As the title of the work suggests, it is an attempt to give some fresh expositions of similarities and dissimilarities in the works of Vidyapati and British Poets. We know that Vidyapati was a kind of poet who has written poems on various subjects but in this chapter I shall focus on the love poems written by Vidyapati and some British Poets. Love is a subject which has been talked about by different poets in different ages. In the works of Vidyapati we can see Indian moral thoughts which are hard to find in British Poets. Love is a kind of emotion which is very private in nature and it has always been associated with morality. There are also some problems with the concepts of morality because what is considered immoral in one society can be considered as moral in other society. This is one of the major reasons that some poets flourished well in their age because they wrote according to the demand of time. Plato always considered poets unfit for the society especially love poets. According to him these poets were very far away from the reality. He was of the view that poets were imitating nature and imitation cannot be a reality. By reading love poems the young generation or the coming generation can become weaker and weaker. There are no any places left in the society for the weaker emotions. Thus love poets as well as the love poems were not approved by him. Later on the concept of Plato was not approved and it was realized that imitation was not always bad but it can be fruitful also. In the works of Vidyapati and almost all the British Poets we can see that the different sources of nature have been imitated. Vidyapati has several collections of poetry credited to his name and few important ones are Nachari, Preeti Prasang, Vipralabdha, virah vedna and many others. In these collections we can find different elements of love and devotion coming together. In Virahvedna the loneliness of a lover and his beloved has been talked about. Both the lover and the beloved are separated and this separation is providing them a kind of pain which is very hard to express. The beloved longs for her lover and sings various songs but the lover cannot respond back because he is very far away from her. Such kind of poems has also been written by various British Poets especially the Romantic writers. The collections like Vipralabdha is also very precious because here we can find the most valued philosophies of the poet. He was a kind of poet who was considered as an artistic genius. His poems are easy to understand because most of them are related to basic human existence and love. It has already been said that Vidyapati wrote in Maithili language which is most prevalent in North Bihar of India. He has also been claimed as a Bengali writer by different scholars because there are similarities between Maithili and Bengali. His songs of Krishna and Radha are very popular and it has crossed several boundaries. It is one of the prime reasons that his poems have been translated in different languages. Even Rabindra Nath Tagore has tried to copy the style of Vidyapati in his writings. Sri Aurobindo has translated the poems of Vidyapati in English after returning from England. In one of the songs of Vidyapati translated by Sri Aurobindo we can see the creativity of t5he poet. The lines of the song are as follows-
“Playing she plays not, so newly shy,
She may not brook the passing eye.
Looking she looks not lest surmise
Laugh from her own girl – comrades’ eyes.
Hearken ,o hearken, Madhav to me.
Just is the case I bring to thee.
Radha today these eyes beheld;
A maid she is unparalleled…”1
The above lines clearly say that Vidyapati was really a great poet who was able to think something very different from his contemporaries. He successfully pictured the image of a girl who is very beautiful and her friends are referred as her comrades. Such kind of writings can be seen in the poets who tried to follow the Petrarchan style of writing. In Petrarchan sonnets we have seen that the beloved was considered as very beautiful who can never be paralleled by any other maid. It was also the spirit of Renaissance Poets who usually wrote in such a fashion. In describing the beauty of a girl or the beloved there is an extended use of simile and metaphor. Sometimes the beloved is compared to the moon or the redness of her lip is compared with the red flowers like Rose. In the above poem the gaze of the girl has been beautifully presented by the poet. She is playing yet not playing or we can say she is watching or yet not watching. Only her lover can understand the language of her eyes which is presented through her friends who have been referred as comrades. Such kind of writings can also be seen in the poets of Elizabethan Period. Edmund Spenser has written Amoretti in the Sixteenth Century. In this poem his courtship with Elizabeth Boyle has been described. It is a sonnet cycle which describes the pangs of a lover. This kind of Poetry has been introduced in England by Sir Thomas Wyatt who has borrowed it from France. Amoretti was criticized by several critics and scholars but it has some good qualities also. In comparison to Amoretti his Epithalamion was praised more. It was written for his bride and it was a kind of marriage song. It is very interesting to see that Vidyapati has also written marriage songs. The songs written by Vidyapati and Spenser differ in tone. In Spenser we can find that the groom is impatient as it seems to him that the time is not passing but it has ceased itself. The lover is fastened and he is unable to control himself. The poet has tried to write about the anxiousness of the lover and he is unable to wait for the marriage rituals. It looks so realistic as if it is happening in the real life of a lover. The common element between these two poets is sensuality. Vidyapati focused more on the beauty of the beloved and writes-
“Ah, who has built this girl of nectarous face?
