Epic poets often pray to the Muse and declare their lofty purpose to compose a poem, on a serious issue relating to human life and destiny. The Muse, in turn, blesses the poet with extraordinary powers to write on that subject. As an epic poet myself, I have often prayed to the Muse and sought inspiration, and I can say with certainty that ideas and words keep flowing like a river and one can write things which he has not even contemplated. If the Muse pleaseth, she connects the poet to that unlimited sources of perception, and creative sources of divinity. It is from this superior connection that sublime poetry issues forth. Let us think of ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘The Divine Comedy’. Can such works flow from the pen of a poet if he is not blessed by the Muse? A poet used to be called a prophet, because the superior forces blessed him with a sublime vision. Poets who write for marketing and success are shorn of this loftiness and ideality and whatever they write, is fated to have contemporaneity, and yet lack eternal value and the timeless quality which is cardinal virtue of a classic.
The Divine Push
It is important to watch the movement of a river. The water is flowing. It is not that the ocean is attracting the waters to keep flowing. The source of a river’s flow is in the push of the waters at the source of the river. If that push is not available, the water will not be required to flow. At first, it will turn into a lake, and then, start stinking. Inspiration for a poet is like that push in the source which makes the river flow. So long as the push is there, the river will continue flowing. When there is no inspiration, the river flows for some time, but then, comes to a halt. The loss of push also results in drying up of the river.
Inspired Writing vs Routine Writing
This is what happens to poetry or writing which is not driven by superior forces. Writing is something which does not come to everyone. In most of the cases, writing is a mechanical affair. Writing on particular topics, or writing research papers, has nothing to do with inspiration. This is mechanical processing of words and ideas. Even prose lacks the wheels on which poetry moves. Novels are propelled by considerations of the market, with exceptions like Leo Tolstoy and Victor Hugo, who were not bothered by the idea of success. There were times when writers were valued like prophets and they wrote stories and novels whose purpose was less to entertain and more to instruct. We are now passing through times when literature is considered a handmaiden of the market, and the avowed objective of most of the writing is to entertain, or, if it is to instruct, it is strictly related to the considerations of successful living.
The Higher Purpose
This is the age of ‘best sellers’ and writing which caters to the mass taste, which believes in surface living, and lacks depth, is considered the best. In you tube, it is the likes that matter. And the worst songs which cater to baser tastes of mankind, bust the popularity charts. Strange but not shocking because, as we are moving into modern times, the tastes of the people are changing. We accept things which give us momentary pleasure. We like literature which we can read and throw in the fast moving metros. Carrying books is nobody’s passion today. Reading them is much the less. WhatsApp has opened many universities and google is there with readymade sources of knowledge. To cap it all, we have Meta AI. What is the need for serious reading of books? Poets, therefore, write books, and go to the bookshops, and get themselves photographed with their own books. This is the journey of a book for which the poet pays to the booksellers.
A writer of prose, fiction or even non-fiction, has before him a higher purpose, to uplift the society, and to resolve its issues. In these genres, it is human mind which takes the front seat, and drives the writer into writing on those subjects which are of immediate relevance. However, in dramatic poetry, mind takes the back seat, and the poet is driven forward by the Muse. The Muse becomes the charioteer and the Poet, like Arjuna, shoots his arrows tempered in wisdom, directed by the Lord.
That is why I think epic poetry is a genre which stems directly from the inspiration that comes to the poet straight from Goddess Saraswati, just as the Ganges stems from the tangled hair of Shiva. It is a sacred wave which flows through the cities of this world, and carries the dirt of human mind, giving back to the world, an opportunity of salvation, if you drink on its waters.
The writing carried out for academic or other purposes dictated by market considerations lacks inspiration which separates great writing from the routine writing. Looking back at the beginnings of creativity, it is not difficult to realize that Poetry has always been held as the preserve of the Muse. Guru Granth Sahib, Mahabharata, Ramayana, – every great writing which has impacted the thought of generations, comes to us to in the form of inspired poetry. The poet moves on a different trajectory and his own redemption lies in his power to talk on subjects which lesser writers dare not touch, and thus fulfil the promise of the creative forces.
Dr. Jernail S. Anand, who has to his credit, 180 books, is winner of Seneca Award [Italy], Charter of Morava [Serbia], Franz Kafka [Germany, Ukraine and Chek Rep] and Maxim Gorky [Russia] Awards and his name adorns the Poets’ Rock in Serbia.
