The two great legendary poets of sub-continent that earned
international fame in the modern times are undoubtedly Allama Iqbal and
Rabindranath Tagore. Both the poets are brilliant luminaries on the literary
firmament of Indo-Pak Sub-continent, having to their credit outstanding
contributions in the field of poetry and thought. It is, however, not possible
to give a complete picture of these two master-minds in all their colours within
the frame-work of a single article. Different approaches from different
view-points will be necessary for such a comprehensive study.
Rabindranath
Tagore lived in a period when the whole sub- continent was
in the clutches of British raj but the demand of separate nationhood was
becoming louder and stronger at every passing day. His poetry and thought have been
inspired by the teachings of the Vedanta or the Upanishad of
which he was a votary. The poetry of Tagore usually revolves
around the vicissitudes of life, Hindu mysticism, devotional and folk songs. As
a poet he was very much fond of music, dance, stage and painting. The green
buds of garden, flowery bower, chirping of birds; calm flow of rivers and the
songs of mountain brooks is the hallmark of his poetry. The beautiful eyes
of Bengali belle with waving ringlets
while sitting at the quay and filling their water pots was the sight of highest
romantic feeling which always exuberated the heart of poet. The
following extracts from Rabindranath will bear me out:
Bend
down my head under the dust of your feet
Drown
my egotism into my tears…
I
have come to this world only as a pawn of your sports
My
own desires will die unto your pleasure and love
And
in weal and woe, none shall survive except you.
At the early stage of his poetry he was tilted
towards the love poetry but as his poetic art grows with the passage of time it
turned to be the sole flight of his cognition and realism. For him the concept
of luxurious life was just to sit in the moonlit night and to undulate lightly
in gold like yacht on the calm and pure waters of river. In this yacht a
beautiful Bengali belle puts her head on the thighs of poet and is delicately
touching the stars. Then the Poet is singing in a light tune. The direction of
the yacht and the flow of river is running continuously towards the horizon. Rabindranath
is out and out a mystic poet of Pantheism, bordering, at places, on paganism
How
beautiful and alluring is this fantasy but who can say to this extent that our
proposed existence can be attained by having just these few provisions? Who can
say, that life is only the name of singing, kissing and loving but in reality
life is totally different and in fact not a bed of roses. In comparison to the
river of Tagore Allama Iqbal’s river is roaring and even the consumption of his
river is different to the Tagore’s river.
Let’s
concentrate on the Allam Iqbal’s idealism
Romance
and realism are two different things. In the poetry of Tagore romance is lavishly
present everywhere but the glimpses of reality can also be seen in the crude
form. However in the poetry of Allama Iqbal realism is present to such extent that
hardly you find any ingredients of romance in it.
For
us Tagore from the beginning to the end of his literary carrier was a poet and
remained poet forever. His university and his social reformation, his politics
was mundane and a thing of digression. His couplet in any circumstances never
remains aloof from the heart, romance and Bengali belles. But in the poetry of
Iqbal, from the beginning to the end of his literary carrier he was a pedagogue
and also died as a pedagogue. His poetry always tries to inculcate the real
value of an individual, nation and endow in us the competency or capability to
live in this world.
But
when the mind and heart are at war and feel exhausted due to the dilemma of
world caused by the material pursuits. When the longing desire for worldly
comforts start manifesting in the way of action and resolve to struggle for
life. When the traveler embarks on the highway of life, feeling the heat of
mercury and without seeing any remedy to refresh thyself just to take a rest
under the shadowy tree. That time the poetry of Tagore can work as a heavenly
drink and provide a relief to the tired nerves.
Both
the poets lived almost in the same age when the sub continent was up against
colonialism and the slogan of freedom was on the tip of tongue on both the
cleric and priest. Every young and elder were restless to see the country as a
free sovereign nation. The Allama Iqbal presents that burning desire like that.
LO PHIR IK BAR WAHI BADA-O- JAM SAQI
HATH AH JAI MUJE
MERA MAQAM AE SAQI
Set out once
more that cup that wine, oh Saki!
Let my true
place at last be mine, oh Saki!
To be pessimistic in the campaign against oppression is not permissible in the religion of Allam Iqbal. He explains this thought in the verse.
NAHIN HAI NA-UMEED
IQBAL APNI KISHT-E- WEERAN SE
ZARA NAM HO TO
YE MITTI BOHAT ZARKHAIZ HAI SAQI
But of this
barren acre Iqbal will not despair:
A little rain
and harvests shall wave at last, oh Saki!
On his death Rabindranath Tagore wrote: "The deatlh of Sir Muhammad Iqbal creates a void in literature that like a mortal wound will take a very long time to heal. India, whose place in the world is too narrow, can ill afford to miss a poet whose poetry had such universal value." Chughtai has presented some interesting details. He tells us that despite being contemporaries and compatriots, the two poets never met each other. They did not even exchange letters. No written proof of a contact between them is traceable. However, it is said that once Tagore, while in Lahore, tried to meet Iqbal. He paid a visit to his Mayo Road residence but Iqbal was absent, gone to Bhopal for his medical treatment
