Nissim Ezekiel Poems: Nissim Ezekiel was a profound poet during the 90s era. He was also known as the “Father of English Poetry in India”. Nissim Ezekiel won the Padmashri in 1983. the poet’s poem often revolves around the themes of love, personal observation, and modernization in Indian culture. His work shows the reality of India and its unique culture.
Also Read : Alfred Lord Tennyson Poems
1-Nissim Ezekiel Poems: The Night of the Scorpion
I remember the night my mother
Was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
Of steady rain had driven him
To crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison – flash
Of diabolic tail in the dark room –
He risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
And buzzed the name of God a hundred times
To paralyze the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
Throwing giant scorpion shadows
On the mud-baked walls
They searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison moved in Mother’s blood, they said.
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
Be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
The misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
Balanced in this unreal world
Against the sum of good
Become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
Of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
They said, and they sat around
On the floor with my mother in the center,
The peace of understanding on each face.
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours,
More insects, and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through,
Groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist,
Trying every curse and blessing,
Powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
Upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites
To tame the poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours
It lost its sting.
Explanation :
The poem “The Night of the Scorpion” is a narrative poem, in which the poet narrates a story when his mother was bitten by a scorpio. The poet shows the superstition environment in the Indian rural area and the pain of a suffering mother. The poet says that his father tried various remedies on his mother but did not take his mother to the doctor. The poem is a great contrast between reality and superstition.
2- Enterprise
Much to his pleasure and surprise
The Lord of Creation
Saw all His quarrels rise
When He woke up one day
And saw His work, so fine
And so excellent, somehow going wrong
Or getting bungled up.
Shivering in the cold, sweating in the heat,
And suffering hunger, thirst, fever,
And the sting of the gadfly and mosquito,
Man had not become a superman
And every sort of other-man.
Indeed, only the old Adam.
Making a mess of it, and not ashamed.
He had not kept his promise to take care of the animals.
In the difficult circumstances of the moment
Man did not look a potential dominator of nature
But a self-tormentor. Nature itself
Was not much better than man,
Being full of imperfections
Like earthquakes and drought,
And then producing the beautiful and the ugly
Indiscriminately, without apparent purpose.
The mountains, despite their picturesque appearance,
Were not a bit proud or pleasant to look at
When judged by their utility.
As for the sea, its waves rocked so much
And with such sad monotony, there were no fish
For thousands of miles, and all the mermaids
Had gone away on a holiday.
A particular wave lapped on the sand
And broke into a strange coughing,
And the sky was mostly full of dust.
Man, who had not yet discovered sex
Or philosophy, met other men,
And he was full of ego.
Man began to draw pictures of
Tigers and lions, but they did not
Turn out well, and the deer
Were always running away.
The trees were full of birds
That did not sing and cats that
Meowed and chased the same birds.
Then man began to sing,
Mostly hymns, and thought it was good.
He invented the wheel, but only a few
Wheels that rolled down the hill
And got lost in the valley,
And he was full of himself.
He ate apples and plums,
The fruit of the apple and the plum tree,
And grapes from the grape vine.
But he was dissatisfied.
With the taste of the apple and the plum,
And the taste of the grapes
the grapes gave him wind.
And he was much put out with himself
And began to be self-reproachful.
He was full of shame and
Even passed urine, but he was not
At all ashamed of passing urine.
Then he ate bread and rice,
And all sorts of rice and bread,
paid for them.
And was even more ashamed.
He had not paid for his vegetables
Or fruits or roots.
Man, whose occupation was scratching himself,
And who did not know the English language,
Much less a word like `enterprise’,
Decided to invent a new machine
And called it a plough.
Explanation :
The poem “Enterprise” is a humorous poem. The poem portrays the limitations and imperfections in various fields of human being. The poet didn’t like the attitude of human beings to create inventions again and again after failure. The poem shows the nature of the human being’s ego, ambition, and attitude.
