Unit - III: Poetry

Chapter - 6
"The Harp of India”.

- Henry Derozio

Question- Critically appreciate the poem The Harp of India'.

Answer - 

This is one of the most iconic poems of Derozio. In the first glance it might be just read as any other fourteen line poem, but the inclusion of the words 'Harp' and 'India' stimulates us to delve deeper into the contents of the poem. 'Harp' is a musical instrument mostly endemic to Ireland in the past two or three centuries, so how does it relate with a colonised country (in Derozio's time) like India? Also, the inclusion of the word 'India' as a seemingly separate independent unit in pre-independent era is indicative of much more than what is visible or apparently comprehensible. It also must be taken into account here that Derozio was of Indo-Portugese origin, and the usage of India' in such a prominent manner can only indicate that not only did Derozio take India as his home country but was also concerned about the shackled state of India under the dominion of the British and along with the hope that the music of India be restored and her dignity and glory be strung again.

In India, the 'Harp' was the first musical instrument played by the Tamil people around 200 B.C., as documented by the Sangam Literature. Bearing this strain of thought we might also relate that Derozio has used 'Harp' as a means to portray the rich and varied culture of traditions that India possessed and which were now being suppressed by the British Raj. The poet seems to echo the reverberations likewise in the 3rd line, Thy music was once sweet who hears it now, implying that the rule of the British was actually a foil to India's own native heritage and the rhythm and music of such a rich tradition has been subdued if not completely erased.

There can be other speculations as to why Derozio has used 'Harp' and not any other instrument in its place. Bengal itself had a very interesting 'harp' culture in the past. There are numerous instances of carved harps in the temple reliefs of Bengal dating back to before 500AD but then the questions as to whether Derozio was privy about this or not. This is left to speculation itself.

This poem can be read as a sonnet but is different from the conventional sonnets with a rhyme scheme of 'a-b-a-b-b-a-b-c-d-c-d-c-b-b' and the poem begins with a question 'why hangs't thou lonely on yon withered bough?' but why does the poet begin with a question? During Derozio's time the British had completely colonised not only the physical being of the Indians but also the mental capabilities of the Indians were kept in shackles. This situation is adequately portrayed by Derozio in the opening line as questions were often thought of but never expressed due to the fear of Britishers. This single line portrays the psyche of a native Indian who has been both physically and mentally colonised by the Britishers and Derozio at the same time is questioning through the same confines of the same line as to the 'causes for such mental conolization too.

In the question 'why hang'st thau lonely on yon withered bough?' - 'thou' can be intepreted in a dual way, if we relate it with the title of the poem, it seems that 'thou' is being referred to a harp which is hanging from a shrivelled tree branch. This 'thou' can also be interpreted as a personification of the Indian natives who are being 'hang'st' by the British in withered India.

The entire constitution of the poem is an evolutionary process from being listless and gloomy to a gradual forceful build-up of yanking the causes of gloom away and replacing it by fervour and optimism for making things better. The usage of the words 'lonely', 'withered', 'unstrung forever' indicate a gloomy opening as the poet engages us to visualise an image of a neglected harp hanging on the almost dead branch. We are forced to consider and ponder the future of this listless harp 'Why is this harp left unstrung? Can this abandoned harp sing again?"

He continues through his reproachful broodings and conveys to us that this instrument was a harbinger of sweet melodies but, now that it is 'unstrung', the melodies are dormant, even the breeze blows over it unable to woke the harp from its stupor. One can easily image a young lad of age twenty approximately staring up at gulmohar and seeing the rusted old unstrung harp on the upper boughs and longing for its music to echo in the meandering passages of the oreille. There is a sense of concern while at the next instance there is a strong sense of ire in the poet when he says 'who hears it now'. The poet in order to convey both these contrasting emotions in a justifiable manner has used a hyphen. The shift from concern to ire is through the hyphen.

In the lines 5th and 7th of the poem, there is a shift in the setting of the poem and the poet has used imagery modifications and metaphor depictions and personification technique to emphasise the continuation of the thought that he wants to project. 'Silence hath bound thee with her fatal chain'. The 'thee' in this line is obviously a continuation of the thou' in the 1st line and it points to the same harp, but the point of interest - here is the 'silence' and 'her' words. 'Silence' is definitely a personification if we consider collaborating the meaning of 'her' in the same line. The poet has intended to show that 'Silence' is a female entity (due to the use of personal pronoun 'her') binding the harp to almost its death. It can also be stated that Derozio could easily have used the word 'death' instead of using 'silence' as the way he projects the harp in the previous line. But the word 'silence' makes it clear that the harp is just not making its presence felt instead of being completely non-existent. The death like silence has neglected and muted the harp and made it as useless as a 'ruined monument'. (7th line) in a desert. The imagery of the harp being in a similar state to ruins in a desert has three inferences regarding its past ('ruins'), a miserable prevent and uncertain future.

From the 8th line onwards, we find a shift in the focal point of the poem; it has now shifted from the 'unstrung' harp to the strummers and singers of the harp. There is also a shift in the poet's attitude as well. The poet seems conscious of a difference. For the harp, not for the ruin, however, there is a future as there is a strong possibility of the mute instrument regaining its power once able hand touch its strings.

Derozio laments the fact that in the desolate times of India, there is no significant poet to ignite the zeal and positivity to the native Indians. The poet shifts from the instrument to the strummers i.e. the great poets who once transfixed the listeners with their poetic brilliance. Their hand 'more worthy far' than his own, says Derozio, modestly had struck at the 'harmonious chords' in the past and the harp had then produced notes powerful enough to both enliven listeners and confer on the poets a kind of mortality. Though in their graves bodily, there maters remain alive through their act.

In colonised India, there was great requirement to instill the confidence in the natives against the British rulers. The poets of the past were all departed but if there was any chance that the harp could again be restrung and the musical notes could again be played then Derozio himself wants to take-up the once for such a revival. There is almost a great urgency portrayed by the poet to ignite this revival and the poet seems impatient to release India from its bound form. This is shown from the use of exclamation after the end line. Therefore, we find a plethora of emotions and aspirations that the poet has portrayed through the medium of words used and the case markings used. Just as the thoughts in our brain seem to jump to the next, Derozio has also carefully aligned to the same by overlapping two similar image settings having the same strain of gloomy thought, firstly; the unstrung harp on a withered bough and secondly, the desert ruins.

While Derozio's language is reminiscent of Byron and Moore, his ardent love for his country, his passion for social reform, and his tender and courageous humanity, are inventively his own. The intensity of feeling expressed in "The Harp of India' and the poet's firm conviction that his India will one day regain her past glory leave readers in no doubt that there was nothing foreign about the poet except his name over which, unfortunately he had no control.

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