Ode to Death (Daud Kamal)

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Introduction:-
Daud Kamal (1935–1987) was a Pakistani poet and academic, from Peshawar city. Daud Kamal was born on January 4, 1935 in
Abbottabad. His earliest inspiration came from Burn Hall, Cambridge School in Srinagar, Kashmir where he studied for seven
years. He was a Professor of English Literature at University of Peshawar. He wrote some poems in English. His poems were
recorded for the Library of Congress in the United States. He also did translations of the classic Urdu poet Ghalib in English. He
received three gold medals for his poetry from the Triton College and his poems were recorded for the Library of Congress,
Washington DC. USA.‘Remote Beginnings’ and ‘A Selection of Verse’ are his anthologies. He also did translations of the classic
Urdu Poet Ghalib in English. Kamal’s poetry is interwoven with local and religious imagery; of kingfishers and monasteries, of
Hindu temples Silhouetted by the glamour and mystique of the Arabian Nights. Yet his poetry over-arches into the present where
the Arabian Nights have twisted endings that reflect the violent contemporary.His writing style is deeply influenced by the
Imagists. “Poetry for him was Yeats and Pound” recalls his daughter Fatima. However, he was a voracious reader of poetry, “I
have never seen one enjoy reading others’ poems as much as he did,” shared his daughter.
In his later life, he was deeply moved by Latin American authors. A man of heightened sensitivities, he was not unaware of what
was happening around him. His poetry has a unique sense of history and the need of an artist. The need to connect to the culture
of the past – images of monasteries, miniature paintings, bullock carts and antiques are recurrent themes. As Carlo Coppola, in
his writings, pointed out, Daud’s poetry is like a “primordial scripture of a people betrayed not only by kings and priests but by
weather, geography, history, foreigners, and most treacherously by each other”
A mere biographical sketch would clearly be unjust to a man of his brilliance and the pride he brought to the country. Daud
Kamal won three gold medals and two certificates of recognition in the international poetry competition in the US, the Faiz
award in 1987, and a posthumous Pride of Performance award in 1990.
Daud Kamal passed away on December 5, 1987. He is buried in the cemetery of the same university where he taught. At the time
of his death, he remained unrecognized locally, as archived documents from his colleagues show “the crowning irony was a week
later, a list of luminaries who had passed away that year was published and Daud was not amongst them.” As he wrote in An Ode
to Death
But let bygones be bygones
Who was the deceiver and who the deceived?
Was I on the floating Island
And were you on the shore?
Which one of us moved away?
 Text Of Poem
“An Ode To Death”

Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow. Lift it and see. (Conrad Aiken)
Death is more than certain, says e.e Cummings,
But the clocks go on ticking as before
And in every particle of carbon dust
There lives a diamond dream
How many galaxies yet to be explored-
How many seeds in the pomegranate of time?
The pine tree blasted by last year’s Thunderbolt
And the burn out match stick in my ashtray
Look so terribly alike
I have sat by your bedside and felt
Your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones
Really indestructible and how long
Does it take for the eyes
To dissolve in the grave?
Two streams mingle in a forgotten river.
Between the eye and the tear
There is the archipelago of naked rocks
Only sleep and silence there-
No anchorage for grief.
I, too, have wandered in a forest of symbols
And clutched at the harlots of memory.
I have seen the “stars plummet to their dark addresses”
I have felt your absence around my neck
But let bygones be bygones
Who was the deceiver and who the deceived
Was I on a floating island
And were you on the shore?
Which one of us moved away?
(Daud Kamal)

Theme of the Poem “An Ode to Death”

Conrad Aiken says that “Your ode to death is in the lifting of a single eyebrow. Lift it and see”.

An ode to death is a short poem about the universal approach of death. Death is the central focus of the poet. It means that death
is not a mystery but something that can be understood through observation of life.

