Creativity is a floor covering that makes life easier for people who know what they’re wearing under their feet. The kind of comfort they enjoy necessitates an artistic eye to express the unfathomable bliss that entices them. The person who operates it generates a marvel rich in artistic excellence and literary merit. A genuine artist who understands how to convey his experience using the language he is most familiar with manages to embody an event in the form that best serves his lyrical ambitions.Laurence Perrine says poetry “may be defined as a kind of language that says more and says it more intensely than does ordinary language.” The poetic language is a pack of powerful muscles that supports the skeleton of the poem, and the capillaries that bring variable verve to the vital centers carry impulses that the poet either grabs from the microcosmos he lives in or creates a replica under the influence of imagination from the macro cosmos his consciousness dwells in.
Shahnaz Rashid, our contemporary poet, is fully aware that language and form possess a creative zeal for greater production. Writing a poem may appear to the average person to be as simple as eating an ice cream cone on a hot day, but for a poet, the process is as agonising as labor, stretching the limits of linings and patience. “The Shadow” by Shahnaz Rashid is a highly symbolic poem that arouses interest while also encouraging analysis of the literary milieu that has been formed around the poem’s landscape. Symbols not only take us into the abyss of meanings, but they also generate an impression, which aids the reader in deciding the meaning besides peeping into the state of mind of the poet.
The shadow
The sun is beaming at her forehead
and the moon is embedded in her hem
In her eyes are twinkling the stars
she had a protracted but spotless folio before her eyes
the ruby lyrics are decked up on her pen
the words rain down her dreams
bearing a name ‘Fragrance’
The nightingale’s songs and the flowers take on hues from her poise
she holds a face of fairies
on the bank of a stream she hums
the deities of the forest are gyrating around her
only to turn off the sun of her brow
to entice her into the netherworld
and the moon in her hem be consumed by theChakor
her pen is wobbling
fingers quivering
in the desert are the rain down of her lyrics
the spotless foil bear scorching smears
like a frozen mirror in the guise of a man, I am
alone and astounded monitoring it from a distance….daily
a weird and cryptic prospect
the shadow turn up and stretches
at times a boat and other time the wind wins
like a frozen mirror in the guise of a man, I am
alone and astounded monitoring it from a distance….daily
the beaming shadow shall burn
the beaming shadow dried up the rivers
the form of the shadow shall shrink in the corner
and in this state shall fade away where at dusk
bringing about miracles by enlightening the night
and up above the starry night, the prayers of someone are exalted
and to them only the night is well lit up
as if the books have been dusted
someone sit on the echoes of recitation
like a frozen mirror in the guise of a man, I am
alone and astounded monitoring it from a distance….daily
stretching like the shadow, and the light reaching to the farthest expanse
by the pen of shadow decked up on the spotless page
the moon, stars and range of peaks
and all the tears
One of the striking features of a symbolic poem is metaphoric locale, and “The Shadow” is basically a powerful multidimensional device of comparison that has been employed throughout the poem in different shades. It represents a natural violence that hinders the process of merriment and gives the impression of a humming fairy resting on the river bed. To add to the setting of gloom and desperation, a tug of war between evil forces and self-consciousness has been well defined through various sets of symbols, such as the moon being engulfed by a mythical bird. The poet has consciously involved himself as a struggling entity to witness his agony amidst the never-ending loop of “shadow.” His state of plight has taken the form of a simile, which relevantly represents a stagnant state of the poet under the influence of irritating loneliness encompassed by distant monitoring. His scanning of the proceedings has itself signified “The Shadow,” which has taken both a form on the skin of his poetic genius and a state of continuous struggle in the backyard of his consciousness.
Like a frozen mirror in the guise of a man, I am
alone and astounded monitoring it from a distance….daily
The poem is a saga of a real world revealing the hidden meaning, thus setting up an allegorical aura wherein metaphors expose layer by layer the core message of the poet to his audience well versed in the intricacies of creativity. The archetype of “The Shadow” is a human experience one encounters on a daily basis. The poem wonderfully generates a visual aid to comprehend the idea of the poet, as it is densely packed with visual imagery aided by organic and kinesthetic imagery.”The pen, the page, the moon, stars, and tears” are flowing like a nearby brook to assist the poet in carrying on the response amidst the mighty shadow that tried to engulf the proceedings, but the pessimism has finally let the pen bring on the page the hopes and the never-ending starry floor of the sky, along with his own conscious efforts to nurse the art that runs through highly sensitive vital centers.‘The Shadow’ has dressed femininely because a female shape unlocks the lid of Pandora’s Box to play with colours and images that deck out the object better than one dressed in the opposite outfit. Shahnaz Rashid has beautifully adorned the backdrop like a sculpture in order to emphasise his work of art against a subtle backdrop.Shahnaz Rashid is a serious poet who knows how and what to make of his poetic tales. His style and diction are fresh and well-chiselled to suit our native narratives. His symbols are universal, and his usage belongs to his own creative capabilities; he seems to thrive on his own verve in them, which not only adds density to the presentation but also allows a reader to keep an eye on his poetic growth. ‘The Shadow’ has brilliantly created an ‘impression’ that is emerging while also broadening to combat the poet’s willingness. It reminds me of ‘After Apple Picking’ by Robert Frost, wherein the poet witnesses ‘magnified apples appear and disappear,’ but to Shahnaz the sleuth, they are not disappearing and appearing but reaching to the farthest end of his imaginative cosmos which surely makes a reader to guess the poet’s literary advancement and poetic promotion.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER AND
TRANSLATOR
Mushtaq B.Barq is a Columnist, Poet and Fiction Writer. He is the author of “Feeble prisoner, “ Wings of Love” and many translation works are credited to the author like “Verses Of Wahab”