There is the large format and then there is the small. It can be witnessed in every form of art, of creative art, visual art, dance music, theatre. So there are large canvases, large art works, huge sculptures and installations, murals, frescoes, and there are the miniature forms of art in paintings, sculptures and crafts in different media. So is the case with the other art forms: smaller or mini versions, of creative art. Rasikas and art connoisseurs enjoy all variants.
In food, too, there are large and small servings. And bite-sized and small preparations. As for instance, cocktail samosas and cocktail idlis. Similarly, there are jumbo-sized fruits, and there are the baby tomatoes, baby cabbage and baby corn that too make for delicacies. Either way, the goodies are delectable and relished.
Similarly in literature, there are novels and there are novellas. There is prose that is long-winded and there is poetry. A poem succinctly expresses a thought, idea, feeling or emotion. Whether it is a sonnet or a couplet or a haiku, a ballad or a narrative, a eulogy or an elegy and whether the verse is in rhyme or blank.
Even a long poem like The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning, my favourite, is one that I can read when I am tired, happy or sad, and yet be delighted. It’s no doubt 303 lines long, but it is a short way of presenting a long story. The poem, penned for a child of one of Browning’s friend’s, has a lovely story to tell, a great moral to share. Poetry is best listened to when recited.Whatever the form or format, whether mushairas or slams. Though, of course, reading it all by oneself does not take away from the pleasure.
Today, however, poetry does not get the appreciation and encouragement the creators of the art and craft deserve. So there are few recitation fora for poets, few, if at all, publishers willing to take up publishing poetry collections, and poets hardly ever earning anything.
So it was a great initiative that the UN designated March 21 as World Poetry Day. “Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures,” the UN noted.
The commemoration seeks to recognise “the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind.”
It would be highly gratifying if poetry as a form of literary art is given the fillip it needs. If various novel fora are designed for recitation where poets are enthused to present their works, if publishers are able to encourage and publish, if only small print runs, of poetry books—collections of single poets and eclectic anthologies of poets.
Who knows how many Tulsidases, Kabirs, Surdases and Byrons, Shelleys and Shakespeares will enchant, enthral and enlighten readers and connoisseurs. And how many small-time poets (me included) will be encouraged.