विभूतिमूर्ति

KEDARNATH SINGH : A POET IN TRANSLATION

Good poetry is believed to be untranslatable. We can even argue that at an undefined high level in creative writing, language itself attains a form that becomes untranslatable. Poetry, admittedly being the highest mode of creative writing, has this natural condition of untransmutability of language as a medium. In fact, one way to define poetry could be to emphasise its innate attribute of untransmutability. Once it attains an achieved original form in the medium of a native language, it cannot, to a satisfactory extent, be recreated in another language. Evidently, this may not be true of all different modes of creative writing which lie beyond the domain of poetry; in particular, writings in prose. One apparent reason for this could be the level and nature of meaning that soars to a very high level in poetry, unlike prose where it exits, by and large, on the terrestrial level. Also the use of ambiguity and symbolism of meaning in poetry is very complexly ingrained with the subtle cultural content of the language which it uses.

Generally speaking, one inevitably agrees with Robert Frost’s dictum of poetry being that which hardly ever survives translation. But there seems to be another iridescent facet of the prism. A good creative translation of a poem is more likely to achieve another poem in the translator’s language that not only reflects the core content of the poem translated but overrides the syntactic and semantic structures of the original. It often obtains in the translated poem a parallel semantic signification adumbrating the original creation. Also, there is always a certain extent of unpredictability in the chance occurrence of  ‘the right poet, the right translator, the right poem and the right moment’ in the achievement of a good translated poem. In other words, poetry may be as untranslatable in particular instances as it could be, in some other instances, equally translatable as a close and satisfactory parallel.

Still another facet to the iridescent prism is the serendipitous possibility of a poem that is so fluid and primordial, almost elemental, that it transmutes itself entirely smoothly into a closely parallel mould, almost effortlessly. It seems to exist at a level where it attains a form of signification that is almost beyond the apparent matrix of words and sounds of a particular language; even its cultural content and imagery being purely symbolical and universal.

 

And if this be true, it is most true of the modern Hindi poet, Kedarnath Singh, whose poems are generally crafted in a poetic language that transcends the semantic boundaries of the original language into a world of meaning that is often as close to universal signification as possible. It would thus be truer to say that Kedarji’s poetic language operates at a level of intensity and signification quite distinct from those of his contemporaries. It is a highly cultivated poetic language, paradoxically as close to normal speech and syntax as conceivable on the one hand, and on the other, imbued with a signification that is almost beyond words.  It uses language that seems deceptively close to normal spoken  prose, very simple and common on the surface and yet equally profound and diaphanous in its signification. Of course, such level of intensity and signification is not be seen in some of his own minor poems, or even on a uniform basis throughout his poetic ouevre, but it can surely be seen as a hallmark of his poetic art.

 Kedarnath Singh’s greatness as a modern Hindi poet lies precisely in his inventing a poetic idiom in contemporary Hindi poetry that distinguishes his poetry from his other contemporaries. One of the subtle markers of this pellucid poetic medium – closely adumbrating the rhythms of common speech -  is the near absence of punctuation and use of varying line lengths with occasional repetitions - lending it a fluidity consonant with its intensity of signification. (It is pertinent to remember here that Kedarji was himself a brilliant translator and had translated poems of Brecht, Paul Eluard, Jabananand Das, et al. Also, many of his own poems have been translated in world languages like English, German, Spanish, Hungarian, etc.)

The special appeal of Kedarji’s poetry lies in its dualism of empathetic intimacy juxtaposed with total objectivity which attains a new dimension beyond tangible text signification. As the famous Hindi critic Parmanand Shrivastav, in an insightful introduction to a popular edition of his selected poems, observes:

“The point of departure for Kedar’s poetry – the point from where it gets its energy – is the point where language per se gets moulded into meaning. In the contemporary scene in Hindi poetry, Kedarnath Singh is, perhaps, the singular poet who belongs as much to the village as to the city life. His world of experience in his poetry reaches out almost simultaneously in both these dimensions. Quite possibly, this is the crux of the quintessential Indian experience without which it is impossible to conceive of true Indian poetry. There is a primal quality  characterizing his poetry, verging to a hazardous extent on simplicity, touching upon pale, ordinary words and artefacts, and obscure natural phenomena, and thus obtaining a poetic meaning otherwise unobtainable.

