The Title
We find juxtaposition in "Soft Strom". Normally, storm
is violent and hard not soft and smooth. In this context, we should apply connotative
meaning of the phrase ' soft storm' which means the tumult feeling of the
persona.
Central Idea of the poem
The poem is simply a feeling of the poet towards the absurdities of tumultuous times in the society. The poem portrays the inhuman and violent activities of human beings. Literally the poem
is description of the journey of the speaker in Kathmandu at night.
Symbolically it satires the social absurdities in general.
Literal Interpretation of the Poem
1. The
speaker became soft as s/he heard the tumult and felt strange stillness. S/he
became soft when the sky grew like crocuses ( a violet colour small flower) and
became five inch taller that night when the moon was above the wall. The moon
light spoke in the language of poster and politics, rituals and reasons.
2. S/he
became soft when the softness became violent like a strong pressure of air that
could tear off the roof. That very night the moon sang of lamppost and gutters
in the unsteady city.
3. S/he
became soft when he heard the cry of hungry child in Kesharmahal. S/he become
soft when he returned from the ceremony where confused crowd danced with mad
step.
4. S/he
became soft when s/he left scar of words on someone's shirt. S/he became soft
when s/he saw an abandoned child moving around carrying a radio around his neck
and wailing to find his mother.
5. S/he
became a soft storm when s/he saw a man beaten brutally without any reason
before his/her family.
6. He
became very soft when s/he saw a blood stained shirt lying on the ground.
7. S/he
became soft when someone promised but betrayed later.
8. S/he
saw the last moonlit of that night. Storms had moved in the narrow lanes where
the speaker had walked alone blowing tears. Suddenly s/he laughed a little. His/her
soft storm became angry over silent pages of paper, silent stones, silent
abandoned shirt and over silent decay of heaven. In heaven the dances and songs
are buried under human country yards.
9. The
speaker saw strange combination of environmental decay that we all are living
with. S/he saw stone growing in flower, moon singing melody, history running
fast under the lamp post over land with out trees, bird singing in strangely
due to global warming and earth singing violently.
10. The
speaker wants to melt like rainbow in these hard times. His/her soft storm is
in small sky and dances in ripple in uneasy lake.
Connotative explanation of the poem.
1. The
speaker was quite happy at he beginning since the sky was grew like flower. It
might be due to the blazing light of the city at night. However, his feeling
became violent as he saw the posters of politics on the wall. The wall
symbolizes the dividing line between the people in the society. This division
is a ritual and people try to give some reason to that division. His feeling
became more violent as he sees the bad condition of the gutter which is
stinking. The lamp post is also in bad condition. All these shows that the city
is unsteady. And the people in the city are unconcerned with the haphazard.
2. The
speaker became shocked as he sees homeless child who lives under a bat-bearing
tree. He agitates when he saw a ceremony where a strange crowd dances with mad
steps. This signifies the present youths who forgot their culture and enjoying
western culture. This culture does not have any historical connection to
Nepalese culture. The foreign culture is like protruded rocks that will harm
the youths one day sooner or later.
The speaker feels sorry as he returns home having strong feeling of these disorders. He feels very depressed when he saw an abandoned child; moving around and crying to find his/her mother. His/her mother might be lost during the violence.
The speaker feels very sory as he sees some innocent person is beaten by police butality or some other group. This signifies the lawlessness in the society.
He becomes very soft as he sees the consequence of war and violence. He sees a blood-stained shirt of an injured person. The person fought with a dream to change the society and had a will to become historical character. To achieve the dream, the person was ready to kill or die. This srtanza explains how the policts misguide civils to fulfill their malafied intention.
The speaker becomes very sorry as s/he noticed the fact that people select the leaders of society/nation with out making judgement about them. First, they choose someone as leader and later they regret.
After noticing all these chaos the speaker starts to think seriously about the present condition of the society. Now s/he comes to the conclusion that the heavenly features of the society are finished and there are only disoders that remained in the society.
The speaker became soft when s/he saw the environmetal decay in the earth. S/he became very depressed as s/he saw the desertification, deforestation, global warming. Now the speaker felt that earth is crying due to the pain of these disorder.
However, his/her soft strom can not be violent. Hence, his/her feeling only can be expressed in paper.
Style of Writing
th The poem is composed in 9 stanzas. The poem is written in free verse style. The major literary devices and style used in the poem are as follows.
- Simile: We find good use of simile in the poem. 'Like crocuses over stones', 'as the softness rose', 'like a gale' are some example of simile.
- Alliteration: Alliteration is another literary device used in the poem. 'Deep dents', 'bat bearing', 'soft storm' are some of the examples of alliteration.
- Refrain: 'I became soft' is repeated many times in the poem.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is also used in the poem greatly. Wall, white
sheets, unwedded gardens of
history are used in the poem symbolically.
- Imagery: Imagery is another literary device used in the poem.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. When does the speaker grow soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows soft.
- The speaker grows soft in the following situation:
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