Literature-Critique

30
However, his immortality as a poet largely relies on a single book –
Saradamangal (Psalm of the White Goddess). His other works are not equal to this
poem in artistic success.
It is the first modern lyrical poem in Bangla – romantic and mystical alongside;
and the poet’s mind is in a dilemma about which of these two art-forms he would
apply.
This poem is a tale of the poet’s journey to meet Saraswati, the goddess
whom he sometimes imagines as a romantic heroine and sometimes as an entity
untouchable by any earthly beings. Sometimes he imagines the Muse-like goddess
as a mother or as a beloved or as a sister and on other times he takes her to be an
object of dazzling appearance.
He takes shelter of poetic imagination to get close to his ever-cherished divine
soul. He brings imageries of natural objects (e.g. birds, insects, fountain, stars etc)
like any other class poets. But in fact he tells us of a world similar to a land described
in a fairy tale. His Saraswati is not a religious or mythic epitome but an object of his
grand imagination.
The poet is a devotee of Saraswati; he is an ardent lover to have her touch.
His goddess is beyond the trivialities of earthly life; she is not a mere idol. That divine
soul is far beyond the reach of human senses. She is again and again lost in the flow
of the poet’s desperate passions. His vision of the heroine is subjective at times and
it becomes objective on other times.
At the beginning the poet’s heart is in the darkness of an uncertainty; and at
the end he becomes gratified with the enlightened vision of the goddess. She seems
to the poet to enlighten the world with her heavenly illumination.
It can be said that the main theme of the poem is the poet’s dilemma – a
dilemma between his own romantic and mystical creed for the embodiment of
enlightening wisdom. His dream comes true at the end and he takes it as an
unearthly blessing for the world and himself.
Biharilal was influenced by some writers from the 19 th -century Brahmo Samaj
– especially by Rammohun and Devendranath, and also by Brahma-Sangeet (i.e.
songs addressed to Brahma, the universal soul that appears to be the supreme
deity). However, in place of their Brahma, he wrote the psalms of Saraswati,
although in a similar style.
It is almost impossible to translate his typical Bangla verse into English. So for
going through it, the western readers at first have to learn our language.
Biharilal introduced lyrical poetry that made the way for later romantics to walk
with new sensibilities. Although he is not as great as his successor Tagore, his role
in making the new base of poetry is undeniable. He is therefore, an acknowledged
contributor to the development of modern lyrical poetry.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
Tagore is the Angel of Romantic literature. His artistic achievement can be
compared to no one else. So much subtlety, depth of contemplation and diversity are