An internationally known Lankan poet, Jean Solomons born to a Burgher family and married to a dramatist Arasanayagam, (both are prestigious prize winners in literary competitions in English) and having two daughters (one of them is Parvathi, who is also a poet) is an icon in the Lankan English Literary scene.
Author of several books with her elegant mastery of the language is an immensely talented writer causing envy to many. One of her latest books is The Voice of the Turtle Dove published by S Godage & Brothers (Pvt ) Ltd). In the back cover, the poet says, ‘ Yet, the mind is a private universe, a world I keep exploring in my wanderings.’ It is this universe we see in this collection of 29 long poems.
It wouldn’t be possible for me to read and comment on each and every poem in this collection, therefore, I will single out just one poem I appreciated more than the rest, of her well written poems.
There is a saying in Tamil that just a morsel in a pot of rice is sufficient to know if it is finely boiled. (Oru Paanaich Chorrukku Oru Soru Patham) With the same yardstick we can measure the quality of her art by dissecting the following poem on Writing a Novel.
Writing a Novel appeals to me very much since I am a student and critic of literature. This is the first stanza in the poem:
I am always perhaps the protagonist
Entering under the skin in that invisible camouflage
but my true identity is often concealed in alter egos
personae in the creation of allegorical fictional plots
In writing fiction, we generally think of the theme, plot, characterization, narration, dialogue and so on.
Here, in this stanza the poet writes in personal pronoun and almost nearly she is the main character or heroine. Her character is not visible. But her ‘true identity is often concealed in alter ego’.
Psychologically we know that there are three components in the mind: Id, Ego and Super Ego. But she mentions Alter-Egos. What is that? Alter Egos= A person’s aspects of secondary or alternative personality. Her plots are allegorical.
In other words, her novel is not based on naked reality. That’s fine. That’s the writer’s right to imagine as in the ‘Animal Farm’ of George Orwell. We now go to the: second stanza:
I am a strategic manipulator,
Arrange the backdrop to my personal dramas,
Create landscapes from figments of the imagination,
Arbours, orchards, gardens even the explorers
Wilderness, precarious ravines, streamlets,
Waterfalls, surging rivers
It is evident that she doesn’t merely depict things but manipulate in such a way to suit her needs. She is also a Romantic like Keats, for instance. It is to show that she is in communion with Nature. Her line ‘Arranging the backdrops to my personal dramas’ is creative, true enough.
To enjoy her poem, we must quote the rest of the stanzas.
Here they are:
Invent with subtle contrivance the innuendo,
The careful phrasing of thought in the interchange
Of words between my fictional characters,
Quote myself often, inner thoughts made visible
On the page,
Learned the basics of story-telling from childhood,
Fairy tales, folk tales, fantasy, mystery,
a heady concoction from which I had to
Detach myself, unwind the interweave of strands
That bound my imagination, set my imagination
Free, create my alter egos, metamorphose,
Be my own scribe and cover reams and reams,
Spinning out my tales pulling out poems, fictions,
Dramas like the conjuror’s tricks in that
Never ending flow spirited out of my mind.
Thus we see the poet is writing with a purpose carefully and
meticulously manipulating random things to fit in a concrete
construct. There is yet another poem I enjoyed.
That is on “Re-reading Jane Austen.” The first stanza itself is just
one statement in 19 lines capturing the entire essence of the
great novelist.
From childhood I immersed myself in different worlds
The worlds of Jane Austen, Elizbeth Gaskell, Emily
Bronte turned page after page of their fictions, shared the
Lives of their protagonists, of them all, the world of Jane
Impinged deeply on my consciousness as I devoured
Those regency novels, listened intently to their
Mannered, measured words of elegant conventions
Heard the music, those strains of violas and harpsichords
Echoing in my ears as quadrilles, polkas and waltzes
Enacted their intimate dramas in those eighteenth
Century and nineteenth century ballrooms,
Illustrations remain in their pastel hues of those
High-waisted gown, those demure ringleted curl.
Hairbands and coronet, the turbulence of emotions
Concealed within the delicate lace, organza and silk,
Spent years exploring that way of life so lien
To our ears, the romances of nubile young women, their
Quest for gentlemen suitors from the elite range of
Society
Please read the rest of the poem and enjoy.
Her subjects of poetry are many and varied, which include Constantine da S de Noronha, Kastane, Elephants, The Ancient Game of Stones, Water, Remembering the Border Village Massacres, Squandered Histories, A private Universe, and so on.