BLESSING

Analysis by Jaclyn Tan, Ryan Loh & Nikk Johari

The poem 'Blessing by Imtiaz Dharker is presumably set in a village in Pakistan, given the
poets background. It describes a culture different from our own set in a third world country,
where famine and droughts are commonplace and the scarcity of water is already thought to
be a norm. The title of the poem itself emphasizes how precious water is to people, that every
drop of water we get is like a blessing from god. This is a descriptive poem, in which a wide
range of poetic devices are used to create visual imagery and sounds to enhance the readers
imagination and to give a better idea on the poems underlying ideas. Blessing is a poem
which creates a lively and jubilant scene, albeit on furthur analysis, portrays a worrisome and
distressing setting. Beneath the ostensible good fortune of the scene are largely upsetting
truths about the poverty and the religious expression of the people in the pitiful third world
countries. According to online resources, Imtiaz Dharker had firsthand experience of living in
Pakistan during the dry season and she witnessed the peoples suffering with her own eyes.
In terms of graphology, Imtiaz Dharker uses a purposeful structure to give the poem strength,
thereby conveying the poem's underlying ideas effectively. This is evinced when she
deliberately uses four stanzas of varied lengths. The first two stanzas are relatively short and
is used to connote the lack of water. These are contrasted with the much longer 3
rd
and 4
th

stanzas where the villagers finally get a sudden rush of fortune when the municipal pipe
bursts. This is also linked to the fact that she uses short and long sentences to reflect the
villagers emotions. Short sentences such as Skin cracks like a pod. There is never enough
water. suggests that the villagers are thirsty and feel overwhelmingly parched, unable to
speak in long continuous sentences. This can be contrasted with sentences in stanza 3 (The
municipal pipe bursts, silver crashes to the ground and the flow has found a roar of tongues),
giving a connotation that once these villages have received water, they are revitalized and
excited. The effect that the poet has created is achieved by the use of enjambment and long
flowing sentences conjuring the idea of the continuous stream of water, which is contrasted
with the extensive use of full stops in the beginning of the poem. As each part of the poem
has different lengths, it creates a wavy pattern which can be correlated with the drops of
water dripping out from the pipe.
In linguistics, a semantic field is a set of words grouped by meaning referring to a specific
subject. In the poem Blessing, a number of words and phrases either directly or indirectly
refer to the multiple but related meanings of blessing. The deprivation of water in the
poverty-stricken village set in Pakistan, as well as the degree of desperation, is clearly seen in
this poem. In the second stanza, the phrase imagine the drip of it expresses the villagers
eagerness for water. It suggests that these people are so desperate for water to the point that
their superstitions are getting the better of them as they compare the echo in the tin mug to
the voice of a kindly god. This clearly shows how the villagers believe that water, which is
very rarely received in the impoverished village, is a god-gifted blessing to the land without
hope. This gives us an allusion that people in regions deprived of portable water view the
advent of such a privilege as a kindly act of god and answer to their prayers. In the third

