What is Indo-Anglican Poetry

Those figures who have written English while expressing their Eastern thoughts belong to the IndoAnglican school proper. However. Tagore broke this rule—his translations of his own works were so perfect and beautiful that the prosepoems were unchallenged. Mrs. Sarojini Naidu and Ananda write a great number of their poems directly into English. Mrs. Naidu's ("The Golden Threshold") first collection has shown her to be a great lyrical poetess. She stands apart from the others for she keeps to the rules of "poetry proper" i.e., she uses rhymes and adheres to western forms. Let me quote a verse from "The Illusion of Love" to demonstrate her style and mechanics.

"Beloved, you may be as all men say

Only a transient spark

Of flickering flame set in a lamp of clay—

I care not . . . since you kindle all my dark

With the immortal lustres of the day."

Tagore and Ananda have written nothing like it, they are contented to write prose-poems. Ananda has no excuse since he writes in English whereas Tagore's are translations. I fully believe that Ananda has been imitating Tagore like countless other writers. Though one common bond between Tagore and Ananda is that they write deep religious poems. The latter has never been able to realize his imitation fully for Tagore has the aptitude and gift of the most beautiful poetic language and on the whole he is an abstract poet. Ananda has not the richness of language though he ably binds the kite of mysticism to some concrete object.

Quotations from Tagore and Ananda might help to bring home their characteristics.

"Here is thy footstool and there rest thy feet where live the poorest, and the lowliest, and lost.

When I try to bow to thee, my obeisance cannot reach down to the depth where thy feet rest among the poorest, the lowliest, and the lost. Etc."

(Tagore; Gitanjali, No. 10).

"Morning hides her face in a veil of sea-bluue cloud.

Above Rondana's grey-white peak an icy silence sits." Etc.

(Ananda: Snow Birds, No. 5.)

Tagore can lose himself in nature and sometimes he disappears into mysticism where none can follow him. With the other poets this is not so, they bind mysticism and worldly objects together. Gandhian mysticism cannot be followed because of the great man's irreconcilable ideas, Gandhi could contradict himself a thousand times a day and yet his followers would let it pass, he was solely interested in Indian political achievement and to obtain this he fell to religion for support. Tagore was too great to resort to orthodox Hinduism to support his weaknesses. He was a universal poet. Tagore was a creative genius and his contribution to world literature and politics cannot be less than India's greatest gift to humanity. Tagore was a poet, novelist, educationalist, social reformer, preacher, dramatist, critic, artist, moralist, musician, historian, and economist and he has enriched world literature by contributing some four hundred books on diverse subjects. He was undoubtedly greater than Gandhi for he opened the golden age for India in all spheres of her life.

It is difficult to impress upon anyone who [unclear: has] not been familiar with the Indian renaissance the great strides that are being made. I can sum up the situation by writing that India is being reborn—her soul has been awakened to the age-long cry for progress.