Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 1, Number 2. November 2018. ISSN: 2581-7094
Soothing Serenades: Straight from the Heart
(A Collection of Love Poems)
by Bhaskaranand
Jha, Authorspress,
New Delhi, 2018, January 16, 2018,
ISBN-13978-0-8021-2751-8,
Pp.:113.
A poet of rare virtue, Bhaskaranand Jha, in his
collection of love poems, Soothing Serenades has attempted an
exploration of one of the most mysterious and esoteric of all human emotions,
that is love, and from diverse dimensions and with adept ingenuity. Love poems
have intrigued poets and enthralled readers since time immemorial, for, in the
words of Shakespeare, “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long
lives this, and this gives life to thee.” This is exactly what Bhaskaranand
does in his poetry. He bestows life to his notion of love. In this repertoire
of 62 love poems he defines, describes, explicates, ennobles and rediscovers
love from multiple perspectives, ranging from youthful and visceral love to
sublime and spiritual love. Yet his journey seems insatiable for each new poem
begins with the same gloss, reaches the same lofty pedestal of emotional
crescendo and leaves the heart with a desire for more. In this brief review of
mine I intend to emphasise on the different aspects of love elucidated by the
poet, the elevation to which his poetry rises as a result and the echoes of
tranquility that reverberate in the hearts of the readers long after the
serenades are heard no more.
To begin with, I shall focus on Jha's view of love
as an emotion that is undefinable in its entirety and immeasurable in its
depth. In his fourth poem 'Love', he describes it as “a fantasy”, “a willing
drug” and “a sweet invisible relation”. However, the inability to concretize
the definition makes him realise that love is indeed “an enigma/Beyond the understanding/Of
the body and the mind”. It is this unfathomable trait of love that bewilders
the poet in his frantic attempt to define it in 'The Definition of Love'.
Through a series of negations, in the lines -
“Love
is neither a flower to lie withered
Nor
chocolates to be devoured
Nor
a teddy to be played with...
Nor
is it a mere, trivial proposal”,
the poet reaches the conclusion that “Love is life,
philosophy, art and religion”. He equates it even with poetry, “the abstract of
bliss” that “ultimately melts into the eternal ocean/Of peace”. It is from this
realization , he recognises the immutability of love, the endlessness that
extends beyond time and space. He deals with this perpetual nature of love in
several of his poems, such as in 'Oh, Eternal Love!' where the poet depicts how
the unification of the lovers can grant “perennial peace”; in 'She' where the
beloved is metaphorically associated with the inexhaustible resources of the
world such as water and air; and in 'Elixir of Love', to name a few, where the
title itself echoes a sense of immortality.
The element of romance exudes with an enormous
affluence throughout the collection, making it a memorable journey for the
readers. The description of the beloved is often so fascinating and dazzling
that it transports one to a world of dream-like fancifulness. In 'A Tale of
Love', all “the riveting ripples/of thoughts for her/do shape up” and endear
the poet with “So much of sweetness” that he is ushered into a haven of idyllic
charm. Consequently, in the following poems- 'A Romantic Eve', 'Vernal Breeze'
and 'Waft of Her Fragrance'- the wooer wallows in “floods of joyous moments”,
“Soars up high and higher/On the wings of joy” and dissipates himself romantically
in the “eternity of LOVE”. Such lines inevitably cast a magic spell upon the
readers. The true essence of this enchantment is accentuanted by the references
to beauty, which is ethereal and exquisite. The poet is not swayed naively by
the physical beauty of the beloved but what dazzles and enraptures him with
ecstacy is the virtue of the beloved's inner being. Thus, in 'A Poem on
Beauty', Jha idealises -
My
mind is dazzled
By
the beauty
Emanating
From
your mind...
Aglow with the beauty
Of
your soul.
In this vein, Jha often associates dreams with
fantasy, memories and reverie. In 'Love in Dreams' and 'Reverie' the poet
envisions the “enticing art” of the beloved that lulls him into a “soothing
cocoon”. Such an image subtly delineates the calm and tranquil effect it has
upon the dreamer, being sheltered from the “dark despair” and the sordidness of
the real world.
