My Voice

“Poets are always ready to talk about the difficulties of their art. I want to say something about its rewards and joys. The poem comes in the form of a blessing-“like rapture breaking on the mind,” as I tried to phrase it in my youth. Through the years I have found this gift of poetry to be life-sustaining, life-enhancing, and absolutely unpredictable. Does one live, therefore, for the sake of poetry? No, the reverse is true: poetry is for the sake of the life.”

–Stanley Kunitz, 1995

Pain and poetry have been interrelated for long time. Sometimes, these words are treated as synonyms. This is very true in Indian literature also. A famous line by the great romantic poet- Sumitranandan Pant goes – “the first song might have come out of a sigh”.

But, if we relate only pain with poetry, then a big part of our lives will be missing from poetry, because no human being can afford to live with pain all the time. As Stanley, the great poet of our time says- poetry is a gift, it is a light of life, which makes us blissful.
When Meera sang for Krishna, her soul was delighted; the pain of love became joyful.
Any pain when changed to a poetry or a song becomes joy or celebration.

 

Rati Saxena