Tuesday, May 07, 2024

The wind: A powerful literary symbol...William H Davies, Arun Kolatkar, Philip Larkin, Joseph Conrad

 The Villain by William H Davies  

“While joy gave clouds the light of stars,

That beamed wher'er they looked;

And calves and lambs had tottering knees,

Excited, while they sucked;

While every bird enjoyed his song,

Without one thought of harm or wrong—

I turned my head and saw the wind,

Not far from where I stood,

Dragging the corn by her golden hair,

Into a dark and lonely wood.”

काय डेंजर वारा सुटलाय

           अरुण कोलटकर, "अरुण कोलटकरच्या कविता",  १९७७

 

"अरे तुझी टोपी

तुझी टोपी गेली खड्ड्यात

कपाळ पहिलं सांभाळ

काय डेंजर वारा सुटलाय

डोसक्यात कचरा

धूळ धूळ डोक्यात

 

साहेबाची खिडकी फुटली

गादीवर काचा काचा

आपोआप गुंडाळतोय

पंजाब्याचा गालिचा

पार्शिणीचा फ्लावरपाट

गडाबडा लोळतोय

 

सिंधीणीच्या दांडीवरली

म्हागडी नायलॉन साडी

चालली वार्‍यावर हवाई झाज

नवव्या मजल्यावरल्या

बंगाल्याचा लेंगा लगेच

लागला तिच्या पाठी..."

 Wedding-Wind by Philip Larkin

"The wind blew all my wedding-day,

And my wedding-night was the night of the high wind;

And a stable door was banging, again and again,

That he must go and shut it, leaving me

5Stupid in candlelight, hearing rain,

Seeing my face in the twisted candlestick,

Yet seeing nothing. When he came back

He said the horses were restless, and I was sad

That any man or beast that night should lack

10The happiness I had.

                                     Now in the day

All’s ravelled under the sun by the wind’s blowing.

He has gone to look at the floods, and I

Carry a chipped pail to the chicken-run,

Set it down, and stare. All is the wind

15Hunting through clouds and forests, thrashing

My apron and the hanging cloths on the line.

Can it be borne, this bodying-forth by wind

Of joy my actions turn on, like a thread

Carrying beads? Shall I be let to sleep

20Now this perpetual morning shares my bed?

Can even death dry up

These new delighted lakes, conclude

Our kneeling as cattle by all-generous waters?"

 

Joseph Conrad:

"...A big, foaming sea came out of the mist; it made for the ship, roaring wildly, and in its rush it looked as mischievous and discomposing as a madman with an axe. One or two, shouting, scrambled up the rigging; most, with a convulsive catch of the breath, held on where they stood. Singleton dug his knees under the wheel-box, and carefully eased the helm to the headlong pitch of the ship, but without taking his eyes off the coming wave. It towered close-to and high, like a wall of green glass topped with snow. The ship rose to it as though she had soared on wings, and for a moment rested poised upon the foaming crest as if she had been a great sea-bird. Before we could draw breath a heavy gust struck her, another roller took her unfairly under the weather bow, she gave a toppling lurch, and filled her decks. Captain Allistoun leaped up, and fell; Archie rolled over him, screaming: — ”She will rise!”..."