3-Nissim Ezekiel Poems: The Professor
As it seems, I hear.
It has its fair share
Of secrets, its own lore,
Its angels, its demons,
Its politics, its war.
‘Tis a war of light and darkness,
Fought with courage and with skill.
‘Tis a war where never shall victory
Be proclaimed, but only good or ill.
The general is a professor
Who has studied well the books,
Who has polished the cannon,
But never had a battle. And so he sits
In his shining tower,
Commanding a foray here and a foray there,
Now sending troops to Mars,
Now sending them to Pluto,
Or some other frontier.
He watches their every move
On a screen in his room.
Now and then he sends them messages
To correct a wrong or praise a right,
To soothe the pain
Or cheer them to the fight.
And if they die
He does not grieve,
For he can always send more
From the earth or the moon,
Or some other place
Which he claims as his own,
With armies in waiting,
And factories and farms,
And well-trained workers
Biologists and guards
Who are clever and wise,
Who know what to do,
do not falter,
Who do not make mistakes.
For he has seen it all before,
In the books and the films,
classrooms and the lectures,
In the laboratories and the halls
Of learning, where he was king.
He is king no more,
But a general,
A general of space,
A general who fights,
Not with guns and bombs,
But with the laws of space,
With the mysteries of matter,
the secrets of being,
With the wisdom of the wise.
Explanation :
The poem “The Professor” conveys the theme of leadership. The poem narrates the story of a Professor who becomes a space general. The Professor is a very knowledgeable person but somehow lacks practical experience. The poem shows a good contrast between theory and practical knowledge. The poet wants to convey to the readers that there is a big difference between theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
4-The Patriot
I am standing for peace and non-violence.
Why world is fighting fighting
Why all people of world
Are not following Mahatma Gandhi,
I am simply not understanding.
Ancient Indian Wisdom is 100% correct,
I should say even 200% correct,
But modern generation is neglecting—
Too much going for fashion and foreign thing.
Other day I’m reading newspaper
(Every day I’m reading Times of India
To improve my English Language)
How one goonda fellow
Threw stone at Indirabehn.
She is our Prime Minister,
Very good lady, very very good lady—
And that fellow hit her on the forehead.
Gandhiji was shot in the chest,
But he forgave the man who shot.
Here also Indirabehn forgave the goonda.
I also read in the newspaper
That people of world are not liking us.
We are supposed to be very strong people.
How are we strong?
I don’t know.
We are getting free food
And five rupees,
And if we are very clever,
We are also getting free education
And some of us are getting
More free things like scholarships
And handsome fellowships.
But I think
We are not working 100% and
We are not reading 100%,
Otherwise, how can we
Explain the goonda business?
We are also neglecting
Our poor, old parents.
We say they are liability
And we must get rid of them.
Gandhiji says parents are gift of God.
But even if we are not liking that,
We should look after them nicely.
In America old men live in old people’s home,
I am not blaming them,
not blaming anybody.
I am only saying
We are neglecting our parents.
We must understand they are
Also human beings.
In this point of view
I am saying again 100% correct
That ancient Indian wisdom is correct 200%.
But modern generation
Neglecting old people,
Hating them,
This is totally wrong.
Sometimes I am
Wondering
What is 100% correct?
Ancient Indian Wisdom or
Modern Generation’s Latest Fashion?
I am not understanding.
So I am concluding that
I am standing for non-violence,
standing for peace,
I am talking about 100% peace,
And I’m saying
That it is 200% correct.
Explanation :
The poem “The Patriot” is a very intriguing poem that analyzes the current state of the world, the lost values of people, and the disconnection from their spirituality. The poet wants the people to become non-violent just like Mahatma Gandhi. The poet wants the readers to regain the ancient Indian wisdom and the teachings of Gandhi and replace it with violence and cruelty.
5-Nissim Ezekiel Poems: Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher
To force the pace and never to be still
Is not the way of those who study birds
Or women. The best poets wait for words.
