VISION
AND COMMITTMENT IN THE POETRY OF STEPHEN GILL
Dr. Shujaat Hussain
Stephen Gill is a
committed visionary and poet. Most of
his poetry presents his vision for a peaceful future. He writes about truth,
peace and love. Truth itself is the beauty that delights. Absence of truth has
waged deadly wars. Another world war, even more deadly, appears to be around
the corner. Therefore peace is the main concern of Stephen Gill.
Stephen Gill has
witnessed horror shortly before and after the partition of
Humans were killed in the midst of a crowd because they
happened to look different due to their dress or shaving pattern.….In several
cases, the stabbers could be friends, neighbours or
anyone who knew the religion of the victims. Many
made use of the lawlessness to settle old scores.1
He presents the
scene as if he was running a commentary of the holocaust:
We froze inside of our house. The nights were
nightmares and the days did not bring any hope. Often, the mornings dawned with
more lamentable events. It was not easy to sleep when night after night the
ghosts of fear looked straight into our eyes. Passers-by and neighbours appeared to be the possible killers. Apparently,
the dark forces of religion roamed around freely to terrorize minorities.2
Stephen Gill says:
I saw a crowd wearing helmets and chest braces and
carrying swords, axes, spears and daggers, running in his direction. Some
shouted that they saw a Muslim riding a bicycle over there. I could recognize
some people. They were polite and humble ordinary shopkeepers and others.That afternoon they wore the mantle of
crusaders. I had the feeling that the
whole Christian family where the crowd headed was in trouble.3
It is painful to
him when he says:
One can imagine the severity of his fear and also of
his hosts when there were only two or three Christian families in that area and
the crowd was not human in any case and Christians were only tolerated.4
In another scene he
presents barbarity in the street of
One afternoon, the old man ran out of his house…Two or
three pieces of rock hit him and he fell….A few people collected wood and kerosene
oil from the neighbourhood, heaped them above and
burnt his body…..The police officers passed the scene as if there was not even
a fire.”5
Stephen records
what he sees:
I cannot forget the pain and disgrace we had to go
through for a crime we had not committed….There was nothing that we could do in
any case…The only wise step that my parents had taken was to send my two elder
sisters to a convent because young females at home were harbingers of tragedy. 6
He says further
that “The thought of cruelty of humans always remained in my mind like my own
shadow. The more I thought of it, the more I became obsessed to write about
it.”7 Stephen Gill who
has witnessed human degradation, feels to shape his experiences in
writing. A widely read and traveled
Stephen Gill knows what humans have done to human. He is convinced that a human is his own enemy
that is clear from the following lines from “Image of Flowers”:
Humans were created like flowers
but they became intoxicated
with pride
and created
their roses and jasmines
without roots 8
Stephen Gill has
hopes, because he talks of the roots that are essential for the existence of
trees and plants to bear flowers and fruit:
Humans still need
the caring arms of the earth
because they are
flowers.9
“Garden of Eden”,
he says was a distant planet where peace and prosperity prospered. When Adam
and Eve broke the divine law they were thrown out and mother earth provided
them refuge. Adam and Eve used their mind and planted the seed of knowledge.
Now their generation is reaping:
It has yielded the fruit of
jealousy, superiority, murders,
rapes and exploitation in abundance.10
The blood of Cain
is still on the earth. Earth could soak it, but the heat of the sun failed to dry
it up-- dust is too weak to cover it. It has now poisoned the arteries of the
mother. Stephen Gill asserts that Eve’s children will be exiled to another
planet but the question is where? Whatever he feels and witnesses make him
restless:
They are sure
to carry the seed of this tree
to corrupt the house of host
there also.11
Stephen Gill is
against war, hatred and illusions. Creator spiritus est suaviter in modo, fortit is the most
lethal weapon in the literary armory of Stephen Gill. He uses at right time so
it yields desired outcome. He is quite aware of the gamut of veritas odium parit.
