RECALLING NISSIM EZEKIEL: A POET OF THE MIND AND HEART (1924-2004)

[...]he became a dear friend. The poet of the mind While almost all of Nissim's poetry displays a certain elegance and mental agility, it is in the poems written in the 1980s that we have some of the best examples of sharp wit, sophisticated irony and a brilliant quality of mind. [...]it is on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:DQR studies in literature 2014-01, Vol.53, p.99
Main Author: Bharucha, Nilufer E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ezekiel, Nissim
Irony
Literary criticism
Personal experiences
Poetry
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:[...]he became a dear friend. The poet of the mind While almost all of Nissim's poetry displays a certain elegance and mental agility, it is in the poems written in the 1980s that we have some of the best examples of sharp wit, sophisticated irony and a brilliant quality of mind. [...]it is on the Latter-Day Psalms (1982) and Poems 1983-1988 that this section is focused. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar has commented upon his lucidity and craftsmanship while Anisur Rahman has focused on the inextricable nature of form and value in his poetry.4 Lawrence Joffe in an obituary in The Guardian summed up his poetry as that which "described love, loneliness, lust, creativity and political pomposity, human foibles and the 'kindred clamour' of urban dissonance".5 I have however tried to minimize reference to criticism available on his poetry and instead attempted a more personal response to his poems as I think they are today in danger of getting lost under the sheer weight of critical work available on them. [...]there is a subtext to the sending of Tik-20 to the woman the poet has spent the night with.
ISSN:0921-2507