HOPE IN THE POETRY OF STEPHEN GILL
BY
Dr. Shaleen Kumar Singh
“Hope” is the thing with feathers-
That perches in the soul-
And sings the tune without the words-
And never stops-at all-“ (
Undoubtedly, Hope is the thing which perches in the
soul of poets and usually seen in their outpourings empowering both the poets
and the readers. In fact, ‘Hope’ has been the last weapon of a poet who loses
all courage and zeal in his combat with toils, trails, troubles and
tribulations of everyday life. It is the spring of poets’ inspiration that ever
infuses vigour and zeal into their veins. Poets of
all ages who motivate the entire mankind are always surcharged with the energy
of hope and their poetic outpourings remain clad in the garb of new vigour, zeal and enthusiasm even in the darkest hour of
dejection, disappointment and despondency. To Emily Dickinson, ‘Hope’ is
something ‘that perches in soul/ and sings the tune without words’ but to
Stephen Gill it is a constant companion in the seasons of pains and pleasures
and it symbolically ‘sings lullabies/ in the morning’ and welcomes him ‘with a
flower of dreams.’ ‘The Maid of Hope’ remains with the poet day in and day out,
so he writes:
When I
collect
the beads of my thoughts
she scatters them
and when I am upset
she shows skies
through the window
of the future. (Shrine 147)
It is nothing but the silver lining of hope in the
abysmal darkness of uncertainty which drives the poet back on the shore of
liveliness and infuses new zeal into him as well as ‘emerges /as sun in the
void of solitude to dispel ‘the birds of depression.’ Stephen Gill’s poetry,
though a protest against the global terrorists, fanatics and the enemies of
peace; reaches sometimes the Nadir of
melancholy and gloom, yet it never deviates from its path of delivering a
universal message of peace and brotherhood because the poet remains hopeful
unto the last. He is well- aware of the thing called hope from the very
inception of his life when he ‘was growing up in
I have experienced their stings. I know what fear is
in the jungle of helplessness. I know what hope is when there is no hope. (Flame 26). Or, at another place when he seems
searching hope and finding it in poetry, he says:
To find hope
I traced, riches, education, faiths and many other things. I tried to see the
face of hope in political ideologies, including Marxism, Nazism and
Dictatorship….To take the root of fear out, I took a long and painful journey
of efforts. … Writing particularly poetry is one way to do that. Poetry is my
refuge and my helper to help others to be aware of the enemies of peace.”
(Flame 27)
Here, if we read between the lines, we will find that
the poet traced hope in riches, education and faith but later on found it in
the refuge of poetry or say, poetry became the treasure-trove of hope for
Stephen Gill at last. And if we look at his poetry objectively, we will find
hope has been cocoon that has woven the entire canvas of his poetry. Dr. George
Hines admits the presence of hope in many of his poems, so he says:
Many poems
express frustrations, sorrow, regret and despondency because of the present
state of man and the world, but other poems express hope in better future.”
(SGHW 90)
His comment is also worth quoting when he says:
Although the
poet shows keen awareness of man’s personal and global problems in his poems of
hope, he feels that they will be resolved, that life is always improving and
will be better in the future, and that a fresh dawn with an unclouded sky is
approaching. (SGHW 91)
The fascinating and mature talent of Stephen Gill
which is marked with optimism, hope, vigour, zeal,
enthusiasm, faith, reliance and assurance require comprehensive appraisal so
that the future poets and critics may know what poetry is and what poetry
should be. The vision of Gill is imbued with the hope for peace, hope for love,
hope for harmony and hope for a new and better world where naked dance of maniac
messiahs does not torment the humanity, ‘where waves snuggles sand/ and soul is
free, where the horns of life/ are not entangled in the bushes/ of the
zealots…/ where the cactus of shame/ does not mushroom/ and the evils birds of
the bloodshed/ do not defile the nest..’ ‘the dove flies without fear/ and the
lilies of justice blossom for all’, where the streams of youth/ do not cease
flowing/ and despair does not nail tents/over the greenery of the dreams’,
‘where love is not suffocated/ and twigs are not damaged/ by the trotting swarm
of savages…’ and ‘where creeds are not crushed/ and human Gods do feed/ the
vultures of war…’ (Flame 146)
His collection The
Flame is nothing but a realization- conscious or unconscious that ‘hope is
still alive under the sun’ and the last canto of the book gives plenty of
examples of hope after the symbolic story of Zeus, a Greek God who handed over a box ‘containing pain,