Ah, who this matchless, beauteous dove?
An omen and a bounteous boon of love,
A garland of triumphant grace 2.”
The above lines clearly hint about the poet’s approach to beauty. He is trying to thank the almighty who has made such a beautiful maid. Spenser too writes about the beauty of the girl but his creation is full of unusual images and symbols. Such kind of comparison is missing in the poets like William Shakespeare. He is a kind of poet who hardly writes about female beauty. He is concerned more about the male beauty. In his poems we can find several unusual things. There is a kind of conflict between ethical inhibitions and love in his sonnets. The conflict can be seen only in few poems of Shakespeare and thus it is not applicable to all of his sonnets. When I say that there is a conflict between ethical inhibitions and love I mean to say that there is a kind of constraint or hurdle in his concept of love. The hurdle has been created by the social code of conduct which is associated with morality. The society is not ready to accept such kind of relationships. Although the society is changing in modern times but it needs a lot of courage to understand the clear distinction between morality and immorality. Such a kind of relationship is not considered as natural as it is developed by an insight which is considered as a kind of disorder. This disorder leads to homosexuality which is considered as immoral in society. When a person violates the code of conduct of any society then he becomes a kind of subject who will have to experience the pangs of his own society. It generally happens because of the desire of a man or a woman who often go against the moral order. In case of va sensitive person this kind of experience is very painful. People who are generally unscrupulous or whose mind has been hardened by his own thought, violate this code of conduct. They take decisions directly from their heart and never think that it can be a punishable offense. It is also correct that it happens only with a few people because majority of persons take decisions from their mind. There is always a sense of dualism between reason and passion, mind and heart, body and soul. In these cases most of the times a sensitive person fails to decide that what is right and what is wrong. William Shakespeare is a kind of poet who often admires his male friend in his poems. Critics and several scholars have charged him with unnatural perception of love. He is often talked and discussed by scholars that what can be the type of relationship between a man and other man? Is it natural or unnatural? It is a kind of sexual attachment and the poet has himself accepted that he longs for his friend. In sonnet number Eighteen he writes –
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”3
Above lines clearly says that how deeply the poet loves his friend. We are not sure that this kind of love is a kind of homosexuality but critics and several scholars have charged Shakespeare for this. The beauty of the friend of Shakespeare is lovelier than the summer’s day. The poet has idealized or glorified his relationship with his friend. Generally we have seen that in a relationship a lover praises his beloved but here who is the lover and who is the beloved is not known. It is not normal as the poet has idealized his concept of love. He is very brave because he has brought forward the hidden relationships of a private life into the public. It needs a lot of courage because in a civilized society there are so many things which are occurring and we are totally unknown to such kind of changes. Shakespeare says that he has committed certain faults with his friend. He and his friend both of them are sinners and he is feeling guilty for such faults, but he finds himself helpless. In his poems the language is easy to understand but same language also speaks that the poet is biased and he is trying to defend his friend. They both are sinners which he himself has accepted but he finds himself responsible for it. Both are sinners because both are sensual. It might also reflect that both of them have sexual affairs with different kind of women. Shakespeare wants that his friend must be excused because he loves him. Some sonnets also convey the message that he wants his friend not to be excused because if he is to be punished then he wants his friend to accompany him. Even in hell he does not want to be separated from his friend. If he gets the company of his friend in hell then that hell will also become a kind of heaven. It reflects the fact that Shakespeare is a kind of person who is scared of loneliness and he does not want to be left alone. He hates rejection in life. In Sonnet number thirty six the poet writes that-
“let me confess that we two must be twain,
Although our undivided loves are one:
So shall those blots that do with me remain,
Without thy help, by me be borne alone.
