                The fourth and final stanza, is the conclusion of the poem. It also descriptively portrays, for dramatic effect, the environment, the house, in which the poet is, presumably with her lover. It is as follows:

_____________

                This is a song of the final meeting.

                I glanced at the house’s dark frame.

                Only bedroom candles burning

                With an indifferent yellow flame.

_____________

                A dramatic effect is created by the iteration of the title in the first line of the stanza. It instills a sense of ending, a culmination of sorts, in the reader. The second line of the stanza gives the reader the first image of her current surroundings. The context in which the word ‘glanced’ is used in the second line could indicate a lack of interest of sorts, on the writer’s part. The usage of the word ‘dark’ to describe the house, is partially responsible for the gloomy and depressing atmosphere that permeates the final stanza.

                The third line, if interpreted on a physical level, completes the setting of the environment. The burning of the candles may also be simultaneously interpreted on a symbolic level. Just as the candle burns bright with a beautiful flame, it is this very flame which, over time, takes its toll on the candle, devouring more and more of it, until finally, the flame is extinguished. Many parallels can be drawn between this process and a relationship. The candle may represent the energy and efforts put forth by each respective party into the relationship, the flame, the fruits or products of aforementioned efforts, the flame of love. Over time however, the flame begins to dim, as the candle shortens. Eventually, there is no wick left in the candle, no more than has been can be given. At this final point, the flame of love is extinguished.

                The final line of the poem is, by far, the most powerful, in terms of the emotions evoked in the reader, and, at the same time, the line most open to interpretation in the poem. Before I continue, let me elaborate on the rather small, yet still quite ironic concept, introduced in the last two lines of the final stanza.

                Candles, as a whole, are extremely linked to romantic settings and intimate environments. Just as people find the sight of the setting or rising sun romantic, so is the same with candles. The dim light of the flickering candle flame seems to hide one’s imperfections and bring one’s strengths and positive qualities to the forefront. For these reasons, candles are generally associated with romance and love. In this case however, candles illuminate the room of the lovers’ final meeting. The fact that a symbol for romance and love is present in such a depressing and melancholic atmosphere, evokes a sort of dark irony in the reader.

                The ‘yellow’ color of the flame mentioned in the final line, represents a good deal. The color yellow, in general, as it is the color of the sun, is associated with feelings of joy, happiness, and well being. As can be gleaned from the general tone of the poem, the above effect is far from the effect the writer was trying to convey. It can be noted however, that certain negative emotions and feelings are associated with this same color. Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness (owing to jaundice), and jealousy. As the phrase, “Yellow-Bellied coward”, indicates, yellow can also be associated to feelings of cowardice, unfaithfulness, and most importantly, betrayal. This concept of betrayal can be linked back to the sense of the same, generated in the first two lines of the third stanza.

                Finally, the indifference of the flame, of which the author speaks, has a great deal of symbolism. The candle seems unperturbed by the events unfolding around it. Be it on a romantic date or a tragic setting, such as the one painted verbally by the author, the candle still shines the same, not altered in the slightest by heavy-hearted tears or the laughter rife with mirth of those around it. While, in the minds of the once lovers, an indescribable amount has changed, the candle is not altered in the slightest, still flickering in the darkness, with its dim yellow flame.

                Also, the concept of nature, despite being one that is not directly referenced throughout the poem, still pervades the overall essence of the piece by providing a vivid image in the back of the reader’s mind of the poet’s surroundings, and, at the same time, being used symbolically and metaphorically by the poet. On a physical level, the usage of nature, primarily in the 3^rd line of the 2^nd stanza, provides a vibrant setting of the author’s environment for the reader. On a metaphorical level however, the use of nature in the poem is symbolic of change, unstoppable and inevitable, likened, by the author, to the changing of seasons.