The hunt is not an exercise of will
But patient love relaxing on a hill
To note the movement of a timid wing;
The slow to build the shape of everything.
If words came free as leaves upon a tree
New loves would hesitate to enter air.
If God had not made silence burst up there
None of these words would dispossess the sea.
In fact, the waves, the sea, the bird, the tree—
These are the words. You are the thing that is.
Explanation :
“Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher” is a reflective poem that revolves around the themes of Nature, Love, and Patience. The poet says that poetry and love not be forced on someone but both come naturally and need a lot of time to happen. The poet says that a person who is not patient cannot become a good poet and lover. The poem is a sense of love for nature and the importance of observation and patience.
6- Minority Poem
In my room, I talk
to my invisible guests:
they do not argue, but wait
Till I am exhausted,
then they slip away
with inscrutable faces.
I lack the means to change
their amiable ways,
although I love their gods.
It’s the language really
separates, whatever else
is shared. On the other hand,
Everyone understands
Mother Theresa; her guests
die visibly in her arms.
It’s not the mythology
or the marriage customs
that you need to know,
It’s the will to pass
through the eye of a needle
to self-forgetfulness.
The guests depart, dissatisfied;
they will never give up
their mantras, old or new.
And you, uneasy
orphan of their racial
memories, merely
Polish up your alien
techniques of observation,
while the city burns.
Explanation :
The poem “Minority Poem” is a poem that shows the complexities of human identity and belonging. “Minority Poem” is a poem that shows the difficulties of minorities in a diverse yet often divided world. The poem spreads awareness about the struggles minorities face regularly. The poem raises important questions about prejudice, discrimination, and the universal desire for acceptance and equality.
Who is the father of Indian English Poetry?
Nissim Ezekiel is the father of Indian English poetry.
7- Island
Unsuitable for song as well as sense
the island flowers into slums
and skyscrapers, reflecting
precisely the growth of my mind.
I am here to find my way in it.
Sometimes I cry for help
But mostly keep my own counsel.
I hear distorted echoes
Of my own ambigious voice
and of dragons claiming to be human.
Bright and tempting breezes
Flow across the island,
Separating past from the future;
Then the air is still again
As I sleep the fragrance of ignorance.
How delight the soul with absolute
sense of salvation, how
hold to a single willed direction?
I cannot leave the island,
I was born here and belong.
Even now a host of miracles
hurries me a daily business,
minding the ways of the island
as a good native should,
taking calm and clamour in my stride.
Explanation :
The poem “Island” explores the theme of loneliness and isolation from the outside world. The speaker Nissim Ezekiel shows his distinctness and his feeling of disconnection from the real world. The poet’s imaginary power makes the poem a thought-provoking poem.
What is the theme of Nissim Ezekiel’s Poems?
Ezekiel’s poetry often delved into themes of identity, cultural conflict, and human relationships.
7- The Hill
This normative hill
like all others
is transparently accessible
out there
and in the mind,
not to be missed
except in peril of one’s life.
Do not muse on it
from a distance:
it’s not remote
for the view only,
it’s for the sport
of climbing.
What the hill demands
is a man
with forces flowering
as from the crevices
of rocks and rough surfaces
wild flowers
force themselves towards the sun
and burn
for a moment.
How often must I
say to myself
what I say to others:
trust your nerves—
in conversation or in bed
the rhythm comes.
And once you begin
hang on for life.
What is survival?
What is existence?
I am not talking about
poetry. I am
talking about
perishing
outrageously
and calling it
activity.
I say: be done with it.
I say:
you’ve got to love that hill.
Be wrathful, be impatient
that you are not
on the hill. Do not forgive
yourself or other,
though charity
is all very well.
Do not rest
in irony or acceptance.
Man should not laugh
when he is dying.
In decent death
you flow into another kind of time
which is the hill
you always thought you knew.
