"All-Pervading Poetry,” originally written by Bal Krishna Sama was translated by Michael Hutt. It is a poem on poetry and it makes a strong case for the ubiquity of poetry. In an inspired vein the poet traces the genesis and source of poetry and comes to the conclusion that any human heart warm with sympathy will find poetry in every object of the universe. Poetry radiates out from every aspect of life and the world and this thesis is established in a dialogic form in a supposed conversation between an aesthete and a holy man.
All Pervading Poetry summary by Bal Krishna Sama
About the poet Balkrishna Sama (1902-1981)
Balkrishna Sama is the most versatile Nepali man of letters. He was a dramatist par excellence, a performing artist, painter, sculptor, poet, essayist, novelist, art critic, and short story writer. He is an exquisite player of words and brings in ideas from the east and the west and different disciplines of human knowledge Sama highlights the social problems in his country by writing poems about them, and he is an unrivalled poet of love and relationships, tyranny and oppression, and nationalistic fervor.
Sama was born into the aristocratic ruling Rana family. But, at an early age he dropped his high class Rana family name and adopted "Sama" (meaning, equal to show his relationship to the common man. He founded modern dramatic literature in Nepali with his many plays. Plays like Prem Pinda, Swasni Manchhe, Buhartan, Tapobhumi, Atyadhunikta, and Bhater are notable for their depiction of the Rana society, Mukunda Indira, Ma, and Mutuko Byatha are romantic plays; Amit Basana, Boksi, Talamathi, and Andhabeg are steeped in psychology; Amar Singh, Bhimsenko Antya, and Bhakta Bhanubhakta are historical plays; Prahlad and Dhruba are devotional plays. Ago ra Pani and Chiso Chuhlo are his important epics. Numerous long and short poems and short stories are equally prominent for their depth of thought and superb craftsmanship.
Summary of the poem All Pervading Poetry by Bal Krishna Sama
It is a poem about poetry because the poet, Sama is trying to say how the subject matter of poetry flows in the mind. In order to write a poem, imagination feeling and emotion are essential. Logic and reason are part of the essay but not of the poetry. Feeling and emotion come from the heart that the part of poetry.
So, if we want to write a poem, we should see the object empowering feeling and emotion. In this situation, we find poetry in every object and in everywhere. Once to get poetry, a holy man wonders in forests, hills, streams, pastures, waterfalls, bush, and so on but he did not get poetry in such objects. The reason was that he saw them through prosaic eyes (mind). Later an aesthete made his eye open to get poetry.
He tells him that to get poetry in such objects, he should use heart and sympathetically search in those objects. As he does so, he finds poetry in all objects. Then he feels the tree is melted like resin, greenfield dissolved into lakes, the sky also dissolved to become a Ganga River. In this way, he finds the content of the poetry in every object.
In this regard, to get poetry, we should use our imagination, emotion, and feeling in nature.
All Pervading Poetry poem [question answer]
In "All Pervading Poetry", What is the holy man in search of? Did he find the object of his search?
Ans: The holy man is in search of the objects in which he wants to find or write poetry. No, in the beginning, he did not find the object of his search but later, as he followed the aesthete's ideas to get an object of poetry in nature, then he found the object of the poetry in the nature.
How does the aesthete answer the holy man?
Ans: The aesthete answers the holy man that he should see the object using imagination, feeling, and emotion. He should not see the object using prosaic eyes (mind, reason, or logic )
What happens when we look at the world through prosaic eyes?
Ans: When we look at the world through prosaic eyes, we will not get emotion and feeling to create or write the poetry
Find out the different similes used in the poem "All Pervading Poetry". How do they contribute to the poem's argument?
Ans: Different similes are used in the poem are as followed: Melting like beeswax in the sun The trees melted like resin whole world thawed like snow They contribute the power of imagination, feeling and emotion to see the object differently
What is the tone of "All Pervading Poetry"?
Ans: The tone of the poem is instructive.
What is the significance of the softening of the holy man's eyes (231) ?
Ans: The significance of the softening of the holy man's eyes is that he knew the basic remedy to find the poem in a natural object. As he knew, his eyes see poetry everywhere.
Explain the metaphors of the "blood" and "Ganga" in the poem All Pervading Poetry.
Ans: He compares human blood with the vein of stone and the sky is compared with Ganga. It means that due to the sympathy of those objects in the heart, they became alike and similar to the holy man.
The poet's primary task in the poem is to argue how the universe is ablaze with poetry. Are the arguments strong enough to make the poem a strong statement for the universality of poetry?
Ans: The poem can be of anything. So, it can be found everywhere if we see the object from the heart but not from the mind. Mind and logic are useful to write prose or essay because it needs arguments, example, reasons and so. The poem should be written using imagination and feeling. If we did so, poetry is blazing in-universe.
The same blood flows in the heart of a human being and a rock. Discuss
Ans: The poets using their imaginative minds, can see the stone in flowers, fire in water. In the poem too, the holy man is instructed to use poetic eyes but not prosaic. As he did so, he finds subject matters of poetry even in the stone and views the blood of the heart in the vein of rock.
Poetry is defined as " literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning sound, and rhythm " (Britannica). Does the poem "All-Pervading Poetry" fulfill this definition of poetry?
Ans: Yes, "All Pervading Poetry" fulfills the definition of " literature that evokes a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience or a specific emotional response through language chosen and arranged for its meaning sound, and rhythm " (Britannica) because the primary theme of the poem is to see the world via imagination and heart to create the poetry.
Compare this poem with Sama's other poem, "Don't Cut Down the Trees" also translated by Michael Hutt. On the basis of the two poems, try to make an estimate of Sama as a poet. Don't Cut Down the Trees.
Ans: Like the poem, ' All Pervading Poetry', from the poem, "Don't Cut Down the Trees" Sama is proved to be a great poet, in this poem, the poet considers the trees as our dead mothers who are the silent listener. They protect from natural calamities. He says that a tree is like our mother that is around us and takes care of us. She gives us fruits and flowers as our mother feeds us milk.
Similarly, when trees feel tired, they sigh and weep. They never speak a word and complain. They are able to tolerate their pains only for our sake. Furthermore, the poet says that in winter, family members sit around a fire burning from wood and sing and talk. As soon as spring arrives, they again spread out their arms and appeal to us not to cut off their arms.