The Power Of The
Written Word: A Note On The Poetry
Of Stephen Gill
P.RAJA
Once a visitor from a far off
country walked into the durbar hall of Bahaudin Shah
and said: “Allow me to sit in your
durbar and let me listen to your lecture.
“Alas!” said Bahaudin,
“If you are not deaf, it is sad that I should have had to wait so long to
welcome you here. You see, I never give any lectures nowadays.”
The visitor expressed his curiosity to
know why.
Bhaudin said:
“Ever since a group of partially deaf people came to see me I have stopped
giving lectures. You want to know why! I said ‘Do not be like a dog or a
swine…’
After they left me they fell out disputing
as to whether I had said ‘Be a dog…’ or even ‘Eat swine’s flesh…’ With the
written word this is not possible. If you are blind, someone can always read
out to you.”
This anecdote illustrates the power of
the written word. There can be no substitute for writing. May be this is the
reason why Sir Francis Bacon, the Elizabethan essayist remarked thus: “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an
exact man…”
Down the history of the world, we have
come across orators, poets and writers. It is always the poets who ruled the
roost. We have heard of court poets. We have heard of poet laureates. But have
we heard of court writers or orators? Such was the coveted honour
given to poets for it is the genuine poets who speak from the heart and every
poem they write is a tête-à-tête to his reader. But it is the reader who out of
love for the genuine poets spreads the glory of the poets.
Plato might have been envious of the
creativity of poets when he spoke for the dismissal of poets from his Republic.
Cinna, the poet, might have been chased by the unruly
mob in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar all the time. shouting
‘Kill him for his bad verses’. Yet any number of instances can be quoted from
the classic Tamil literature regarding the affinity of the royalty and nobility
with the poets. The best example would be the hospitality and affection Mosi Keeranar, the poet, enjoyed
in the court of a Tamil king. The poet after a tedious journey was made to wait
in the court of the king when the latter was returning home after a victorious
battle. The tired poet found an unoccupied cot and slept on it. But he didn’t
in the least know that the cot was the seat of a huge war drum. The king came
home with fun and fanfare. But he was shocked to see someone sleeping on the
cot meant for the royal war drum. Without any second thought he pulled out his
sword and rushed towards the sleeper. The glow on the sleeping poet’s face
stopped him and he exclaimed: “Oh! It is our Mosi Keeranar, the poet.” He pushed his sword back into the
scabbard and asked for a handfan. The king began to
fan the poet so that the latter could sleep in peace. Such was the love the
kings had for the poets. They blessed the poets with honours
and made them live an undisturbed life so that they could write their verses
undisturbed.
What is it that makes the government
shower encomiums and honours on poets? It is the
poets’ social concern, their love for their country, their affection for their
fellow brethren and their sincerity to the work they do. His duty is to look
for many different kinds of meanings than the ones a man finds relevant in his
day to day life. He has to explore imaginatively forbidden areas and question
the codes which govern our day to day lives. He has to accept that fantasies
and dreams, which are denied reality in ordinary life. He has to be prepared in
his world of imagination to wallow in self-pity, commit all kinds of sins, and
constantly try to be somebody who he is not. It is this dual personality in every
poet that immortalizes the man who writes poetry.
Every poet is a creator. Every creator
is akin to God, the Great Creator. And it is this creativity that carves him a
niche in the mind and heart of the readers. Stephen Gill is a poet with as distinct
and personal a rhythm as theirs.
When Stephen Gill was honoured with the Laurel Leaf, inscribed Laureate Man of
Letters, at the 13th World Congress of Poets, held at the Pointe in Phoenix,
Arizona, USA, in August 1992, the President of the United Poets Laureate
International, Dr. Benjamin Yuzon, commended Gill for
his books, over twenty, connected with world peace in one way or the other and
also for his work with many organizations for global harmony. And in his cceptance speech Stephen Gill declared that he does not
write for medals and diplomas. He writes to share his feelings and experience
with others. His best reward is when he succeeds in imparting his message and
sharing his self with others.
It is this “sharing his self with others”,
that forms truly the hallmark of a poet. In his admirable poem titled “Song of
a New Canadian”, Stephen Gill writes:
My
in thy lap
lie all nations;
humans and beasts
melt into one
shape
in thy lap.
Thy land and
life
and springs,
thy summer and fall
and skies
and joyful birds
–
delight-giving sights –
breathe a new life
in me.
A nation so
great
diverse and brave
thy rivers and
lakes
wide and long
highways
reveal thy riches
to me.
My
Thy soul
a unique
temple
for every creed
for every breed.
My heart will
sing
always for thee;
my lips will
chant
night and day for
thee.
O
My well of
love
full for thee.
a
peace-adoring dove!
never my love
shall cease for
thee.
Even a cursory reading of this poem written
to commemorate the 125th birthday of
“In
While continuing to glorify
And now one can re-read the poem quoted
above in full. The background information may enhance one’s appreciation and
enjoyment of the poem. It was only in Canada Stephen Gill found hope in the
truth that revenge does not help anyone and that violence has never solved
problems in human history. Since he found out that the sharks of discrimination
are everywhere, he began to write and give talks to tear the mask of ignorance
and to promote non-violence. The thought of cruelty of humans always remained
in his mind like his own shadow. The more he thought of it, the more he became
obsessed to write about it. It is this obsession that served as midwife for the
birth of his poems.
In fact, it was
Today
I want to be
me;
I wish to
sing my own song!
I want to say
something about
myself.
Let me live
some of my own
life—
the life of
silent pains.
I want to ask
how I am.
Let me find
me –
my smiles
my own hurts.
Today
Let me emerge
alone
and look into
me.
In the fire
of self
let me radiate.
Other lyrics
are also good,
but today
I want to
hear me…
It is this freedom to be himself that gives
the poet in Stephen Gill a free mind and thereby a free expression. He being an
apostle, wants his poetry to be understood. Like the
eminent Tamil bard Mahakavi Subramania
Bharati, Dr.Stephen Gill
too writes in a simple language so that he could drive his thoughts home.
Simple, sensuous, appealing and alluring are some of the adjectives one can use
in the appreciation of his poetry.
Stephen Gill believes in unconditional
love and global peace through a democratically elected world government. He is
certainly a citizen of the world, a trait that is obvious from his poems.
To wind up one can do no better than
quote in full the very first poem titled “Poet’s Prayer” from his lovely
collection Songs for Harmony (1993) that sums up in a few lines his
poetic credo:
O Master:
Raise the
crops of my pen
into nutrients.
Water them
from the sacred font
to sustain
their freshness
and vitality;
the combination
of all heavenly
hues.
Let them be
food for thought
for every
reader.
Refine them
in Your smithy
To turn into
distinguished objects
for the cultured
court of critics.
Display in
them
Your will;
fuse them with
Your beauty.
Strengthen
them with manna;
array them like
the rainbow.
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P.RAJA is in the Department of English,
books in English and 7 books in Tamil. One of his
books A Concise History of
best seller list. He is presently working on a
five volume Encyclopedia of Pondicherry