Explanation :
The poem “The Hill” shows the hill as a metaphor for human difficulties and struggles. The poet portrays the hills as tall, unmoved, enduring various seasons, and with standing dynamics. The poem is a reflective piece that offers profound insights into the nature of life.
When did Nissim Ezekiel pass away?
Nissim Ezekiel passed away on January 9, 2004.
8- Soap
Some people are not having manners,
this I am always observing,
For example other day I find
I am needing soap
For ordinary washing myself purposes.
So I’m going to one small shop
nearby in my lane and I’m asking
for well-known brand soap.
That shopman he’s giving me soap
but I’m finding it defective version.
So I’m saying very politely — –
though in Hindi I’m saying it,
and my Hindi is not so good as my English,
Please to excuse me
but this is defective version of well-known brand soap.
That shopman is saying
and very rudely he is saying it,
What is wrong with soap?
Still I am keeping my temper
and repeating very smilingly
Please to note this defect in soap,
and still he is denying the truth.
So I’m getting very angry that time
and with loud voice I am saying
YOU ARE BLIND OR WHAT?
Now he is shouting
YOU ARE CALLING ME BLIND OR WHAT?
Come outside and I will show you
Then I am shouting
What you will show me
Which I haven’t got already?
It is vulgar thing to say
but I am saying it.
Now small crowd is collecting
and shopman is much bigger than me,
and I am not caring so much
for small defect in well-known brand soap.
So I’m saying
Alright OK Alright OK
this time I will take
but not next time.
Explanation :
“Soap” is a poem by Nissim Ezekiel, an Indian English poet. In this poem, Ezekiel explores the complexities of human existence and identity. The poem delves into the idea of cleansing and transformation, using the metaphor of soap. Ezekiel reflects on societal expectations and the pressure to conform, questioning the true essence of purity and the self.
What was Ezekiel’s impact on Indian literature?
Ezekiel played a significant role in shaping modern Indian poetry in English.
9- Jewish Wedding In Bombay
Her mother shed a tear or two but wasn’t really
crying. It was the thing to do, so she did it
enjoying every moment. The bride laughed when I
sympathized, and said don’t be silly.
Her brothrs had a shoe of mine and made me pay
to get it back. The game delighted all the neighbours’
children, who never stopped staring at me, the reluctant
bridegroom of the day.
There was no dowry because they knew I was ‘modern’
and claimed to be modern too. Her father asked me how
much jewellery I expected him to give away with his daughter.
When I said I did’t know, he laughed it off.
There was no brass band outside the synagogue
but I remember a chanting procession or two, some rituals,
lots of skull-caps, felt hats, decorated shawls
and grape juice from a common glass for bride and
bridegroom.
I remember the breaking of the glass and the congregation
clapping which signified that we were well and truly married
according to the Mosaic Law.
Well that’s about all. I don’t think there was much
that struck me as solemn or beautiful. Mostly, we were
amused, and so were the others. Who knows how much belief
we had?
Even the most orthodox it was said ate beef because it
was cheaper, and some even risked their souls by
relishing pork.
The Sabbath was for betting and swearing and drinking.
Nothing extravagant, mind you, all in a low key
and very decently kept in check. My father used to say,
these orthodox chaps certainly know how to draw the line
in their own crude way. He himself had drifted into the liberal
creed but without much conviction, taking us all with him.
My mother was very proud of being ‘progressive’.
Anyway as I was saying, there was that clapping and later
we went to the photographic studio of Lobo and Fernandes,
world-famous specialists in wedding portraits. Still later,
we lay on a floor-matress in the kitchen of my wife’s
family apartment and though it was part midnight she
kept saying let’s do it darling let’s do it darling
so we did it.
More than ten years passed before she told me that
she remembered being very disappointed. Is that all
there is to it? She had wondered. Back from London
eighteen months earlier, I was horribly out of practice.
During our first serious marriage quarrel she said Why did
you take my virginity from me? I would gladly have
returned it, but not one of the books I had read
instructed me how.