In our two loves there is but one respect,
though in our lives a separable spite,
which though it alter not love’s sole effect….”4
The poet feels that there is a kind of rift between him and his lovely friend. At the same moment he also understands that he cannot live happily without his friend. They both are inseparable. His friend is the Earl of Southampton and for the rift between him and his friend he blames himself. Shakespeare has a different perspective to think and analyze the situations in which he is trapped with his friend. He finds himself guiltier than his friend although they both are equally guilty of the sin which they have committed altogether. I have given a detailed description of Shakespeare and his friend because such kind of things has also been written by poets like Vidyapati. He also talks about male bonding. There are references to poems in which he has written about his patron whom he treated as a close friend. There are few critics and scholars who have also charged Vidyapati for having a healthy relationship with his friend. We have seen in the part of Introduction that Vidyapati was closely associated with the rulers of Oinwar dynasty. He was also inspired by the courtly culture of the dynasty. Maharaj Shiv Singh was a close friend of the poet and he was always favored by the king. The poet was only two years older than the king. There are several instances that both of them shared good time with each other. Vidyapati has written numerous poems for his friend and his queen Lakhima Devi. Maharaj Shiv Singh was one of the greatest admirers of Vidyapati. There is an instance when the Sultan of Delhi has captivated Shiv Singh when he was a prince. Vidyapati became restless after getting this news that his friend has been captivated by the Sultan of Delhi. He himself went to Delhi and tried to persuade the Sultan of Delhi to release his friend from the prison. Sultan was amazed to see that Vidyapati was not a soldier or fighter who has come to challenge him but a poet. He was greatly moved by this poet and after taking test of his poetry he himself became one of the greatest admirers of Vidyapati. This was the greatness of this poet and Shiv Singh was released immediately. This kind of friendship is not equal to the friendship of William Shakespeare and his friend. This is the greatness of love that there cannot be any comparison of love. Nobody can compare two true lovers and friends and say that someone is the best while other is worst. We are reminded that once Shakespeare has accepted that he and his friend both are sinners but he his guiltier than his friend. He wants to safeguard the dignity of his friend as if it is his own dignity. Maharaj Shiv Singh and Vidyapati are also good friends and they are also not separable. Thus we can see that Vidyapati was a great poet as well as a great friend who always trusted on his friendship. Shakespeare and Vidyapati are the two poets of different genres who were admired and respected in two different ages. Both of them have written on male bonding and love. Their poems are not easy to compare because both of them write in different styles. The themes, motifs and symbols can be similar but the style of writing is totally different. Vidyapati is platonic as well as an admirer of physical form of beauty whereas Shakespeare is more realistic. His philosophy of love is rarely found in any society. Readers can find similarities as well as differences between these two poets. Comparisons between these two poets are very remarkable. The concept of beauty is also different for Shakespeare and in sonnet number one hundred and thirty he says –
“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roes see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is their more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks…”5
The above lines reflect the reality that the poet is not going to give us false comparisons. There are several other things which are more beautiful than the beloved of the poet. The breasts of the beloved are not white but dun-colored and her hairs are like black wires. Shakespeare is a kind of poet who is giving us the true image of his beloved. We have seen that during the courtly love culture a beloved was compared with several beautiful images like roses and moon. The lover always tried to follow his beloved because she was considered more superior than the lover in terms of beauty and virtue. Vidyapati has also written about the similar kind of beauty and he has tried to establish the notion that feminine beauty is superior then masculine beauty. In fact beauty is a term which can be applied only to a female. Thus we can see that5 Shakespeare breaks all the code of conduct related to feminine beauty. He is not feeling ashamed in disclosing the fact that his beloved is not so beautiful. In spite of this he is not going to stop loving her. He has no fake commitments. He considers his friend the Earl of Southampton far more beautiful than his beloved. Shakespeare successfully establishes the notion