I came in contact with poet Martin Ijir through his prose poetry though they were fleeting glances. They caught my attention at once but alluded after sometime in flood of poems upon social media. When I perused through his collection of prose poetry “Eeries of Silence“ in much personal mode it was a novel moment for me. Words appeared warm even in winter ,such a catchy choice was there.
In a mischievous moment prose poetry has been defined as “A poetry set at ninety degrees”. It has been written in horizontal block. Blocks compressed traditional verse in such a revoltic way that instead of distortion it got melted away in magical form retaining every essence of poetry except its outer outline though lines were unbreakable. Prose poetry is of varied types like POSTCARD, FACTOID, DEADPAN NARRATIVE AND SURREAL NARRATIVE. Collection “Eeries Of Silence” is not a particular type but it is a beautiful blend of varied hues of prose poems.
In literary stylistic analysis also called New Criticism, the main focus remains entirely on the text ,the words on the page , that are in front of you. Here it is examined how the poet expresses his theme and tone through the stylistic devices like imagery, alliteration, assonance, rhyme, point of view. It simply squeezes all possible juice out of the poem and how they are arranged, without regard to the poet’s life or times.
In the poem “Night“ he says “stuttering clicks of whispering voices foretold how dark souls became when night comes”. His use of imagery is magical, as the pitch of sound ascends in silence at night.
He says “I can decipher her voice like a lady sobbing the loss of her groom“. The Poet’s probing eyes glances so deep. He feels pain at an abstract level.
In the poem “Distance Sky“ he says “one must be blind outside, and be able to see inside the stairs of our soul that one can walk upon the distant sky”. A perfect promulgator of surrealism! The poet has used surreal narrative in a wonderful way as he tells about iceberg tears, glimpses of melting sun with closed eyes, etc.
In the poem ”Dust” he says my body dies, my spirit becomes dust then my soul transcend unto pillaging bed of refurbishment. A metaphysical, vicious cycle of destruction and renovation !
The Poet uses many metaphors, similes, and imagery like in “eternal Ivy” an exalted seat of soul , pearls of gold found in Persian rivers, glamorous rose with whitening effeminate qualities etc.
Overall it could be said that poets has deep philosophical fire burning deep inside . A philosopher is like a dry desert where there is always a lack of limpidity of poetry. But a true poet must always be a philosopher.The Poet’s efficiency depends on how meticulously he hides philosophy in the core of seed and gives a multiple layering of magic which sucks out all dryness in its magical touch .
Poet has proved it indeed !
Dr Pragya Suman
copyright @pragyasuman 28 / 2/ 2020
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