KAKATIYA UNIVERSITY, WARNAGAL
ENGLISH FOR EXCELLENCE
UG CBCS SEMESTER-4 TEXTS
A Requiem for Earth (poem) - O. N.
V. KURUP (TRANSLATED BY K. JAYAKUMAR)
About the poet:
Otraplakkal
Neelakandan Velu Kuruppu (1931-2016), popularly known as O. N. V. Kurup or
'ONV", was a poet, lyricist and professor of Malayalam literature. After
graduating in Economics from Kollam, he moved to Thiruvananthapuram to pursue a
Master's degree in Malayalam literature and later served as Professor in
various prestigious government colleges across Kerala. A noted progressive
writer with a humanist perspective, ONV was a prolific writer with over fifteen
anthologies of poetry, in addition to over 1500 songs written for movies and
KPAC dramas. He was the recipient of many civilian and literary awards
including the Padma Shri (1998), Padma Vibhushan (2011), Jnanpith Award.
(2007), Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (1975), Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award
(1971), Odakkuzhal Award (1990) as well as the Ezhuthachan Award, Vayalar
Award, Asan Prize. Soviet Land Nehru Award and Medal of Pushkin.
'A Requiem for
Earth' is an outcry against the abominable exploitation of Nature and Earth by
humans in the name of development. The poet believes that the brutality with
which we shamelessly and greedily exploit the earth will lead to the extinction
of life. As a result, the earth would perish with nobody to sing a requiem for
her. In this poem, the poet presents snapshots of the beauty of nature, the
plight to which it is reduced and the ultimate outcome of this exploitation.
POEM:
Peace to you in
your imminent death.
Written in my
heart
These lines are
For your funeral
song (and mine).
Tomorrow, when
you freeze
In the shade of
the dark flower of death
No one will be
here
To shed a last
teardrop
On your lifeless
lips!
I write this down
for you
Oh still-not-dead
Earth!
Peace to you in
your imminent death.
You are mother to
the mother of the
Ancient twelve
clans.
You gave birth to
children
Who would not
live in harmony;
Watching one
slaying the other to devour
You shed silent
invisible tears.
Then by and by
They started
eating you up
In small bouts of
revelry;
You did not stop
them
But endured it
all in great patience.
Those whom you
breastfed
Rolling up your
green raiment
Have all grown
big!
They had a thirst
(their final thirst!)
To taste the
sacred blood of your heart!
They ripped open
the embellished drape
The Sun had
gifted his favourite bride;
Piercing your
naked body with fingernails,
They drank the
blood oozing from your wounds;
And in that
ribald merriment
The rhythm of
death reverberates.
The tale of the
Greek youth
Inadvertently
wedding his mother
Is indeed old and
stale!!
These children of
Earth
Script a new
tale, disrobing their mother;
They sell it in
the marketplace and drink.
As their boorish
nails-those sharp axes-
Continue their
fun,
The burning eyes
of the Sun
Rain in flaming
rage.
Rainclouds seek
water to drink;
Misty nights long
for chill;
Spring is in
search of a tiny flower;
Rivers long to
flow.
The rhyme of
creation is all broken;
The wheels of the
chariot of life
Are mired in
slush.
As long as there
remains a drop
Of the moonlight
of awareness
In consciousness
I who was born
from you
And sustained by
you
Will retain those
memories
As honey and
vayambu on my tongue.
You are my maiden
delight;
You are my final
joy
As the holy water
drop
Extinguishes my
flame..
The sight of a
tiny sun in a dewdrop
On a blade of
grass sprouted in you
Had ushered in me
a splendid dawn.
The deer of my
desire grazed
In the shade of
your woods.
Like some
emergent Prophet
Winds walked on
the surface of your sea.
With cradle and
lullaby
For a thousand
tender fruits
You are awake.
You provide
swings in a thousand groves
And flutter atop
the peepul branch.
You stay there
waving your flowery palms
And coo like
pigeons.
In the rhythmic
ripples of a thousand rivers
You share my
rapture.
You shuffle and
display your canopies
With the
flowering crowns of myriad forest trees.
You scare with
the hoot of an owl
And cheer with
the shrill of a koel.
You preserve in
your casket
A thousand
colours to embellish the mind.
You turn the
evenings golden,
Disappear into
the dark forest, picking up the dusk,
And carry upon
your shoulders yet another dawn.
To awaken me and
to feed me with honey dew
You hatch an egg
in the nest of a halcyon forest
And open it as
gently as a poem.
You are the
lotus-leaf support
For my water
drop-like existence.
I know you are in
me in full measure
And these
memories are indeed my elixir.
The sweet truth
of this fleeting existence
Glows for a
moment on the tip of your feather;
You are the
enchanting swan
With music on her
wings.
Let that be gone!
But the elixir
that is you
Too has been
defiled
By the pecking of
the crow of death ... !
While you move
along the solar path as a castaway
With tonsured
head and the bundle of humiliation
And the burden of
your children's sins,
With the flame of
terrible pain
In your
half-empty mind,
Dreadful death is
seeping into your nerves...
Oh still-not-dead
Earth!
This is your song
of peace in death
Written in my
heart
For your funeral
(and mine).
As I shall not
remain
To shed the last
teardrop on your lifeless lips
Let me write this
down:
Oh still-not-dead
Earth!
Peace to you in
your imminent death.
Eternal peace to
you
On your impending
death.
Click here to download- A Requiem for Earth PPT
0 comments:
Post a Comment