that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty is a term which is very personal and subjective in nature. What is beautiful for vidyapati can not be equally beautiful for Shakespeare or the vice-versa. There are no personal grudges because both of them are not contemporary. Such kind of things can also be seen in the Romantic Poets like John Keats, Shelley, and Byron. Wordsworth is a little bit different poet for other Romantic Poets because he writes in a more splendid way. In the Poems of Vidyapati we can see and feel beauty in the form of desire. One of the main subjects of the Romantic Poet is nature. Vidyapati has also written about various forms of nature. Linguistically these poets are different but in appeal of senses there is a kind of similarity. Scholars have argued that Vidyapati is far more superior to the Romantic Poets because he has written more deeply on natural objects. He compares the beauty of a lady to the beauty of the nature. Even his devotional songs are beauteous because there also we can find the fragrance of nature. The linguistic approach of a poet can be termed as scientific because a poet tries to choose the correct words for correct emotions in his poems. On the other hand the mythical approach of writing poetry is not scientific but it is a kind of humanist approach. R.H.Robins has said that –
“A field where in linguistics and Psychology meets at the borders of their respective domains through chains of casual connections within human brains linking experiences with writing and reading….this inter-disciplinary study is called Psycho-linguistics.”6
The present work or chapter is entitled Vidyapati and British Poets and thus a comparison is needed to be established which is cross-cultural. These are linguistic differences between Vidyapati and British Poets. The theme and motif can be similar but the tone and diction depends upon the language which is wide spread. Vidyapati is more respected and followed in Mithila whereas British Poets are widely read and circulated. It does not mean that Vidyapati is not expressive. The problem lies in the translation literature. We cannot find the correct mood and expression of any poem if it is translated. In spite of all these hurdles the present work is a kind of attempt to draw a correct comparison between Vidyapati and British Poets. It is very interesting to compare the use of images and symbols in different cultures and geographical boundaries. To extract meaning from a meaning is not an easy task. British Poets have used images and symbols which are more expressive but Vidyapati has used images and symbols which are highly decorated. This kind of decoration of images in a particular form of poem is not usually seen in any British Poet. There are numerous references in almost all the lines of poems written by Vidyapati Thakur. C.k.Ogden and I.A.Richards have written in The Meaning of Meaning that symbolism is a kind of study of human affairs and it is said-
“Symbolism is the study of the part played inhuman affairs by language and symbols of all kinds, and especially of their influence on thought. It singles out for special inquiry the ways in which symbols help us and hinder us in reflection on things … the direct relation of symbols records events and communicate facts … words…mean nothing by themselves… between a thought and a symbol causal relations hold. When we speak , the symbolism we employ is caused partly by the reference we are making and partly by social and psychological factors, the purpose for which we are making the reference, the proposed effect of our symbols on other persons, and our own attitude. When we hear what is said, the symbols both cause us to perform an act of reference and to assume an attitude which will according to circumstances, be more or less similar to the act and the attitude of the speaker…”7
If we analyze the poems of Vidyapati and Spenser as well as Shakespeare on the basis of their symbolism we can find that they differ at certain levels. They use symbols of all kinds but all these poets are selective in nature. In the poems of Shakespeare facts are communicated through symbols and images. In the poems of Vidyapati images and symbols are nurtured so well that it can directly influence our senses. In the poems of Spenser images and symbols convey a very beautiful atmosphere of both despair and delight. His marriage song looks so fresh that still today it looks new and fair. There is a proper relationship established between a thought and a symbol in the poems of Spenser, Vidyapati, Shakespeare and some other poets belonging to the Elizabethan age. In the Romantic period poets like Shelley, Keats and Byron uses a different kind of symbols where we can hardly find any inter connected ideas. Poems of Wordsworth, Coleridge can be personal as in their poems we can see some personal moments of despair. Even John Keats talks about different form of symbols and ideas which are associated with loss and sufferings. We have drawn certain parallel images of male bonding between Vidyapati and Shakespeare