bloodshed, fear, economic strangulation to Pandora with a forbiddance to
opening it. But it was unfortunately opened by her and the contents of the box
called ‘pain, bloodshed, fear, economic strangulation, anguish and suffering
began to roam in the world,’ but again one can observe the following comment of
Gill when he relates this symbolic story and seems hopeful. All that was left
was hope. Eventually it was also let out of that box. Expression of hope is in
the last canto of The Flame. (Flame 24)
The Flame is the magnum
opus of peace. Although, it is the longest poem in English on modern
terrorism, it is also the most potent and sacred poetic offering to Goddess of
peace. The book mirrors the naked dance of maniac messiahs as to how these
openers of this Pandora’s box roam in the world in every shape to cause as much
destruction as possible’. He adds:
They go to
universities, do usual business, greet their neighbors, smile, shake hands, eat
and do everything as normal human beings. The next moment, they are seen
killing citizens with the rage of their guns and explosives, killing even
themselves. (Flame 24)
On the other hand, the book also propagates the
message of peace and non-violence in an equal potent manner when Gill says:
The eternal
flame knows no occupation, faith nor complexion and cannot be imprisoned within
human bonds. It has engulfed millions, whose names can be traced in every age
and land. This flame is known to engulf mortals even today, melting unknown
metals into one. (Flame 28)
Hope is really sprinkler of peace in the dark cloudy
nights and a potent vocalization of the eternal human value of peace. Again,
‘it is the binding force, for families, plants/every atom/ and every part of
every individual.’ The Flame is the light of hope in the
darkness of dejection. It provides solace in private agonies and binds people
together with the cord of unity. Here, hope has been creeping in a calm manner
throughout the poem and energizes constantly the poet even when he feels
entirely shattered and disappointed while sketching the picture of modern
terrorism. Despite all the dismal and ugly pictures of the present day world
hag-ridden by terrorism and violence, The
Flame has countless references where one can find Gill full of optimism,
hopes and vision of better tomorrow. Here the comment of Helen Bar-Lev, a
prominent poet and artist from
The Flame is
a poem of tenderness, incomprehension, longing, anger, hope, and sadness. It is
a poem which gives all the reasons for peace, and also the reasons we do not
have it. Were there more Stephen Gills in this world.
(Bar-Lev 5)
The poet seems brimming with optimism when he forbids
to: ‘Let the arrows of despair’ hurt him and challenges ‘if/The
clouds, the hills/And the waterfalls’/mock his attempts,’ he will react in a
different manner:
I shall
catch
glimpses of your elegance
In the glow
of the candles
within the temple that I build
for you. (Flame 132)
Or his liveliness and hopefulness can be discerned in
the following lines:
Sea waves
sing my songs
and the rainbow colours
my amorous tale.
If I ever
feel unfulfilled
I shall shed
a few drops
to water the seeding of my passion. (Flame 133)
Dove, a symbol of peace and non-violence also seems
mixed with hopefulness and radiance which is clearly visible in many of his
trilliums (in Haiku Spirit) of his collection Flashes. Dove actually propagates the message of hope:
Dove flies
towards skies
Green branch
in beak
Message of our hopes. (Flashes 33)
It (Dove) ‘flies/ human sleep/ in the fold of dreams’
and ‘muses on a branch’ with ‘eyes half shut’ and reaches beyond the
boundaries:
Dove draws
no boundaries
no fuss
gypsy of hopes. (Flashes 34)
In another collection Songs Before Shrine, Gill feels dove’s
melody echoing in his soul and instilling hope and vigour
in him. He hears the dove’s melody surging in his soul and watches its face and
feels its beat in his flesh and blood and writes beautifully:
I envision
it flying
across my horizon;
I smell its
presence
in the air. (SBS 12)
In another poem, ‘The Dove of Peace’, it is nothing
but hope that is making Stephen Gill say:
For a long
time
I have been
hearing
the dove of peace will be freed
shortly. (SBS 9)
And creates a mild but pricking
irony:
To awaken
that dove
progress has been made
today’s comfort
more sacrificed
our homes now better adorned
with the thorns of hatred
a few more nuclear bombs
remain to be developed
and contested. (SBS 9)
Or in another poem ‘Man of Today’, he sketches the shattered
hopes of peace and holds the man responsible for all the traumas. He seems grim
to see ‘songs of peace on one hand and distribution of weapons/ siding with the
murderers on the other.’ So he asks:
On one side
respect for the cats
fondness for the dogs.