A closely related notion that is harmoniously
blended with the spirit of love is that of grief and pain, of solitude and
sorrow. The speaker is engulfed by a sense of melancholia in his moments of
loneliness when he is “unhugged”. During such hours, as the poet says in
'Solitary Company', “the chaos of feelings” burden his heart “down and down”
and he feels an unbearable torment. This element of distress and affliction,
both emotional and psychological, ascends to a disturbing elevation in
'Sometimes I Feel' where the speaker is crazed and devastated by his suffering.
The images of 'seas of sorrows', 'flood of tears' and 'sobbing soul' evoke an
impression of dejection and anguish in which the speaker's being is thoroughly
soaked and deeply immersed. This feeling of hopelessness and disparagement
reaches a claustrophobic stance in 'Sad Saga of Love' where the beloved feels
“Locked, suppressed, oppressed long/Around the four-cornered stony walls/Of
life’s dejection and despondency... .” However, despite all vexations,
heartache and woe, the poet always culminates with a sense of optimism as he
believes that love can migrate him “to the world of eternity/far beyond/the
stark reality of life”.
Many poems in the volume also allude to the
pleasure-seeking dimension of sexual love. In 'Love in Dreams' Jha describes
how the “salacious beauty” and the “lascivious eyes” of the beloved allure the
speaker to “transcend the reality”. Thereafter, with the help of a metaphor of
sugarcane, the poet depicts the “amorous meet” of the lovers in their “secret
rendezvous” and the “passionate spark” of their love. The sexual connotation is
further evident in the portrayal of the heart's longing for love as “Hot
drops/Of desire” in 'A Secret Love' and in the image of “a wanton flirt/Sucking
virgin honey” in 'Anchor of Love'. The lustful passion of the beloved finds
best expression in the voyeuristic pleasure that the speaker derives from the
sight of the beloved's “beaming face”, “crystalline flesh” and “aromatic
beauty”. An erotic and sensual episode
of love-making is painted in 'Sunday Siesta' -
Molten
crust of the earth –
The
thrilling bodies do profusely perspire...
...
... ...
Lying drowsy on nuptial bed
Nurtures endearing touch from lips to legs...
Scorching heat beats its breast
Few
soothing drops drape the naked earth...”
And it concludes with the confluence of their
“surging desires”, leaving the readers equally engrossed.
Conflating the Elizabethan and the metaphysical
trends of love poetry, the poet harps upon the transformative power of love in
depicting it as a panacea from all ailments. It is unmistakably evident in
'Healing Power of Love' where love has been shown as an antiserum that
“consoles the unheard sobs/Healing the deep wounds of life.” It is this
restorative nature of love that the poet recurrently regards as a “magic
spell”. The fact that love harbours the alchemical potential to enliven a dead
heart, to turn sterility to fertility, to transform anxiety to tranquility, has
been emphasised with a harmonious sensitivity in 'My Valentine' -
My
sweet Valentine exists in me,
Irrigating my sterile soul
In
torrid times of life;
I
feel in her soothing embrace –
Peace of heart, mind and soul..
It is only in his unification with the beloved that
the speaker finds absolute solace as he expresses in 'Rose for You' that “in
the cosy embrace of Love” he relishes “the bliss of life”. In such moments of
heavenly peace, he gets a glimpse of the Divine in his vision of love. Such a
light can be seen in the very first poem of the collection where the poet
invokes upon the Goddess of Love to
replete the world with her resplendent grandeur. In 'Ocean of Love' too the
poet envisions a similar celestial glimpse of the beloved as “a replica of
Aphrodite”. These empyrean and saintly references abound in many of the poems,
and they cast love in a very spiritual light, deifying the beloved calling t
mind the holy spirit of Love.
The style that Bhaskaranand Jha employs in his
verses is scintillating for the images are often not just visually appealing
but sonorous and tranquilizing. Frequently he recourses to the resplendence of
nature to describe the beauty of love, be it in the form of vernal wind, moonbeams
or the sunny sky. With vivid imagery and metaphors, as in 'Lovebirds on the
Branch of Poetree', the poet extols the genuineness, purity and power of love.
While his descriptive art is frequently reminiscent of Keats' sensuousness, his
tone and style are undeniably Byronic. Sometimes he appears hedonistic, such as
in 'Voyeur', at other times he seems philosophical as in 'Serenade of Solitude'
or 'Visions and Thoughts'. However, the impact has always been impressive. His
approach is not that of a scholar, nor does he refuge to a critic's tools and
methods. On the contrary, he appears to be a devotee at the shrine of Love,
deriving inspiration and comfort from the Divine Spirit.