but there are certain differences too. In Vidyapati we can see certain glimpse of Indian tradition. This tradition gives an integrated and holistic approach towards Purusa or manliness. This approach stresses over a fact that Purusa and the society is related intrinsically. This society has a pre established notion which is known as the code of conduct. A man is bounded by certain rules and regulations in the society. There are different rules for a male as well a female. The male is not supposed to adopt the rules made for the female and it is equally applicable to the female also. From here the problems related to sex and gender starts. Sex is determined biologically whereas gender is constructed through the society. Both sex and gender are not equal but they are two different things. In every individual both masculine as well as feminine parts are present. Thus all of us are in parts masculine as well as feminine. It is not tough to understand but it depends upon the situation. The feminine aspect related to any person makes him soft and creative whereas the masculine parts make him tough to cope with the adverse situations of life. There are some hard times when a female is compelled to act like a male. In our Indian society there are a lot of examples for it as for example the queen of Jhansi, Rosalind in As You like It written by William Shakespeare can be a best example in English literature. Such acts are considered as heroic if performed by a female because in a patriarchal society a female is considered as weak and if she performs such acts of bravery then it is considered as heroic. The situation becomes very opposite when it happens with a man he is not expected to behave like a female. In war when a prince tried to cry like a female because he cannot see the violence and turbulence all around then it was declared that the prince is unfit for kingship. It was the harsh reality a man is supposed to be stronger than a woman so that he can safeguard the weaker section of the society. Similar is the case with Shakespeare. He is supposed to write about love affair between a man and a woman and it is considered normal in any society. Sexual relationship between a man and a woman is natural and normal and the society is ready to accept it because it has not been challenged. Relationship between a man and other man is unnatural. It is interesting to see that in such relationship someone plays the role of a lover whereas the other plays the role of a beloved. So in such unnatural relationship and affair the role play of the lover and the beloved is natural but the balance of the society is at stake. It is because of this balance such relationship is dangerous in nature so it is not accepted by the society. However in modern times people are trying to understand such situations so that the relationship can be legalized. In several societies it is considered as a sin and thus such practices must be stopped. If such a kind of relationship spreads widely and regularly then it can be a threat to the society. These approaches are logically correct but love is considered something which is not rational. It needs a heart to bestow love and it is one of the reasons that there is a continuous war between mind and the heart. Mind says something whereas the heart says some thing else opposite to the mind. Reason and passion are the two different poles which can never be united. They run parallel to each other. Love has a logic which can be understood only by a genuine lover. The understanding of the subject of love is also associated with cultural studies. In A Handbook of Literary Terms written by M.H.Abrams and Geoffrey Galt Harpham it is disclosed that-
“cultural studies designates a recent and rapidly growing cross-disciplinary enterprise for analyzing the conditions that affect the production, reception and cultural significance of all types of institutions, practices and products; among these, literature is accounted as merely one of many forms of cultural practices. A chief concern is to specify the functioning of the social, economic and political forces and power structures that are said to produce the diverse forms of cultural phenomena and to endow them with their social meanings….”8
The above lines clearly reveal that cultural study is a cross-disciplinary enterprise. The present chapter Vidyapati and British Poets is also inter-disciplinary which has a direct link to the cultural studies. We can see a clear glimpse of Indian society in the poems of Vidyapati. In every society there are certain similarities and in the subject like love traditions there are a lot of similarities between the poems of Vidyapati and some British poets. We have already seen male bonding and cross cultural love affairs which are capable to change any society. This change can be positive as well as negative but with the advancement of time the concept of a modern man and a modern society has also changed drastically. In Puruspariksha Vidyapati has written about the behavior of a man which a society expects from