* The chief characteristics and themes of post-independence Indian English Poetry are: o Extensive Experimentation e Divergence from the conventional modes of expression e Exercise of liberty in form, content and use of language unlike their predecessors who ‘expressed Indian themes in the Romantic and Victorian modes Themes include alienation and exile, the crisis of personal identity, cultural identity, childhood memories, familial relations and love; nostalgia for the past and cultural traditions constitute the themes of Indian Poets= Nissim Ezekiel * Dom Moraes: + Pal + Adi Jussawala + AK Ramanujan +R Parthasarthy * Giove Patel © Arvind Mehrotra * Prtish Nandy * Kamala Das + Arun Kolar * Jayanta Mahapatra* ‘Land's end’ , his first collection of poems was published in 1962 * Missing Persons’, his second book of poems in 1976. * He did not publish another collection for thirty five years; while he has been a prolific prose- writer too * “He writes complex poetry- ironic, fragmented, non-linear, formally strenuous-that evokes and indicts a dehumanised, spiritually sterile landscape, ravaged by contradiction, suspended in a perpetual state of catastrophe”* An Indian Jewish poet * A foundational figure in postcolonial India’s literary history esp. for poetry * At the age of 28 published his first collection of poetry, ‘A Time to Change’ (60 poems) * It became the turning point in postcolonial Indian Literature towards modernism * He uses highly evocative and suggestive symbols and images in his poetry * The women, the city and the nature are recurring images in his poetry * Other images include Hills, winds, skies, sun and rain* He had a particular liking for T S Eliot and Ezra Pound * He did not much care for verse in his own language * He believed that both craftsmanship and subject matter are equally important to a poem * He is of the view that best poets wait for words. He regards poem as an organic, integrated composition * The form, the structure, the words and phrases are important and of vital concern to him * Economical with language; he believed in clarity, economy and directnessHe has been adopting a conversational style The simplicity and conversational ease make his poetry memorable Use of colloquial idioms make his poems striking , simple, lucid , clear and expressive Obscurity is avoided by the poet ‘The Egoist's Prayers’ shows his poetic language at its best Humour, Irony and Wit is his forte. He has ridiculed the absurdities and follies of the Indian people and for this he uses humour and wit as his chief weapons His best poems have an indefinable pictorial quality. For instance ‘In India’ the poet has given vivid picture of Bombay* Dominic Francis Moraes, a Goan writer has authored 30 books in English language * His poems include ‘Absences’, ‘Spree’, ‘Rendezvous’, ‘The Garden’, ‘Key’, ‘Architecture * He distanced himself from canons and labels * When he showed his poems to W H Auden, the latter showered him with praises * He has also translated from Hebrew as he stayed in Israel for 4 years. His English translations of these poems were believed to be better than the originals * Some of the themes of his poem include guilt, estrangement, migrations, tussles with alcohol and his marriage and other loves. * His poems presents the common modernist idea but he was dissatisfied with his writings. In an interview he said, ‘ | regret that | didn't write any worthwhile poetry for so long.” * After ‘John Nobody’, Moraes gave up writing poetry for some time* Moraes’ later poetry shows sameness and change * The confessional not struck persistently earlier, continues to ring in his ne poems * Private memories form a favourite subject * ‘The Mother in “Letter to My Mother” is perhaps the speaker's mother and Mother India * His world-view never had room for social or political overtones * Another well-defined group of poems deals with figures from myth, legend, pre-history and history. Some of the monologues seem to have an ulterior significance for the poet * Sex of love in its raw physicality is dominant in poems like ‘Sea’, ‘Estuary’, ‘Naiad”* ‘Craston' , stands out as one of the most achieved of Moraes’ poems. This is an allegory of the poet and his art * Craxton is perhaps the artistic conscience of the Poet * 'Serendip’, contains the title poem, comprising eight sonnets with a Prologue and an Epilogue; two cycles of poems dealing with excavations; and a few shorter poems. ‘Serendip’, seems to be an attempt to cover the entire history of the island, from the first wild inhabitants to the ‘grenade-gun' culture of the modem ethnic conflict.