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| Kathmandu, Sunday April 13, 2003 Chaitra 30, 2059. |
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Snowfall : A testament of
poetic imagination
By DR MOHAN LOHANI
The English Romantic poet Coleridge writing
about imagination makes a distinction between the primary and the secondary imagination in
his well-known book of literary criticism, Biographia Literaria. While the primary
imagination, as Coleridge states, is the living power and prime agent of all human
perception, the secondary imagination, although it is an echo of the former, dissolves,
diffuses, dissipates, in order to recreate. There is emphasis in the aesthetics of
Coleridge on the shaping power of imagination. It is this shaping power of imagination
that enabled Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Nepal’s outstanding poetic genius, to enrich
Nepali literature with his creative output at once varied, complex, innovative, profoundly
thought-provoking and profusely imaginative. Devkota, like Shakespeare, goes down in the
history of world literature as an immortal bard.
Snowfall described by Shyamdas Vaishnav as a
short epic was composed by Devkota in January 1947 (Pausha, BS 2003) and recently
published by the Nepal Cultural Association, with some interpolations in the text because
the manuscript was moth-eaten. There was unprecedented snowfall in Kathmandu in January
1947, and I have a vivid recollection of this event as I was six years old at that time.
According to Vaishnav, who was then 22 years old, Nepal’s poetic genius Devkota
composed this poem on the same day of snowfall witnessed by all Kathmanduites including
Devkota and Vaishnav. The poem consisting of 224 stanzas centres round snowfall, a unique
natural phenomenon for the Kathmandu valley. Everything such as roads, trees and houses
came within the wide embrace of snowfall. Snowfall as it succeeds Lekhnath’s Ritu
Vichar (Reflections on Season) stands out as a Nature poem par excellence. The sight of
snow ignites the creative spark in the poetic soul of Devkota. Like Kalidasa who
introduced the cloud as a messenger of his personal thoughts and feelings in his famous
poem Meghadutam, Devkota uses snowfall as a poetic device to artistically survey the
social, political and economic scene of the time. The poet’s descriptive power is
incredibly skillful and breathtakingly sharp and penetrating. Snowfall sets a pattern in
descriptive writing in Nepali literature. Devkota has an eye for minute and accurate
details. We come across lines where the poet measures the volume or inches of snowfall.
Devkota presents himself as a champion of the
underdog in Snowfall. His heart goes out to the old, the infirm, the poor, the distressed
or, in brief, those who are oppressed and exploited. Mist, frost, rain and snow are more
than natural occurrences. They symbolize political oppression and social disparity of the
time. Lines such as "As hunger upsets the belly and watery becomes the cold tongue.
The poor man looks upon snow as his food" give us a glimpse of economic exploitation
and the anguish of the poor. While the social setting encompasses the behaviour pattern of
inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley, their gestures and gesticulations, their living
conditions, customs and practices, social malpractices such as bribery and theft, there
are references in the poem to the contemporary political situation. India’s gloomy
and depressed mood due to its colonial status is referred to in the poem. It may be noted
that India gained independence in August 1947 seven months after the composition of this
poem. Devkota while sympathising with India which remained under British colonial
domination for over two centuries takes pride in Nepal as a sovereign, independent
country. This testifies to the poet’s patriotic fervour.
If Devkota is not out and out a religious poet,
it is equally incorrect to dismiss him as an atheist. He is acutely conscious of how our
socio-cultural setup is shaped and influenced by religion. Devkota is not completely
averse to religious beliefs and practices. Repeated references to penance, hermit, Lord
Shiva, Himalaya, Gauri-Shanker and the enlightened Buddha prove that religion in the poem
is not a subject of sarcasm or satire. The poet’s imagination with its shaping power
brings to life our religious tradition couched in ancient myths and legends. Nature and
culture of which religion is a component are intertwined. The poet imagines that snow,
fog, frost and rain are manifestations of God’s fury. At the same time, he visualises
in snowfall the entire paraphernalia of a marriage ceremony solemnised by Vedic rites. The
rain is compared to a woman carrying the sacred vessel or Kalasha. While the gusty wind
looks like a musician, tree leaves toss around as if they are dancing. Time as the ever
lasting reality is the principal manager or organiser. Bhim Nath Ghimire opines that
snowfall is a poetic device by which Devkota presents his vision of life. The poet’s
treatment of Nature is not divorced from his life-long commitment to humanism.
No less perceptive is Shrish Bhandari’s
commentary on poem. He writes: "The change of seasons is in keeping with the laws of
Nature. There is nothing unusual about the onset of winter and its concomitant development
which is snowfall. Snowfall for poet Devkota is more than a natural phenomenon. It awakens
the poetic mind and stimulates his creative imagination." Devkota’s poetic
imagination wanders from east to west, from heaven to earth. Love of Nature, in brief,
brings out Devkota’s genius as a romantic and humanist poet.
The originality of the poem, as Bhim Nath
Ghimire observes, lies in its rainbow-like structure. Everything from the Himalayas to the
Bay of Bengal which gives birth to tropical rains, from Vedic culture to western
technology such as German bombs and artillery used during the second world war is woven
into the texture of the poem. Nature in the form of snowfall is the unifying principle.
There is a vivid description of snowfall combined with an imaginative insight into the
same phenomenon. The poet’s knowledge of how clouds are formed and are later
transformed into rains is accurate and scientifically verifiable.
A few words on the style and diction of the poem
will be in order. Although it lacks the poise, decorum and elegance of classical poetry,
the poet is able to lend a human dimension to a simple natural event like snowfall. The
use of apt similes has made the poem aesthetically satisfying. To mention a few, ‘jaws
and teeth clattering with cold are like the drum beating of a traditional village doctor
or Dhami’. Likewise, frost-bitten leaves of the tree look like the snow-white beard
of an old man. Trees stand still in extremely cold winter followed by snowfall. They are
now bereft of leaves when their branches like human hands rub against each other. Winter
with its snow, frost and mist is like an old man hypnotised by the youthful charms of the
earth. The snow-clad peaks are like hermits practising penance. The poet imagines that
there is a witch inside the fog which looks like a white canopy. The poet further imagines
that the dark and dismal sky of Kathmandu overcast with clouds reflects the gloom and
depression of India under colonial yoke. The old Himalayas of the Kingdom witness to the
sad plight of India heave a sigh of sorrow which manifests itself as an icy blast. There
are a number of other similes and rhetorical devices used by the poet to enhance the poem’s
aesthetic appeal.
A modern reader comes across some expressions in
the poem that might appear to be archaic today. To Devkota they were familiar expressions.
Words came to him, as some one has said about John Keats, like leaves to a tree. The poem
contains several new words, which cannot be translated into English, coined by the poet.
We come across words with religious connotation and words that embody the social tradition
steeped in witchcraft and exorcism. A cursory reading of the poem gives one the impression
that the poet has made no conscious attempt to polish the lines. This is not the case as
the use of apt similes with cultural and social nuances, as stated earlier, testifies not
only to the poet’s creative imagination but also his sensitivity to language which is
a vehicle for experience. The poet also allows some alien words to find entry into the
poem. The use of alliteration, however, adds rhythm and musicality to a few stanzas and
lines in the poem. Despite a few rambling, ambiguous and incoherent lines, most of the
stanzas are compact, well-knit and pregnant with meaning. To conclude, Snowfall, Devkota’s
latest publication, serves as a lamppost to future generations.
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