Blessing, Imtiaz Dharker Flashcards
Meaning
- Journey from anticipation to euphoria when water arrives in Bombay Slum
- Explores suffering of those who experience drought & feelings when find water
- Celebration of life-giving power of water
- Role played by religion in malnourished countries
- i.e. Water being gift from divine presence
Imagery #1
“skin cracks like a pod.”
- “skin”
- Surface of earth - soil
- Personification of ground of India
- Dryness of the earth
- Skin of people of Mumbai
- Skin become dehydrated during dry season
- Surface of earth - soil
- “cracks”
- Cracks = literal due to dehydration
- So hot - reference of drought
- So bad we can hear it
- Harsh ‘c’ (constant sound) = unsettling
- Reflects harshness of environment (drought)
- Onomatopoeia
- Sense of immediacy & realism = intensity of the event
- Cracks = literal due to dehydration
- “pod”
- Falls from plant and opens = spilling its seed to start new life
- Dehydrated but shows potential for new beginning to come from it
- Falls from plant and opens = spilling its seed to start new life
Imagery #2
“municipal pipe bursts silver crashes to the ground”
- Metaphor for treasure
- “silver”
- Contrast with other metals (for collecting water)
- Highlights scarcity & value
- Precious metal - coins and money
- Water more valuable than money to these people
- Contrast with other metals (for collecting water)
- “crashes”
- Weight of water flowing out
- Heavy and full - lots of water
- Weight of water flowing out
- “pipe burst”
- Frantic nature / sudden rush of water
- Showcases desperation/difficult struggle &
tension- Intense environment
- Water is there but kept from people
- Uneducated/malnourished are superstitious
- Driven to belief it’s a blessing = may be everyday act
- Poem poses differences of experiences
Tone
Volta: desperation/anxious to euphoria
“drip”, “splash”, “bursts”
- Juxtaposes small vs large amount
- = Build of excitement
Empathetic & concerned
- Voice of speaker = voice of privileged
- Syntax of “never is” + pronoun “their”
- Mourning for society
- See bursting of pipe as miracle as blessing
- But oblivious to wider implication that water’s being kept from them
Structure #1
Free verse
- Mirror outpouring of water & emotion of people when municipal pipe bursts
- But stanzas cleverly constructed
- Beginning - when no water = stanzas short and brief
- As though words are dried up
- When water erupts from pipe = stanzas become
long and flowing - Stanzas 3 and 4 connected by enjambment
- Flowing syntax mimics flowing water gushing from broken pipe
- Beginning - when no water = stanzas short and brief
Structure #2
Heavily enjambed lines
- Mirroring flow of water
- Chaos produced out of struggle for water
- Interconnected - nature of God & people
- Lyrical, magical quality
Name 4 poem comparisons
- “Prayer Before Birth”
- “Hide and Seek”
- “War Photographer”
- “The Tyger”
“Prayer Before Birth” Comparison
Anxieties of unborn child about world
VS
Miraculous good fourteen of children who live in hardship
“Hide and Seek” Comparison
Boy excluded from community during the game
VS
Community which comes together for miracle of unexpected good fortune
“War Photographer” Comparison
Photographer tries to raise awareness of hardships of
people in other countries
VS
People of slums who find moment of happiness within suffering
“The Tyger” Comparison
Comparisons between poet wondering at gifts God gives which are violent and dangerous
VS
& blessing given (water) in time of drought
Conclusions
- Significance of symbol water
- Universal analogy of human desires/needs
- Basic whereas were more arrogant/oblivious
- Attack on us being materialistic
- Universal analogy of human desires/needs
- Religion meaning different things to different people