him. One of the most prominent objectives of purusa is kama which means love. In purusa there is an endowment of Rasa or emotion. It is a kind of feeling which is permanent. The purusa who is also a person who has been affected by sentiments can be of different types and the most divine form of purusa is of a lover. It is interesting to see that Vidyapati has classified such form of purusa into five different categories. First one is “anukula”9 who is a faithful lover. His love for his beloved is genuine. This kind of lover is virtuous but impatient we can say that he is a one woman man who loves only his wife. He cannot think any relationship beyond his marriage and thus any extramarital relationship is a kind of sin for such lovers. This is one of the reasons that he is virtuous and accomplished. His love for his wife is emotional as well as physical thus it is like bliss both for the lover and his wife. He also shows respect for his beloved because he loves her more than his own life. He cares for a lot and if time will decay her beauty then also he is not going to stop loving her. It has mentioned that he loves her physically as well as emotionally so if her physical beauty will be withered away by any means then also he will stand for her forever. This kind of relationship is rarely seen and it is considered as pure and divine. Thus his love is ageless and he is a kind of lover whose love can be felt by a beloved “in wealth, in tribulation, or even in death ne’er deserted she her lord. It is due to virtuous acts done in some former birth that a husband’s love for such a wife is born.”10 such kind of lovers can also be seen in British Poems. There are few poets like Spenser who has written poems on true love and “marriage”11 we have already studied about Petrarchan Sonnets where a lover is supposed to be a true lover and he blindly follows his beloved. Such kind of courtly love can be seen in Vidyapati when he talks about “Daksina”12 who is a courteous lover. In spite of a wife he has an affair with other woman. It is noteworthy to find that he presents his faithfulness to both his wife as well as his mistress whom he loves a lot. The character of this lover is doubtful yet he has been kept under the category of a real purusa. He is not a trustworthy lover as compared to the previous lover yet his features are praiseworthy because he is chivalric in nature. He has valor, intelligence and zeal contented within him. He is chief of the army and he has potential to handle any situation. He can die for his fellowmen. Such kind of poetry can be seen in chivalric romances. During the Restoration period such kinds of lovers were in fashion and culture. Sword and affair was considered as a matter of pride. In Indian culture as well as the English culture it was considered as a subject of immorality. Vidyapati has talked about such kind of lovers but he has stressed more on the morality which is necessary for any society to flourish. The only thing which is positive about such kind of lovers is their promise and valor. They can die for their promises and it has been witnessed that such lovers often fail because it becomes very tough to maintain a rhythmic balance between a wife and a mistress. Vidyapati terms a discerning lover as “Vidagdha”.13 He is an expert in the art of love making and it seems that he is born to love. By noticing such a lover readers are bound to think about the sanctity of love where a professional lover is credible enough to be kept under the category of purusa. Vidyapati’s meaning of purusa is not so easy to understand. It is a fact that such lovers are present in each and every strata of the society. Numerous poems have been written about their characteristic features. In Vidyapati and British Poets there are several things to notice but the present research work is based upon the love traditions so we should try to follow only the love traditions which are present in Vidyapati and various British Poets. It is not necessary to unfold every sections of the poem in detail but the necessary topics must not be left behind. Vidyapati has also talked about a cozening rake that he terms as dhurta. He cannot love any woman and it is also true that no woman can love him but if any affair starts between the two then it will be merely an aye wash. It will not be permanent and it will end soon. Thus we can see that Vidyapati was a poetic genius who left his contemporaries very far behind in every aspects. In reading the character sketch of a ghasmara14 Vidyapati has successfully mentioned his nature. He is an infatuated lover who is witty but captive of his own sexual desires. He is so much infatuated in love that he forgets all other duties which needs to be performed essentially. He is not successful in love and he is betrayed by his own wife who ditches him for some jewels and pearls. This is so ill fated that the lover ruins his own life. Although there are some poets in English who have written about infatuation but they have not given such a kind of detailed description where a lover