Much blood has blown under the bridge of peace. Human bones are its pillars
constructed by the body. The power of Gill’s pen demonstrates courage to defeat
demons with his rhyme and wit.
“Flower of the Universe’ another poem of Gill, portrays the same feeling of the poet.
He presents truth through a flower
because human is in the image of the flower:
Inside the stem
I saw a chaotic human crowd
under the darkening dust
of war, hatred and illusions.
……………..
the flower needed
the softness of nature
and mysterious rain.12
Another poem, “Talking of Peace”, is the result of the
poet’s experiences and beliefs. The fractured human lives, tainted love,
pricking harmony, flawed fraternity and activities towards self-annihilation
must have impacted his vision. He makes readers feel his pulse and his sights that reach the places where wars are
waged in the name of some pretext.
Stephen Gill is a
poet who wants to see the welfare of human beings so that life on earth
acquires a higher potency and value. Poetry is life. No one can imagine poetry
if there is no life, love, peace, faith, trusts, fraternity, humanity,
happiness, and prosperity. Wars and bloodshed destroy them all. The result of
their destruction is portrayed in “War Fever”.
The poet says that war brings darkness to the mind. It spoils the truth
of happiness and mutilates the body of humanity. It seizes sons from mothers
and cultivates thorns. Those who suffer from war fever worship violence:
War fever
kills the lamb of truth
drags into the vortex of hatred
causes a thirst for power
admires the roar of the cannon
and urges
crushing of peace.13
For Stephen Gill poetry
is not to enjoy the love of beautiful women.
He has no time to talk about the wine, buxom bodies, lips, kisses, and
speeches of national leaders. Neither has he time to talk about the melody of
the nightingale of Keats, spontaneity of Wordsworth, delight of Frost and
romance of Byron. For him, it is time to
utter the truth, setting aside emotions, mundane glory, border disputes,
religion, colour and creed. He is committed to write
about the serious aspects of life relating to peace. One of his poems “Talking
of Peace” is one example, where he
says:
Our rulers talk of peace
but it is futile
when nuclear-powered marines
sail over breasts of the oceans
missiles look down like hawks
and neutrons
make fun of every life.14
Peace cannot be
achieved in the situations that have been created by politicians and
leaders. ‘Citizens are in the prison of fears’, ‘daily bread doled out by murderers’ , ‘love worshipped with bullets’ , ‘homes are destroyed’, ‘arteries
of ignorance continue hardening’, and ‘merciless
locusts of the basic needs keep buzzing over individuals’ 15
The poet is utmost
bold, without the lust for accolades. In
the last stanza of this poem “Talking of Peace” he asks:
Now you tell me
My friend
How peace can come16
The answer is easy-- control the arms dealers and engines
of destruction. This idea has been explored further in “Arms Trader”:
In the web of greed
arms traders forget
the dove
hidden in
the caves of blood.17
The poems “The Gulf
Crisis on TV” is along the same lines. Going over the poem with concentration
without breaking rhythm generates a voice of pains and anxieties:
Once the financial Goliaths of their nations….the moon
of the moonless nights spreads the coffin of nightmares and the whirlwind of
anarchy swept aside the faded flowers of their comforts for no fault of their
own. The people of their own land watching the sinking sun of their hopes,
without water, sanitation; medical relief and they were kept alive through the charity
of two meals a day.18
Women crying
around debris
men hurling abuses
children confused and despaired
the Patriots intercepting the Scuds
the showers of the bullets
downing the planes, and
the bombs piercing through homes
present a video game of Nintendo
or shots
from a festival of firecrackers.19
Stephen Gill’s
appears to be tearful in his poem “A Familiar Scene”, which is enough to sink
those who have engaged themselves in arms trade. In this heart-rending scene,
he describes:
people were chased to be cut down as if they were
carrots’, ‘bodies rotting in ditches’,
‘bodies dumped with the garbage’, ‘bodies without hands’, ‘heads without bodies’, ‘who will tell whose young body is here’,
and ‘who are these faces on whose eyes
and cheeks drops of blood glitter like pearls’.20
These lines portray
the wail of a mother for her beloved. This familiar scene could be anywhere in
Here is a mother
who moves the corpses
to find her son;
here is the cry of an old man
buried in the cries of the wounded.