* The main themes of his poetry are family, love, despair and death * Itis full of irony, humour, paradox and sudden reversals * Ramanujan's poetry, ' reflects a touch of humanity, Indian ethos and pertinence of life’. * Though he lived in America, he never forgot his mother and motherland * He always lived in the reminiscences of Indian Culture * ‘Indianness’ is not only a matter of diction and syntax but also of imagery, myth and legends* Sahitya akademi awards and Commonwealth prizes ‘Jejuri’, first collection of poem won him commonwealth prize in 1977 * His poetry reveals meaninglessness of life, loss of identity, revenge motif, superstitious attitude * Bilingual poet who wrote in Marathi and English * His poems are different in structure, themes and style * He is metaphysical, neutral, ironical and surrealistic poet with unique sensi * Some of his poems are ‘An Old Woman’, ‘The Bus’, ‘Chaitanya’, ‘Makarand’.* Sahitya Akademi Award Winner * Bilingual writer * She wrote poems in English. She once claimed, ‘Poetry does not sell in this country’ * Her six published volumes are’Summer in Calcutta’( 1965), The Descendants'(1967), The Old Playhouse and the Other Poems’(1973), ‘Collected poems (1984), Only the Soul Knows How to Sing: Selections from Kamala Das (1996) and Encountering Kamala (2007) * Primarily a confessional poet comparable to American poets Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath* Sahitya Akademi Award Winner * Bilingual writer * She wrote poems in English. She once claimed, ‘Poetry does not sell in this country’ * Her six published volumes are'Summer in Calcutta’( 1965), The Descendants'(1967), The Old Playhouse and the Other Poems’(1973), ‘Collected poems (1984), Only the Soul Knows How to Sing: Selections from Kamala Das (1996) and Encountering Kamala (2007) * Primarily a confessional poet comparable to American poets Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath* ‘On Killing a Tree’ is one of his most famous poem from his first collection of poems published in 1966 * Other poetical works include Poems, launched by Nissim Ezekiel * How do You Withstand, Body and Mirrored Miroring * The relationship between his landowning family and the tribal Warlis that worked in their estate was a common theme throughout his work* Sagari Chhabra * Seeme Qasim Arundhati Subramaniam * K Srilata * Vijaya Singh * Meena Kandasamy* With the turn of the century, a new sensibility emerges- The WW speaks more as a national/world citizen and less as an individual woman * Awareness of belonging to the marginalised community * Joining hands with other sub groups, who suffer at the hands of the powers * No more confessional-existential strain . No Propaganda * Exploratory in nature * New approach to old ideas. For instance idea of Love * Defining the self in relation to changing the cityscapes, objects and people* Self-aware, self-assured, confident, also self-critical ( evaluating one’s self and one's responses) * Sensitive voices registering protest against social intolerance * Humanism * The idea of home * Urbanity and consumerist lifestyle- the world of money taking over * Academics and Feminism* Arundhati Subramaniam ( b.1967): In her poem, 'S 46 Andheri Local’ * When | descend (the local train) | could choose to dice carrots or a lover, | postpone the latter”. Lover is considered one among the many mundane aspects of life such as carrots and local trains * Vijaya Singh (b. 1973): She writes, “ An Elegy of Love”.She asserts that the love experience demeans her like ‘this ballet performance/standing on the toes to reach one another’ this impossible feat of swirling on a single toe/ the weight of the entire body/ and not lose dignity, poise and beauty” © She finds the structure of love as oppressive as marriage* Both the poets are raising their voices against discrimination * ‘In Gujarat Again’ and ‘Closure’ Chhabra is seen raising her voice against discrimination. * Seema Qasim shares the predicament of being Indian Muslim in her poems titled, “ Indian Muslim” * Provincial identities, linguistic divisions, language being politicised debate * Seema talks about getting back the heritage, talks about fusion of diverse culture to build new bonds through food, customs, celebrations etc * To look at the common good of all rather than the differencesIndian poets and their mastery over the language and craft Fruitful cross-fertilisation of the English language with Indian-culture learnt to think and feel in English and transmute their felt-experience It cannot be dismissed as meaningless, unintelligent stuff of sentiments and emotions Innovations in form and content is visible Many of these writers have got international fame and acknowledgement of their craft by offering the commonwealth prize in literature Indian English poetry has also found its place in the syllabi of internationally repute universities