On the other
side
defeat for humanity.
No one knows
what is today’s man? (SBS 27)
Therefore, in such adverse atmosphere of agony,
injustice, disharmony and peacelessness, the bud of
hope is shrunk:
The wings of
their dove
cracked and clipped
footprint of harmony erased
and hope-bud shrunk. (SBS 23)
Similarly in another poem ‘Evening of Harmony’, the
poet finds the ‘sun of harmony sinking/ in the cave of despair/ as does the
heart/ of a homeless orphan’, and adds:
Inside the
home
the fireplace of hopes burns
outside lurks a vacuum
caused by retreating waves
of lost sheep. (SBS 16)
But despite all such deep disappointments and
despondency, the poet never leaves hope, nor his dove
stops breathing in such adverse climate rather he urges hopefully:
Let the
gleams of your glory
ravage the plague of intolerance
for a new creature to emerge.
Cleanse the
air
for the dove to breathe life
Into our
homes
as well as
in the universe. (SBS 7)
The poet’s dove ‘strives / to play with her wings/
while the brutal blades of nightmares/ clip them, yet the poet is not woe-begone, rather he writes:
The dove’s
sight
is the melody of blessing
for the comfort of homes.
The dove’s
presence
is the rhythm of the Creator
that cures the abnormal growth
of dissonance.
(Shrine 56)
And adds :
As the
oracle of hope
the soul- soothing dove
sings
from her creative solitude. (Ibid)
In another poem ‘My Dove’ he finds the dove of
longing sanctified in the sanctum of serenity’ and is above all nations. He
sees dove as perfect vehicle of peace and hope on the earth so he says out
loud:
She (dove)
radiates
hues of undepictable truth
that consecrates
the emptiness of her surroundings.
The leaf
that she carries
is from the evergreen tree
of never ending hope. (Shrine 149)
Keeping these fears, dejection and terrible
atmosphere in mind, he prays for better days to come. He appeals:
Strengthen
my voice to weed out
the fear
the sickness
and the satanic wrath of the past
and to help
truth to appear. (SBS 5)
The poet in Gill visions for better world and coming
years so he asks the Almighty to ‘pacify the frenzy the violence’ as well as
equip poet’s pen with ‘amazement fused with vitality’. He wishes ‘to harvest/ a
ripe manna of harmony/ of the youthful enlightenment’ and ‘blossom a richness of pleasing nutrients/ of calm energy’. His songs
also come together with the hopeful movement of dove. So he says:
Fragrance of
spring
sustain a structure of strength
with the braces of my lyrics
that will secure breathes together
in a mystical dance
to the tune of the song of the dove. (SBS 2)
Mother is another icon of hope and sacrifice to
Stephen Gill. Her loving care and memories always remain with the poet. He
finds his mother in ‘all three novels Why, Immigrant and The
Image of
sacrifice
message of hope
you are highly prized.
The gift of
this life
I owe to you.
(SBS 1)
Though Gill is well aware of the hardships and
adversities of life and he knows the intensity of pain, loneliness and defeats.
Therefore, he writes:
Whole life I
shaped my path
gusts of loneliness never stopped
light missing. (Flashes 52)
Yet he keeps on living the life without grumbling or
murmuring:
No haste
no worry
no malice
and no darkness of prejudice
lurks here.
Eyes set on
my horizon
on calm waves I sail here. (SBS 38)
And hopes for the spring’s arrival,
so he writes:
Youth will
run and roam
flowers grow and bloom
trees will be graced
birds sing
and greenery abound. (SBS 83)
It is a time when ‘songs arise/ hopes throb/ and
madness spreads’ (Ibid, 83). The abundance of optimism, hope, peace, love and harmony
make the poet hopeful for a glorious dawn in this age of trouble and
adversaries. Dr. George Hines says aright: “The poet envisages a future in
which all living things will cooperate in harmony and will ‘smile together in
life’s field.” (SGHW 92)
Gill is well aware of the duties and responsibilities
of a true poet. Poets are the sentinel of the conscience who draw
a vivid and transparent picture of the society and point out the foils and
foibles of human character. They lash at the weakness and demerits of the human
being as well as empower them to write against maniac messiahs. Gill knows when
a poet is needed:
When dearth
and sward
and hope despaired
sound their notes
poet is acclaimed
and sought. (SBS 39)
He knows that the ‘poets are adventurous’ who ‘dive
with swimmers/ dance with singers/ and enter/ the souls of tyrant/ as they
paint/ voyaging/ in the seas of thoughts flowing/ the waters of emotions/ with
the delicate oars/ of pens’. According to Gill, the poets are the givers of joy
and happiness. They should not die in the dark and despair. His plea is aright:
Writers must
use their coin
that is the Lord’s wish.
