Three Indian Poets: Ezekiel, Moraes, and Ramanujan

This book is an introduction to the poetry of Nissim Ezekiel, Dom Moraes, and A. K. Ramanujan, three of the best-known and most significant of Indian poets writing in English. Often considered the founders of modern poetry in English they became the first post-colonial poets commanding international attention. All three poets have passed away since the first edition (1991) and this volume tries to assess their poetic legacy.

All of them had their distinct styles of expression. Ezekiel aimed at preciseness of image, conciseness and exactness of language, feeling, and poetic form. A large proportion of the significant history of modern Indian poetry in English was made by or has some connection with him. He greatly expanded the cultural space for modern poetry and for the modern arts. Ramanujan was very much a modern poet, instinctively ironic, and had a mind packed with a wide variety of ideas and information. A trilingual poet, he was influenced by Indian poetry and poetics. His work is rich in images and cultural echoes, ironies, allusions, and references. They bring to mind associations from more than one culture and historical periods. His poems are marvels of technique and blend the psychological with the philosophical. Dom Moraes is, in his themes and attitudes, the most romantic and sentimental and least concerned with India and Indianness. An excellent technician, he has exceptional talent in his feel for words and sounds. He has a liking for older verse forms, dictions, and attitudes. The pain of an unusual, isolated childhood and insecurity in England find expression in his poems. What is most noticeable about his poetry, however, is the love of poetry as seen in the echoes of earlier poems, the use of earlier conventions, the delight in language and sound, and dedications to other poets.