ruins his own life in search of true love. There are some similarities between Vidyapati and metaphysical poets. There are poets like John Donne, Matthew Arnold and others who have written on love and there concept of love is physical as well as spiritual. Sexual and physical love is essential for spiritual gratification. John Donne advocates such a kind of relationship between a lover and his beloved where spirituality can be gained through sexuality. Sensuality is also related to Vidyapati and in his poems we can find detailed description of female beauty. John Donne is a great poet but even he cannot match the sensuality of Vidyapati. The technique of John Donne arises from his understanding of the ecstasy. In art of making love it is not only the physical body of the lover and the beloved which gets united but even the souls are united. Vidyapati has said that love is so divine that we cannot separate the lover from his beloved. If the lover is separated from his beloved than he imagines that his separation is only of the body not of the soul. Body as well as the soul plays an active role in love. Sexual relationship provides a way to find the soul entrapped in another soul which is very divine. Thus divinity is a mental status which can be felt only through the body. Vidyapati as well as John Donne both of them have tried to make us understand that divinity and spirituality is not present outside the body but their way passes through the body. We cannot deny that they are right or wrong but we can expect a deeper and concrete idea of love by such a great poets. There are so many images and symbols which are used by love poets in their poems. These symbols and images are not erotic but adventurous. In Amoretti the context of the poem is as distinctive as the use of imagery. The technique used is allegorical in style. The exaggeration is calculated and the images used are emblematic. Such kinds of images are also present in the love poems of Vidyapati. There are several “myths”15created by Spenser in his poems. These myths are not simply an imagination based on real stories because they are self created and it can also be seen in Romantic writers. The Romantic writers combine the compactness of truth and imagination in such a way that it seems they have been inspired by any divine insight. For such a kind of insight Coleridge praises Wordsworth and says that-
“it was the union of deep feeling with profound thought; the fine balance of truth in observing, with the imaginative faculty in modifying the objects observed; and above all the original gift of spreading the tone, the atmosphere, and with it the depth and height of the ideal world around forms, incidents, and situations, of which, for the common view, custom had bedimmed all the luster, had dried up the sparkle and the dew drops.” 16
Thus it becomes clear that romantic writers always cared for spirit. They were concerned with the things of nature and they used their insight and imagination in understanding and presenting beautiful poems. It was a kind of quest or search for the world which was still unseen. Those emotions and inspirations were fresh and new and it was not general in appeal. For such a kind of emotion William Blake has said that art is superior in nature but it deals with general truths. It is a kind of imagination which uncovers the real things. It will become clearer from the following lines-
“To see a world in a Grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity is an hour.”17
This kind of eternity is transcendental in nature. It is an insight of an inspiration which has been evoked out of the imagination. Such an imagination is very special. Thus finally we can say that Vidyapati and British Poets have written a lot of love poems and if we read the poems of Vidyapati then we will find that he is the real master of love poems who has written varieties of love poems.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
- Aurobindo, sri , songs of Vidyapati, Sri Aurobindo Ashram publishers, Pondicherry,1956.p.19
- Ibid.p.28
- www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18detail.html
- www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet/36
- www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/130detail.html
- R.H.Robins:General Linguistic, Longman Publishers, London,1971.p.371
- C.K.Ogden&I.A.Richards:The Meaning of Meaning, Trubner and Co. Ltd.London,1943.p.9
- Abrams,M.H,A Handbook of Literary Terms, Boston: Wadsworth,2009.p.64
- Grierson,G.A,The Test of A Man,The Royal Asiatic Society,London,1935.p.150
- Marriage here means the songs of marriage written by Spenser
- Special kind of lover mentioned in Puruspariksha written by Vidyapati
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- An admirable account of Spenser’s treatment of allegorical myths is given in C.S.Lewis’s The Allegory of Love, Chapter 7
- https://books.google.co.in/books?isbn=0691018618
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43650/auguries-of-innocence
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