Explanation :
The poem “Jewish Wedding In Bombay” shows the tradition and culture of a Jewish Wedding in Mumbai, India. The poem captures the essence of a Jewish wedding, blending elements of Jewish customs with the vibrant colors and sounds of the Indian landscape. Through detailed imagery and lyrical language, the poem invites readers to experience the joy, rituals, and flavors of a Jewish wedding, while also highlighting the unique tapestry of cultural heritage found in the city of Bombay.
Is Nissim Ezekiel Muslim?
No, Nissim Ezekiel was a Jew.
10- A Very Indian Poem in Indian English
Green is paddy field.
Gold is paddy bird.
Green is peafowl’s neck.
Gold is peafowl’s throat.
Green is parrot.
Gold is parrot’s cheek.
Green is kingfisher.
Gold is kingfisher’s chest.
Green is water hyacinth.
Gold is sun on it.
Green is shadow of bamboo
on the sleepy rivulet.
Gold is bed of the river.
Green is old grass.
Gold is new grass.
Green is forest cattle.
Gold is forest grass.
Green is grasshopper.
Gold is grasshopper’s wing.
Green is buffalo.
Gold is buffalo’s eye.
Green is coriander.
Gold is turmeric.
Green is snake.
Gold is snake’s trail.
Green is a tiny patch
of grass in snake’s tail.
Innocent gold!
Grows there
without a money root.
Pure green!
It is only a colour.
No meaning,
no grammar, no logic!
Only a tail, only a tale
to tell to our children
before they go to bed.
Come back to our mind,
golden song, green hope.
Explanation :
The poem playfully weaves together colors, nature, and cultural symbols, creating a vivid tapestry that captures the essence of India and its linguistic diversity. Through its simplicity, the poem invites readers to appreciate the beauty of language and the richness of Indian English in a lighthearted manner.
12- The Guest
Are you the guest? Are you the one
Who must become a host today?
Is this a time for hospitality
When one is tired and quite dismayed?
Will you be welcomed? Will you be shunned?
Shall I be cursed or shall I be thanked?
What will I be, O what will I be?
It is too late to wonder or decide.
Explanation :
“The Guest” is a brief but impactful poem that captures the internal conflict of the speaker who is unsure about the reception of a guest. The uncertainty revolves around the role reversal of the host becoming the guest and vice versa. The poem hints at the complexities of cultural dynamics and the apprehensions that arise when roles are reversed or expectations are disrupted.
13- The Spider and the Lamp
A spider lost in curtains
Dropped, spun a thread
And started climbing back.
She left the curtains,
To explore a chair.
The chair led to a table,
The table to a shelf
Where things were scattered
Not like a curtain
But like a web.
She knew the spider’s hand.
Explanation :
“The Spider and the Lamp” is a concise yet evocative poem that symbolically captures the journey of life and the inherent tendency to create connections and structures. The spider, representing life, starts by exploring the curtains but moves on to other elements in the room, much like life’s journey taking unexpected turns.
14- If You Come To San Francisco
If you come to San Francisco
You will find it very busy.
If you come to San Francisco
You will find it very pretty.
It has to be pretty and busy
To please people like me.
If you come to San Francisco
You may have the idea
That its citizens are mad.
If you come to San Francisco
You may wonder
How such people earn a livelihood.
There are shops
In San Francisco, on the footpath.
Some of them are run
By Chinese people, I think.
Some of them are
Run by Negroes, or white men.
Explanation :
“If You Come to San Francisco” is a straightforward poem that presents a first-person perspective on the city of San Francisco. Ezekiel observes the city’s bustling nature and acknowledges its aesthetic appeal. The poem takes a humorous tone as the speaker wonders about the sanity and livelihoods of the city’s diverse inhabitants.
There are some of the best Nissim Ezekiel Poems with Explanations stay tuned for more great poems and updates.