Gathered Grace

195 Pages·10.7 MB·English

by  K R Ramachandra Nair

EROZIO
GATHERED GRACE
(AnAnthologyofIndian VerseinEnglish)

GATHERED GRACE
(An Anthology of Indian Verse in English)
Edited withNotes andCommentary
by
K.R. Ramachandran Nair
&
Professor HeadoftheDepartmentofEnglish
Tagore Arts College
Pondicherry
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Gathered Grace
1991,K.R.RamachandranNair
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PREFACE
In recent times most ofthe universities in India have introduced Indo-
Anglian literature as one of the papers at the undergraduate and post-
graduate levelsin theirEnglish literature programmes. However, there
arevery few student editionsofanthologies thatcoverthewholerange
of Indo-Anglian poetry. Some of the good anthologies available now
are only meant for elite reading as they do not provide any notes or
commentary.
Thisanthologyis anattempttopresentarepresentativeselectionof
Indo-Anglian verse along with notes and commentary to enable the
studentandthelayreadertohaveaproperunderstandingofeachpoem.
The notes are prepared toassist the student to absorb the spirit ofeach
poem and the commentary on each poet gives adequate details about
his/her life and work. All selection is perception and this is a range
rather than a total picture that I have tried to reflect in choosing the
poets and poems.
One ofthe problems I encountered while compiling the anthology
is the scarcity ofreference material, especially on contemporary Indo-
Anglian poems. There are no full-length studies on most of the
contemporary poems included in this anthology. The interpretationsof
such poems are purely subjective. In the matter ofpunctuation, I have
adopted the system followed in earlier standard publications of the
poems.
Severalpeoplehavehelped mewithsuggestions inthecompilation
of this anthology. Foremost among them is my friend and colleague,
Mr. P. Raja, a poet in his own right who has given me several useful
hints aboutinterpretations ofsomeofthepoems. I am thankful tohim.
I gratefully acknowledge the help rendered by my wife, Seetha, in
preparing andtypingthe manuscript
K.R. Ramachandran Nair

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Theeditorand thepublishersgratefullyacknowledgepermissionto use
the followingpoemsin this anthology.
1. SriAurobindofor 'TheTigerand theDeer', 'TheBlueBird' and
*A Dream ofSurreal Science' from the Collected Poems ofSri
Aurobindo to SriAurobindo AshramTrust, Pondicherry.
2. Shiv K. Kumar for 'Indian Women1 and 'An Encounter With
Death' from Subterfuges to the author and the publishers, the
Oxford University Press, New Delhi, and for 'Epitaph on an
IndianPolitician' to the author.
3. Nissim Ezekiel for 'Background, Casually*, and 'The Railway
Clerk* from Hymns in Darkness and 'A Morning Walk',
'Enterprise* and 'Marriage' from Latter-Day Psalms to the
author and the publishers, the Oxford University Press, New
Delhi.
4. Jayanta Mahapatra for 'Thought of the Future* and 'The
Mountain* fromSelectedPoemstotheauthorand thepublishers,
the Oxford UniversityPress, New Delhi, and for 'The Bride* to
the author.
5. A.K. Ramanujan for The Striders*, 'OfMothers, among Other
Things', 'Still Another for Mother* and 'Snakes' from Selected
Poems to the author and the publishers, the Oxford University
New
Press, Delhi.
6. Kamala Das for 'A Hot Noon in Malabar', The Dance of the
Eunuchs', 'The Old Playhouse* and 'Death is so Mediocre* to
the author.
&
7. R. Parthasarathy for 'Exile - F, Trial - i ii' and 'Home-
coming-xiii' from Rough Passage to the author and the
publishers, theOxfordUniversity Press, New Delhi.
8. K.D. Katrakfor 'Woman on the Beach* and 'ColabaCauseway'
tothe author.
viii GatheredGrace
9. Keki N. Daruwalla for *Hawk* and 'Apothecary* from The
KeeperoftheDeadto the authorand thepublishers, theOxford
UniversityPress,NewDelhi,andforEasyandDifficultAnimals
to the author.
10. DomMoraesfor *SailingtoEngland* and 'AtSevenO'clock* to
the author.
11. Gieve Patel for 'On Killing a Tree* and 'Commerce* to the
author.
12. AdilJussawallafor'TheWaiters*and *ApproachingSantaCruz*
to the author.
13. GauriDeshpandefor *Lunch on theTrain* and 'Migraine* tothe
author.
14. PritishNandyfor 'CalcuttaIfyouMustExileMe* and *Love* to
the author.