To The Moon: Henry Derozio
Henry Derozio is the first acknowledged poet among the Indo-Anglican poets.
Derozio was generally considered an Anglo-Indian, being of mixed Portuguese
descent, but he was fired by a patriotic spirit for his native Bengal, and
considered himself Indian in his poem To India My Native Land. Henry Louis
Vivian Derozio was born on 18 April 1809 and died on 26 December 1831. He
was an English-language Indian poet, and a lecturer and assistant headmaster at
the Hindu College of Calcutta. He invigorated a large group of students to think
independently; this Young Bengal group played a key role in the Bengal
renaissance. His poems have an affinity with the English romantic poets in their
love for nature. He has also treated the theme of love, patriotism and transitions
of life. The Derozio’s poems are often lyrical and have a personal tone. His
poetry is rich in Indian myths, imagery and sentiments. He yokes together the
English romantic spirit and the Indian myth. One can also notice melancholic
strain pervading all his poems. Derozio‘s idea of Nature can broadly be explored
in his poems exclusively on Nature such as Evening in August, Morning after
a storm, A Walk by Moonlight, To the Dog Star and poems with the
descriptions of Nature such as The Fakeer, The Golden Vase. Derozio
appreciated the detailed presentation of Nature. He imitates Nature as described
by first and second generation Romantic poets and strives to experience Nature
as they experienced. H. M. Prasad rightly remarks “like the nineteenth century
romantic poets, he sings in poetry a process of recollect, a wild tour of
imagination, an enchanting, look at the past, a passionate love for nature and a
powerful invocation of the Muse.” Derozio’s interest in Nature of India must
have been moulded by his reading of the Romantic poets of Lake District which
includes Robert Southey, William Wordsworth and S T Coleridge.
Derozio’s “To the Moon” is in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet. The octave
(first 8 lines) presents a picture of the moon wandering lonely through the wide
sky in a melancholic spirit. The sestet (last six lines) answers the question of the
poet regarding the sadness of the moon. The poet imagines the moon wanders
lonely on the night sky with grief upon her cheeks. He wonders whether the
moon is sad because of a sense of guilt at having done a dark deed. He also
assumes that the moon is sad because her hopeful dreams have been shattered
but the poet realizes that the moon is only sensitive to fret and fever (sorrow) of
the human world. The spiritual illness of the earth has indeed touched the heart
of the moon. The poet concludes that the sorrow that “inundate this world” have
affected the moon and made her pale with sympathy.
The poet makes query to the moon that it seems you have done some
apprehensive deed so wandering or roving in the spacious paradise. The cheek
of the moon is full of sorrow lost in hopelessness. The moon is so depressed and
uneasy that it is not in the condition to take rest or find any shelter for
relaxation. The moon which was supposed to be bright but it appears to be dull;
the gloominess had covered the whole beauty.
The poet finds the answer to the dullness of the moon. The situation and
circumstances have taken away all the imaginations and beauty leaving no
space of anticipation of happiness. The sorrow has strong hold over the
beautiful dreams. The moon is sad to see the bad condition of human beings on
the earth. The moon finding itself close to earth could enjoy the beauty of nature
and the blooming pleasure of the dawn or origination of earth.
But now its eyes is fixed on the sorrow of showers the earth is submerged in.
the sorrow has laid so much impact on the moon that it has lost its own beauty,
hope and charm.
H L V Derozio, the first poetic genius of India, portrays Nature in his utmost
poetry in Romantic veins. His passions and gist are not only clearly represented
Nature but Nature has also supplemented them.
