Page 153 - DENG105_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_II

Elective English–II

Notes Poetry treats of two kinds of subject matter – that which is supplied by the external objects,
such as deeds, events and the things we see around us and that which is supplied by the
poet’s own thoughts and feelings. The former gives rise to objective poetry, the latter to
subjective. In the first, it is about what he has seen or heard; in the latter he brings to bear his
own reflections upon what he has seen or heard. The same subject may be treated either way.
If the poet views it from without, confining himself that is to say, merely to its externals, his
treatment is objective; if he views it from within, giving expression, that is to say, to the
thoughts and feelings it arouses in his mind, his treatment is subjective. Simply, it can be said
in yet another fashion, i.e., objective poetry is impersonal and subjective poetry personal. In
the former, the focus of attention is something that is outward—a praiseworthy act, a thrilling
occurrence, a beautiful sight; in the latter, it is the poet himself; whatever the subject may be,
his mind is centered round his own thoughts and feelings.
Though, theoretically, subjective and objective poetry belong to two distinct categories, in
actual practice, it is almost impossible to separate the one from the other.
Poetry is divided into several types. The major types are given below;
1. The Lyric
2. The Ode
3. The Sonnet

4. The Elegy
5. The Idyll
6. The Epic
7. The Ballad
8. The Satire

Poetry is the effective medium to express the ideas or feelings, which are experienced by an
individual, through whom the same experience is aroused in the readers. It is common to all
people in the world. Regarding English poetry, since the medium, i.e. language, is very flexible,
all the literary works of certain writers/poets of the world are presented in the English Language.
It may also be due to the impact of the English rule all over the world for a certain period.

Indian English Writing

Besides the railway system, the civil service, the game of cricket, IT development and a host
of other distinctive aspects of Indian life today, the British bestowed upon us the aspiration
of creating literature in the English language. The other British-bestowed elements acquired
Indian reincarnations without much effort or delay; but creative writing in English by Indians
had to struggle long and hard to obtain a separate identity.
At the beginning, the term Anglo-Indian literature subsumed the early attempts by the Indians
to write poetry, drama or fiction in the English language. Edward Farley Oaten’s prize-winning
essay ‘1907’ at Cambridge did not actually discuss any Indian writing, but the appendix
provided at the end of his book lists eleven Indians among the authors of Anglo-Indian works.
In the opening chapter of his massive Indian Writing in English, K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar has
given an account of how the Indian writer of English was weaned terminologically away from
the ‘Anglo-Indian’ fold to the ‘Indo-Anglican’ flock with an involuntary but happily brief
sojourn in an ‘Indo-Anglican’ realm.

Today, the term ‘Indo-Anglican’ is more or less accepted without dispute as descriptive of
original literary creation in the English language by the Indians. Its status in relation to other

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