Arrival of the monsoon by Taufiq Rafat Summary and Analysis |Line by Line|

Taufiq Rafat was born on 25-October-1927 in Sialkot (India). By the side of the partition in 1947, Sialkot became a part of Pakistan, and he, with his family, returned to it. He got his earlier education from Aligarh and completed his graduation from Hailey College of Commerce in Lahore.

 

Read also: Comparative Analysis between Ezra Pound and Taufiq Rafat

He was a renowned Pakistani English poet and author. He started writing at the younger age of 12 years. He is one of those legendary poets who is considered a pioneer of Pakistani literature. He gave a modern elegance to creative writing in English. His writing style is unique and concise. His conversational language of literature precisely expresses Pakistani culture, society, traditions, and norms.

Taufiq RafBat was a great humanitarian that wrote almost 116 poems based on the concept of tradition, seasons, nature, and other various aspects of life. His illustrious idioms can be perceived in his collection of poems, such as Arrival of the Monsoon, Kites, Pigeons, Gliding, Rainy Water, clouds, etc. Due to the vast assemblage of the poem, he is considered a composer of Pakistani idiom.

After surviving a stroke in 1984, he could not write for the next 14 years. He died peacefully at home in 1998 at 71 in Lahore. 

                                             

Overview

In this poem, Taufiq Rafat expressed his views in an energetic and light-hearted way. The poem's composition is based on Love of Nature and also describes the beautiful weather condition. It can also refer to the critical condition of liberty in Pakistan. It is written cheerfully so the readers can visualize themselves as part of the scenario.

Based on the metaphor and personifications used by the poet, there are two different interpretations of the poem;

Weather condition.

The freedom movement of the subcontinent in 1947.

Line 1-3

       "Before the thrust of this liberating wind

        Whatever is not fixed, has a place to go,

        Strains northwards to the coniferous land."

In the first stanza, the poet used exceptional techniques to define the pleasure of blowing wind after a chaotic summer. Everything that was ruthless and unstable before this season is now well-adjusted and established.

An alternative way to illuminate this line is that before 1947, the entirety was jumbled up, and every single person faced excessive complications in all aspects of life. Individuals with no identity before freedom will have their state in the form of PAKISTAN. Every person will carry equal rights in their new coniferous (independent) land. All things will be in an appropriately ordered position. The brutality of the messy weather is transformed due to the pleasing and refreshing wind. The amusing breeze started moving from the northern area, rich with conifer trees, which generates a lovely environment for the people.

Line 4-6

          "And drunk with motion, clothes on the washing line

               Are raised above themselves; a flapping sheet

                       Turns a roof corner into a battlement."

The second stanza summarized the most common culture of Pakistan in Monsoon conditions. When an abrupt airstream knock-backs, the clothes on the washing strip, leave the boundaries of the house and start waving in the air. The unusual fluctuating sound of clothes striking the wind converts the region into a battle scene.

These three lines explained the whole dangerous situation of the 1974 war. The part of the land was full of violence and bloodshed. Kit and kin were killing each other, and there was more blood than human beings. Even home, which is considered the utmost harmless and safest place, was obeying the rules of battle land.

Line 7-9

           "Gliding days are over. The birds are tossed

       Sideways and back, and lifted against their will.

             They must struggle to achieve direction".

These lines show efforts made by birds and people to move in a blowy climate as the calmness of the wind is ended, so the whole thing in such circumstances is losing its path. Everything is stirring in the desired direction. To accomplish the accurate course, they must struggle to get their destiny.