There was a Country: Analysis

Parameters of Poetry

               The Poem, "There Was a Country" was written by a Sri Lankan Poet, Yasmine Gooneratne. In this poem, the title itself has a justification. Through the word 'Country', she represents both the Oriental (Eastern, Middle East, Far East, and every other parts of  Asia) Countries and Occidental (European and other Western) countries. This poem can be interpreted as a comparison of poems of both the parts of the literary world. It is a mere patriotic poem that explains the qualities of Oriental poetry with aesthetic and heritage sense.  She describes that the art of poetry from the place or continent where she belongs to contains the elements that are close to the surface of the native and deep to the every aspect of their life.

                          She adds, that each passing shower under every fence that made with plants, contains a glittering edge and not a bare stream. those passing showers are not a flowing stream but it  bears finely sieved quality of poems and she calls such art as a happiness in return for the cultivation:

"There was a country where fine poems lay

close to the surface. Under every hedge

each passing shower would bare a glittering edge.

No Stream but, sifted, yielded poetry".

                       In the second paragraph, she depicts that the outlet of an emotion expressed by a native poet would have its outcome as a rich art and whatever the emotion may, like romance, merriment or anger. she mentions it through the incident that she kicked a stone, just a stone in irritation and when she accidentally saw beneath, the surface started to shine like a valuable mineral as so rich as it brought a precious moment of creation. Through this stanza, she make the readers to realize that the native poets of oriental region naturally has the power to express their emotions accidentally and effortlessly in a rich and aesthetic way. (Here the poetry subjected to the praise of Gooneratne, are the poetry that came before the Colonization):

"I kicked a stone aside in irritation

and saw its under-surface start to gleam

and there beneath my there waited seams

so rich, the merest movement brought creation."

                        From the third stanza, she began to analyze the purpose and the value of occidental art of poetry. it is not her kind of blaming them, but the reality. She says that, it is not a same kind of poetry that occurs in western countries. If a poem accidentally occurs, they would say that they have not experienced the poetry yet and they stuck and fall upon the poetry they got accidentally and it would caught in a gross of words that left over certain adjustments that made those poets as they having the habit of borrowing words. Gooneratne also feels that those poems she mean here must be lying i.e. the lacking in its originality:

"Here is not the same. Though poetry

occurs, they say, i have not glimpsed it yet,

stumbled upon or caught it in a net

of words. I feel that poems here must lie."

                      She again switch to the native poets of orient countries that they are having the plenty blessings of the muse. however the sorrow preoccupied or entirely swallowed their hearts, they can overcome it through such dozens and twenties of her blessings. she compares the blessing to the mine that can never dry as drive and the poet who received such a blessing would be like a bewildered discoverer who wonders pouring themselves down on paper.

                       Gooneratne has a serious purpose on writing poetry, as she has the strong Asian grief caused by post colonial effects on Asia and she gives the reference of Sri Lanka in particular. Here she wants the grief or any emotion should be strong enough as it serve as a means to the people to convey the inner feelings. Moreover, she doesn't want to write for popularity:

"There was a country where, when sorrow grazed 

the heart but once the Muse brought forth her plenty 

to twos and fours, half-dozens, dozens, twenties. 

The mine seemed inexhaustible, a dazed

Discoverer, wondering merely poured them down 

on paper. Grief would need to strike so deep

here, that I'd rather let creation sleep 

than mine the diamonds for a poet's crown".

REFERENCE

Narasimhaiyah, C.D.ed, An Anthology of Commonwealth Poetry, Macmillan, Chennai, 1990. Print.