Should poets
Let the
flower of hope be wasted
by the sickles of racial winds
Is the
question now. (SBS 29)
In another poem ‘Birth of Poems’, he shows much hopes with the poets:
Poets free
the birds of their blood
and
weave purrs and growls
With a single loom.
They are
cats
walking in darkness of solitude. (SBS 32)
Stephen Gill has high hopes with poetry. He considers
his own poems as ‘the brooks/ that flow leisurely/ through the green valleys/
of blessedness’. He considers that his poetry can ‘root out terrorists/ that
sail on the currents of cruelty’. His poetry is a constant struggle for peace
and for human rights which finds the ‘rhythm of life/ within the castle of
grace’ and ‘cannot be abducted’. According to him, his poetry is the mine of
hopes.
My songs
beauty in living
hope for warmth
and thirst of prosperity
the rainbow of my joy
link distant islands of disharmony. (SBS 43)
Stephen Gill wishes to be the first claimant of
dreams and shows his deep craving for hope and optimism which can be glanced in
the following lines:
If there
were dreams for sale
I would be
the first to buy
no matter how high the price. (SBS 69)
And he
further says:
I’ll pay any
price
for the dreams
that lighten the burden
brighten the day with sunrise
and make life
a time to remember. (Ibid)
In many of his poems, Stephen Gill states that our present
sorrows and difficulties are temporary. Man should try to develop his
environment with love, peace, truth and higher human values and renovate his
soul with the beaming light of illumination and fresh hope. Here the emphasis
of spirituality establishes the fact that man should follow the spiritual and
natural laws. In connection of Gill’s poetry, it is again justified to quote
George Hines’s words when we find him saying: “Just as the sun melts the
morning mist, the poet hopes for a spiritual sun which will melt the ignorance,
fear, hatred and greed which are ‘deeply amassed around our necks.” (SGHW 92)
Stephen Gill’s poetry is a unique medley of hopes and
despairs. In his crystal clear images of contemporary life full of destructive
complexities in which man is hoarding material affluences and thereby entering
into cut-throat competitions leading to mental disturbance, psychological
imbalance and spiritual ‘insolence, he lits new lamps
of hopes whose light will definitely torch the paths of future generations as
well spread the message of optimism and re-constructive idealism among the
people which is the real need of the hour. Though his poems are full of dismal
and terrible pictures of terrorism and its consequences, yet they encourage man
to ride through the rough tempestuous sea of life and cross all the boundaries
of callous calamities and dreadful disasters.
Stephen Gill knows well that written words create
miracles but for that sacrifice is needed. In an interview with N. K. Agarwal he says:
Writing is
also therapeutic to me, in order to give light, candle burns itself. That is
what a poet does. I write to disseminate my message in an art form. This is a
process of burning oneself or going through the pains of a pregnant mother. (Kafla, 49)
Gill is much hopeful with his poems, so he says:
I hope my writings about peace will cause change in
the thinking of my readers (Kafla 49). Such writings full of optimism and certitude will
confer inner peace to the individual as well as provide him an alternative
succor for his troubled mind and agonized soul by inspiring him to bind each
and every human being in the sacred bonds of love, fraternity, peace and global
brotherhood so that Human progeny may live a prosperous, peaceful and ideal
life.
Work Cited:
Dickinson, Emily. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson.
Johnson, Thomas H. (Ed.)
Gill, Stephen. Shrine.
----.
Songs Before Shrine.
----. Flashes.
----. The Flame.
Hines,Dr. George, Stephen
Gill and His Works,
Bar-Lev,
Helen. “Stephen Gill’s POEM THE FLAME GIVES ALL THE REASONS FOR
PEACE”,
www.stephengill.ca/gazette.htm
Kafla
Inter-Continental, No 36, IICA, Dev Bhardwaj, (ed.)
his
Writings and Diaspora’ an interview by N. K. Agarwal.
========================================================
Dr. Shaleen
Kumar Singh is chief editor of Creativesaplings- an online journal.
He has authored several research papers,
and teaches English Literature at Sai
Neeharika, Patyali Sarai, Budaun (U.P.)
.