stanza however, the first line describes something unforeseen. The bursting of a municipal
pipe (possibly the towns main water supply) is an incredibly joyous and thrilling occasion
for the villagers as they frantically rush to help themselves to the water. In the line the
sudden rush of fortune, the poet uses a metaphor to compare water with fortune. This further
accentuates the scarcity, as well as essentiality, of water in the village. In this case, the
unexpected supply of water can be seen as good luck, which again can be said as a form of
blessing. There also is an emphasis on the word sudden, which corroborates with the idea
on how abrupt the blessing comes.
The way in which the poet draws a parallel between financial wealth and the water is very
witty. The rushing of water, shimmering in the sun, shines like silver. Notice how silver is
used to describe water, in contrast with brass, aluminium and copper that are
traditionally much cheaper and less precious. Hence, frantic hands struggle and tussle just
to get a bit of this treasured liquid, as though water will make them rich.
The poet uses the word congregation (line 6 of the 3
rd
Stanza) to decribe the overwhelming
crowd at the municipal pipe when the there is water. The word congregation conventionally
refers to a group of people assembled for religious worship. Congregation suggests that the
gathering of people when the water arrives is a form of Holy Communion or a religious
event. Therefore, by using this word, it again highlights that water is constantly thought of as
a divine gift, or a blessing from the gods. A further evidence of this is in the line as the
blessing sings, i.e. a personification which is referring to the sound of water.
The poet uses phonology to complement the semantics in the poem, thereby allowing the
readers to construe the poem in a particular way. As mentioned earlier, the villagers
excitement at the sight of water can be seen in the length of the stanzas. In addition, the lack
of punctuation in every man woman child highlights the revitalization of the villagers as
the reader probably reads that phrase at a faster pace. The sentences between stanza 3 and 4
are asyndetic and this could symbolize the flow of water as it is continuous and flows into the
brass, copper, aluminium containers. As seen in frantic hands, and naked children, there
is undoubtedly a theme of continuality, giving an allusion to the reader that water, as of that
rare gleaming moment when it is bestowed upon them, is unceasing.
The author makes use of sound patterning devices such as alliteration to emphasize the
scarcity of water, as well as the immediate reaction of the villagers, whose lips crack like a
pod. Alliteration, or sibilance for that matter, can be seen in small splash and flow has
found. The repetition of the soft s and f sounds draws attention to the scarce and precious
water, which contributes to the overall imagery of a parched land. An interesting point to note
is that these phrases are contrasted with the words that come after it (echo and roar), which
are commonly used to denote a loud sound. This ingenious way of contrast emphasizes the
barren land and the dire need for water. It is prayed for so desperately that a soft sound of
water in a tin mug is a huge blessing and also a blessing to their ears. The line silver
crashes, where silver gives a soft sound but crashes does not, can further support this.
Another use of alliteration is polished to perfection. Devices such as consonance were also
used as evinced in plasticFrantic. The tic sound is a sharp and short syllable, reflecting

the sense of urgency of the villagers and their immediate reaction to the burst of the
municipal pipe.
It is noticeable that the poet congregates the words rush, burst, crash, flow, roar together.
This could possibly be due to the fact that she wants to create an onomatopoeic effect. All
these sounds are used to describe the movement of water, be it into tin mugs, the ground, or
into the mouths of the villagers. It gives an allusion that water, at that present moment, is
abundant and the deluge of it creates a noisy and energetic setting among the villagers. End
Rhymes (around, found, ground) interestingly also eye rhymes - used in the work are
inconsistent, but they produce sounds that appeal to the readers senses. This enhances the
effluence between the lines.
The rhythm of the poem is also essential and helps to convey the underlying message of the
poem via audio means. Although there is no clear indication of a regular rhythm throughout
poem, the poet does make use of them at certain parts of her work. She uses monosyllables
the drip of it to build up the image of water. This sounds created by the monosyllables
could be the slow dripping of water, drop by drop, allowing the reader to formulate an image
in his/her mind. As the flow of water builds up, there might also be a rhythm at the end of the
3
rd
stanza, as if the words are read in staccato (pots, brass, copper, aluminium, plastic
buckets, frantic hands). All these reflect the chaotic situation at hand as well as the
atmosphere of excitement shared by every man woman child alike. The list of items
brought out by the villages also gives a sense of how desperate they are. Additionally, their
excitement, and eagerness reflects their joy as the goodness of god is in that tin mug.
In conclusion, the poet has brought this poem to life by the clever use of poetic devices in
terms of graphology, linguistics and phonology. Through these methods, Imtiaz Dharker has
exposed the harsh truth of the third world inhabitants, who are struggling to make ends meet
and to cope with the severe deprivation of water. She also conveys the emotions of the people
affected by this shortfall of water. Their sense of desperation and unfaltering joy at the sight
of water further corroborates with the state of the pitiable village portrayed in this context.
This just comes to shows how austere the economic and social gap is between developed and
underdeveloped nations.