Who are these innocents
whom the
storm of cruelty
has extinguished
as if they were candles.21
Stephen Gill
protests against everything that stands in the way of his vision, including
religious and national fanaticism.
Religion preaches to shun the path of evils. Its first principle is to love humans and
work for the welfare of all. Honesty,
humanity, generosity and humility are the core of religion. When religion is
misunderstood, it becomes dangerous. He presents this view in “Religious Fanaticism” :
It breeds
the daughters of fire
storm
sword and wound
the adders of dread
destruction
disdain
and distate.22
Stephen Gill
condemns not only religious fanaticism, but also national fanaticism, because
nationalism in narrow sense is also detrimental to world peace. The best example of national fanaticism is
his poem “Go Back.”
Citizens from time
immemorial have been emigrating from one country to another, either to study or
be in a greener pasture. Sometimes, it has never been an easy because of some
kind of discrimination, even though migrants offer the boon of their life to
their new found mother and the warmth of their blood to the snow. It is insensitive for the citizens of that
country to raise voice to go back. It
happens in this poem “Go Back.” The poet
answers the caller politely but in a
bitter and biting way:
Open your eyes, my friend
in the clean air to see
that the world has become a village
where no one is an island to self
anymore
anymore.23
The poet hopes that
someone someday will appear to cause radical changes. He suggests to wait for
that day in his poem “Children of Prometheus.”
Citizens wait for a Hercules
for
deliverance from the vultures
who snatch the bread of peace
or a Minerva
who would help to bring down
the fire again.24
In another poem,
“Blind and Deaf,” he believes Moses and Christ will appear again to redeem the
world:
I envision
Moses again coming down the hills
to see the crowd swayed
with a self-brewed wine
and Christ led to Calvery.25
Stephen Gill also
talks about the citizens of the country where he was born:
I emphasized that it was a lack of tolerance that led to
the division of
Stephen Gill’s
poetry is marked by the virility of thought, decency of tone, precision of
language, metrical versatility, and affectionate feelings. Many of his poems
have different rhyme schemes, and variations of lines within stanzas. His
individuality magnifies his stature as a poet among other poets. His poetry
excels not only in formal beauty, but also in emotional colour.
His creation has the fragrance that delights, soothes and provides comfort.
In the
predominantly commercial atmosphere of today, Stephen Gill works for the
achievement of his vision with commitment. His poetry is distinguished for a
sweet simplicity, and a lyrical evocativeness that speaks of the eternal
longings of the soul. Sometimes his imagery is complex yet fresh and
photographic. A poet of protest and a voice of liberty and angst, Stephen Gill
enjoy a secure status in the pantheon of revolutionary poets. Because of these
marked traits his poetry can be classified as Stephenian.
WORKS CITED
1Stephen Gill,
Shrine (Rev. Ed), Published by Cyberwit.net,
2Ibid, 11
3Ibid., p.12
4 Ibid., p.12
5 Ibid., p.13
6 Ibid., p.15
7Ibid., p.24
8Ibid., p.42
9 Ibid., p.43
10 Ibid, p.44
11 Ibid, p.45
12Ibid., p. 46
13 Ibid., p.54
14Ibid., p.52
15Ibid., p.52
16 Ibid., p.53
17Ibid., p.55
18 Ibid., p.58
19Ibid., p.59
20Ibid., p.70
21Ibid., p. 71
22Ibid., p.66
23Ibid., p.81
24Ibid., p.92
25Ibid., 136
26Ibid., p.35
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Dr. Shujaat Hussain
is a prominent book reviewer, poet and literary critic from India