Text of the Poem
Resilience
The unendurable is the beginning of the curve of joy. Djuna Barnes
Sparks
From an old anvil
Desiccated petals of fire
And the rafter
Blackened by generations of smoke,
Don’t give up:
Nothing lasts longer
Then what can be endured?
Boats on the river
And the flowering almond trees.
Love-
Cloudless wine,
But something is always lacking
Does man learn by suffering?
The night
Neither denies or affirms.
Glimpses (or memories) of perfection.
Cusp of the moon
Fortuitous conjunctions.
The leaf turns with the wind.
Introduction
The poem “Resilience” was written by Daud Kamal. Kamal was a Pakistani poet born in 1935 in Abbottabad. Kamal’s writing style is characterized by unconnected images, fragmentation, and blank verse with themes dealing with spiritualism, glorious past, and art. Kamal in this poem also incorporates these features.
Summary and Analysis of the Poem
Resilience is a poem written by Daud Kamal, a Pakistani poet. The title of the poem is significant as it highlights the basic theme of the poem “the ability to recover quickly from difficulties”. Kamal starts his poem with a quote from Nightwood a modernist piece written by Djuna Barnes: “The unendurable is the beginning of the curve of joy”. The quote presents the notion that one must deal with the endurable as after it comes immense joy. The poem is then divided into two parts. The first part starts with imagery of sparks rising from an old anvil. These sparks according to the poet appear to be dry petals of fire. This beautiful analogy is drawn between the sparks and petals. One can interpret that these petals of fire are a metaphor employed by the poet to artistically depict the sparks. The poet then draws another imagery of the blackened rafters. These rafters are blackened by smoke. Everything appears to be in darkness. But the narrator advises his audience not to give up. He points out that though everything appears to be dark one shouldn’t let go of hope:
“Don’t give up:
Nothing lasts longer
Then what can be endured”
This line connects us directly with verse 286, Surah Baqarah of Holy Quran: “Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear”. The last two lines of the first part of the poem again incorporate two different visual imageries i.e. boats on a river and almond trees.
The second part of the poem starts with the word “Love”. The poet connects this world with the imagery of cloudless wine. He is the next line clarifies the use of these two words that in life one thing or another is lacking. He is always in search of what he does not have. He then questions and asks the audience, “Does man learn by suffering?”. He answers his questions and clarifies that nothing is perfect and nothing lasts forever. The images of a half-moon, unexpected conjunctions, and a leaf tossed by the wind, all these images are incorporated by the poet. These images support the argument of the poet that nothing is perfect but the beauty lies in these imperfections.
Themes of the Poem
ResilienceResilience is the basic theme of the poem. The
term resilience refers to the quality to recover quickly from hardships. A
person should be resilient to be successful. The poet highlights that if the
person is capable of enduring hardships and recovering quickly from his
sufferings, only then he can achieve satisfaction.
- Impermanence
Impermanence is one of the most significant themes of the poem.
The poet highlights that everything is temporary even the hardships and the
sufferings. If one remains steadfast and endures everything vigilantly, only
then he can find eternal happiness. The poet many times highlights this theme
of the impermanent nature of sufferings. For instance, the quote of Djuna
Barnes which was borrowed by the poet highlights this temporariness of
hardships. The insurable times will soon be replaced by joy and happiness.
Similarly, the poet also highlights that nothing lasts forever, the cusp of the
moon, the unexpected conjunctions, and even a leaf. All these things
change.
- Tolerance
and Steadfastness
One of the main themes of the poem is tolerance. The poet in the
poet teaches his audience to be tolerant and enduring. He tells his audience to
remain steadfast in their work despite all the hardships. Even generations of
smoke and darkness cannot harm a person if he remains steadfast and tolerant. A
person should be tolerant of his hardship and sufferings and should be
steadfast in achieving his goal. Only then a person can be successful.
- Imperfection
and Beauty
Another significant theme of the poem is imperfection. According
to the poet, nothing remains forever. Everything is in one way or another
imperfect. These imperfections according to the poet are the reason for their
beauty. The cusp of the moon though is incomplete but is one of the most
artistic manifestations of nature. The unexpected conjunctions, though appear
to be rough are artistically symmetrical in their sense. Even the leaf which is
tossed by the wind is a manifestation of nature.
The poem is interpreted by Syeda Areeba Fatima, one of the permanent contributors to the SOL Community.
