POETRY +
ESSAYS +
MUSIC +
TRAVEL +
FICTION +
TEXTILE ART
On June 24, 1998, in the middle (quite literally) of my Forms Project,
i.e. The Desolations Poems, and because I was taking a class from
Vikramaditya Prakash in "Architecture and (Post) Colonial Theory: The
Jaipur Case Study" I decided to compose a poem each day relating to
India, Architecture, et al. The form I chose that first day was the Short Couplet II -- a modest
beginning. The next day I used an Italian form, the Capitolo. By the following day,
however, I was searching in my "Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and
Poetics" for Sanskrit and Muslim/Persian forms. On the third day, armed
with a reference list from Dr. Prakash, I went to the library and, surfing
the catalog, began to find delicious things, including the article from
whose Introduction I quote below.
Scanning a number of books, I soon discovered that there were at least 800
Sanskrit Forms and 500 Dravidian Forms. So far, I haven't had time to
look up the Persian references. Fortunately, I had already written a
couple of Qasida, a Ghazal and a few Rubai -- all Persian forms.
Summer Term A lasts only for one month. So, below the quote from
Raghavan, you will find the twenty-one poems that I wrote for the class
intermixed with fifteen other poems, some in forms, others in
free verse, all written since I first visited India eighteen years ago.
These I included because I found that the subject matter of the class
tended to encourage my already strong tendency toward didactism,
particularly when writing about the Raj. Consequently, they gave little
hint of the immense love and respect I feel toward
India -- its culture, its architecture and its philosophy.
At the moment, I remain undecided whether to add the 800 + 500 + Persian
forms to The Desolation Poems, The Poetic Forms Used in English Project
whose parameters were to include all English forms and forms from any
other language used in English. Of course, if I do write the poems, then
these 1,300+ forms will exist in English! Many of the Sanskrit forms,
indeed, are my favorite kind of form: syllablic and unrhymed. Since I had
originally estimated that approximately 400 forms are used in English, I
may -- in six or seven years, at one poem a day -- end up with some 2,000+
forms.
In the meantime, the Jaipur Sequence does not necessarily need to be read
in the order in which I have placed them. There is an Index at the end of
this Introduction as well as at the end of each of the thirty-six poems.
Just click on the name of the form (or poem) to bring up the one
you want to read. (The numbers prefacing most of the forms, simply refer
to the random order in which they were written.)
"The earliest Sanskrit literature that we possess is in metrical form; indeed, it is called after the Sanskrit word meaning meter, Chandas.... The word Chandas itself means Metre as well as Idea and Desire; and it therefore appears possible that when the Vedic poets called their measured utterances Chandas they meant that these utterances are an Incarnation of their mental idea or vision. That the very act of perfecting such an utterance perfected, in the process, the mind and person of the poet is emphasised by another Vedic observation that Chandas is Silpa* and Atmasamskara.** As the root 'Chand' means 'to please' or 'make one favourable to oneself', Chandas might also have signified an utterance designed to please a god and secure his favour. A god invoked by a Chandas is supposed to mount that Chandas as his vehicle; thus did Chandas become a chariot, Ratha. As an act of skill and beautification, the art of versification was compared to the most well-known craft of the times, chariot building. The Vedic poets were self-conscious versifier."
Having worked on Poetic Forms now for over 233 consecutive days, I
notice a shift in consciousness, awareness and, needless-to-say,
courage, as I build this "chariot for the Gods."
Let's Look At The Old Films of India
#214, Jagati, ORNAMENT AND CRIME
#223, Skandhodgrivi. COLONIAL DESIRE
Jan Haag may be reached via e-mail: jhaag@janhaag.com or jhaag@u.washington.edu