“Rather than being monologic, Kedar’s poems are dialogic in the true sense. His poetry delves deep into the subterranean turbulence of life, and is vitally connected with all relevant contemporary concerns. And yet his poems never lose their innate lyricism and classic perfection of structure. The wealth of imaginative capital that his poetry displays is seldom to be seen in the poetic work of his contemporaries. Indeed, in his poetry is to be discovered a new, vibrant poetic form which marks his poetic personality as distinctive among his contemporaries.”

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The half-a-century long poetic journey of Kedarji came to an end on 19 March, 2018. His death cast a dark shadow on the entire Hindi literary world and also on me on a personal level. I had known Kedarji since the 80’s and also had a few occasions of meeting him. I tried to reconcile myself with the grief by translating some of his poems including his celebrated long-sequence poem Bagh. Translating poems, I felt, was also a tribute to the poet, because in translating poems in an empathetic situation, there could be much greater identification between the translator and the poet not only in relation to the sensitive text but also to the poetic persona of the poet. 

What struck me as especially inspirational was the ease with which his content as well as the rhythms, imagery, and even the formal structures in the poems lent themselves to smooth translation – almost guiding the translator gently and openheartedly in the act of parallel creativity. There is, then, reason to believe that perfect poetic communication is achieved at a level, and in a manner, where poetry attains the highest kind of signification and transcends the bounds of translation. If this be so, Kedarji’s poetry presents some of its finest examples. Here is a selection of his poems that can stand as imaginative creations on their own which amply prove the excellence and uniqueness of Kedarji’s poetry, and thus serving as the best tribute to his exceptional poetic art on the first anniversary of his eventful departure.

© Dr BSM Murty

Photo : Courtsey Google Images

[For 10 translated poems of Kedarnath Singh go to earlier post on this blog. And for older posts on Kedarnath Singh and translation of his sequenced poem “Bagh” go to 2018 (May 25 & July 15.]

Please also visit my two other blogs - 
(1)vagishwari.blogspot.com - 
for my Hindi articles and matter on Shivpoojan Sahay & others; & my translation/retelling of Bhagawad Geeta, Ramcharit Manas & Durga Saptshati & 

(2)murtymuse.blogspot.com
for my Hindi & English poems & poetry related materials. 

Other Important blog posts you may like to see here:

2010 : Sahitya Samagra : 5 Oct / 2011 : On Premchand: (26 May) / Has Hindi been defeated by English? : Shivpujan Sahay : (7 Dec) / 2012 : Memoirs on Prasad and Nirala : (25-26 Oct)/ 2013 : Sheaf of Old Letters (10 Oct) / 2014 :  Shivpujan Sahay Smriti Samaroh:( 27 Jan) / On Amrit Lal Nagar: (18 Aug)/ On Bachchan : (27 Nov) / 2015 : On Renu: (3 Mar) / On Trilochan: (1 Apr) /Odes of Keats + Shantiniketan: (25 May) / Premchand Patron Men: (3 Aug)/  Suhagraat: Dwivediji's poem: (13 Nov)/ 2016 : Three stories of JP:(6 Jul) / On Neelabh Ashk: (24 Jul)/ / Dehati Duniya: (8 Aug)/  Anupam Mishra: Paani ki Kahaani :(Dec 25) /   2017 :  Doctornama: memoirs of Shivpujan Sahay (July 10):  On Prithwiraj Kapoor (Nov 6) / Rajendra Jayanti Address @ Bihar Vidyapeeth, Patna (Dec 14)/ 2018:हिंदी नव जागरण, शिवपूजन सहाय  और काशी           (1 Mar)/Tribute to Kedar Nath Singh (25 May) /  राहुलजी और हिंदी-उर्दू-हिन्दुस्तानी का सवाल (12 Jun)/ Neelabh Mishra (16 Jun)/ Death of Shivpoojan Sahay(17 Jun) / बाबा नागार्जुन (1 Jul)/ On Kedarnath Singh (with full translation of ‘Tiger’, 15 July)/Five poems of Angst (14 Aug)/चंपारण सत्याग्रह : भारतीय राजनीति में सत्य का पहला प्रयोग (26 Nov)  2019: On Kamaleshwar’s stories collection: ‘Not Flowers of Henna’ (26 Jan)/ Why Gandhi was killed (30 Jan)/ ‘Wings on Fire’: The Art of Himanshu Joshi ( 18 April) मंगलमूर्ति की कुछ कविताएँ (28 April) / Stanley Wolpert (Jun 12)/ Three Eminent Men(Aug 3)