Henry Louis Vivian Derozio - White Poet Brown At Heart

Ishita

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio - White Poet Brown At Heart

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, despite being a Foreign Poet, writes for India and wishes well for the country- using many poetic devices he emphasizes his patriotism towards India making him a White poet who was Brown at heart.

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, source: Wikimedia Commons

Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was born and brought up in Calcutta. He was brought up in vivid surroundings as his father had Indo-Portuguese ancestors and his mother was English. Due to such an upbringing, Derozio contributed to Indian literature and was one of the first Indian poets who wrote in English.

His composition consisted of patriotic poetry, where he would encourage the people of India to bring back the glorious and harmonious days which were once there in India before the British came in.

Both poems have a patriotic feeling and focus on the pain the poet goes through when he sees a beautiful nation like India submitting herself under British rule. Both of them are written in the form of sonnets with the thematic pattern of octet and sestet. In the poem The Harp of India, the poet first describes the central problem: the decline of the Indian traditional poetry in an octet. Later he talks about the revival of that rich poetry as a resolution to the issues in the sestet. Similarly, in India My Native Land, the poet divides the problems in octets and the solution or the conclusion in the sestet. The poet questions the glory of India and where it has gone in the octet and the sestet; he concludes that India will never be the same as it was before. In both poems, the poet talks about how India was culturally rich. In the first poem, he uses the metaphor of the harp to refer to the rich art and tradition of Indian poetry. Whereas in the following poem, he metaphorically compares India to a Divine Goddess.

He asks a rhetorical question in both the poetry he has written; in Harp of India; he asks why such rich tradition of Indian poetry does lie neglected like a broken harp? He commences the first poem with a question, whereas in the following poem, he begins with “My country!...round thy bow” and then questions where the glory and reverence of India have gone?

In both of his works, the poet expresses his concerns about a culturally rich nation like India that has been exploited since the British came in. Though the end might differ, the poet in both works wants to put his time and effort into regaining the cultural and traditional Indian poetry or the glorious days of India.

What makes the poetry slightly different is how it changes towards the end. The poem, The Harp Of India starts with a question as mentioned above and uses many poetic devices to shape the poem. The poet compares the culture of India to a Harp that now has broken strings, which again refers to the British exploiting the Indian culture. The line ‘who hears it now?” is about the harp, as it is such an old classical instrument that nobody listens to its music anymore. Similarly, the poetry of ancient times is being neglected now (when the poem was written). The poet then personifies the term fatal chains with the fetter of submissive lives of Indians under the British Dominance, which has led to neglected and exploited Indian traditions and poetry. The poet compares the condition of the neglected poetry with an abandoned historical monument using a simile, “like a ruined monument.” The poet goes on with how the poets who once were considered the heart of Indian literature or poetry live no more, and thus it suffers and thus ends the poem with a sort of commitment to revive the country again by its rich source of poetry and literature.

In the poem, To India My Native Land, the poet starts with a personification or an apostrophe and asks a rhetorical question, as mentioned above. The poet uses a metaphor between those lines to compare India to a deity or a divine goddess. He again metaphorically compares India to an eagle that is chained and thus cannot fly. At the same time, the eagle (that is, India) in the past was a regal bird that would fly around without any fears. However, after the British dominance, the eagle was chained, and her freedom (the days of glory) was taken away. Here the poet once again talks about how the singers and the poets are no more to bring India back to its glorious days.

Yet, he likewise wishes to revive India, but he is also apprehensive that the world might not see India as it has seen before “…these wrecks sublime which human eye may never more behold”.

Even though both the poetry might have a similar beginning, The Harp Of India is more of a good and romantic work of Derozio, whereas To India My Native Land presents a more realistic and apprehensive thought of the poet about the future of India.

The Europeans thought of them as the superior race and the fittest for survival and thus believed that it was their moral duty to rule upon all the other parts of the world and impose their culture on others in the name of “God, gold, and glory”. Despite belonging to that group of people, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio contributed a lot to Indian literature and saw India as its land. His work might have been written in English, but that does not make him less of an Indian because, in his poetry, he finds his roots in India and calls it his native land. Thus, I would consider Henry Louis Vivian Derozio an Indo-Anglian poet.

From his compositions, two of such poetry: The Harp of India; and To India, My Native Land, show a variety of similarities as well as differences. Both poems are written with the similar idea of how India was culturally rich and slowly, all its richness was exploited and looted due to British colonialism; yet they also differ in the meaning, which will be explained thoroughly. Lastly, the poet’s view of the nation and its people will also be discussed.