Theme of decay and decline

In this poem “An Ode to Death” theme of decay and decline is given. Not only human beings are subject to death but each and
every thing in this world e.g materialistic things are subject to decay. By using reference of ‘clock’ Daud Kamal is giving the
uncertainty of time and behind this he has the view that with time everything will be finished. Similarly the time of time of born
and time to die is defined by our creator. For example if we buy something from bazar, salesman make sure the customer that we
are giving you the guarantee of this thing for three or four years. It means that after this defined guarantee time thing will be
expire. Similar case is with human beings’ life and death. Stephen Crane says:
“Death is a secret of life”
Fragility of life and temporality:
In this poem it is written that life is temporary and death is marked as permanent. Nothing in this world is permanent but death is
permanent. After meeting with death there is no chance of life anymore. Life is fragile and humans are weak as well. Weak
things cannot survive for long period of time.
Theme of materialism:
Death is something through which materialistic aspects of life are destroyed by spiritual consciousness. Death is not only used as
a theme but also as a recurring motif. By reading this poem one can analyze that Death is not concerned with particular human
beings or ethnic group or a religion. Everyone has to taste the flavor of death.
Critical Summary
Ode to death is one of the best poems of Daud Kamal. This poem is about the ultimate reality of death and it is written in a very
beautiful way. He has used symbols and imagery very brilliantly he has also given comparison in it. Its language is really simple
but the manner in which he has conveyed a deeper thought of universal interests is admirable. There are three major themes in it
first is the ultimate reality of death, second is uncertainty of life and third is eternal life after death. One thing which is very
interesting about this poem is that he has added two quotations of two different American but contemporary poets, in the
beginning one after another. In the opening lines of the poem he has quoted Conrad Aiken:
Your ode to death is in lifting
of a single eyebrow.lif it and see.
This very first quotation shows that there is very little distance between man’s life and death. The story of man’s life end exactly
at a time when, death grasp him in its arms. It happens within seconds and it takes even much little time than lifting of an
eyebrow. How minuscule is distance between a man and death.

Death is more than a certain, says E.E Cummings,

But the clocks go on ticking as before
Then he takes the quotation of E.E Cummings that: Death is more than a certain.Death is an ultimate reality, it’s certain and
undeniable fact. No one can escape from its grip. There is a saying of Owen Meredith that:

There is nothing certain in a man’s life that he must lose it.

No doubt that everyone experiences to perish one day, but it’s likewise a fact that time bears no effect with the demise of a soul.
No one can die with the grief of his loved ones death, at last he have to come towards his routine life. As the needles of clock
never stop ticking for anyone same is the case with human beings they never stop taking breath with the death of their beloveds.

And in every particle of carbon-dust

There lives a diamond dreams.
If we understand the chemical composition of a diamond it’s made up of carbon. But it is not necessary that every molecule of
carbon dust becomes a constituent of the diamond or diamond itself. Like is the case with men that it is not necessarily in the
fortune of every human being that he accomplish all his desires in this really short animation. Because:
Death is certain but the time of death is uncertain
There are two lines from Hairat Allahabadi’s poetry which shows the uncertainty of life:

Aagaah apnii mout se koi basher nahiin

Saamaan sau baras ka hai pal ki khabar nahiin
How many galaxies yet to be explored—–
How many seeds in the pomegranate of time?
Human beings has great ambitions and wishes in their life, but it is impossible for a man to fulfill them all because time is like a
pomegranate and the deeds and wishes of man are its seeds and he cannot fulfill them all. He cannot make all his whishes in
really limited life.
According to Bahadur Shaw Zafar:

Umr-e-daraz mang-ke laye tthe char-din

Do arzu-me kat gaye, do intezar-me
The pine tree blasted by last year’s thunderbolt
and the burnt-out match-stick in my ashtray
looks so terribly alike.
These are really beautiful lines because the poet has made a comparison between big and small creature very intelligently. He
points out that what is a difference between a huge pine tree which was ruined by a crash of thunder last year and a small match
stick which he has burnt out in his ashtray. The end of both is same. Both have to taste the flavor of death.
If there die a great baron of a country and a poor beggar of the same nation, what difference is in between both. The last
destination of both is grave. There is an Italian proverb that: When the game is over, the king and pawn go into the same box.
I have sat by your bedside and felt
your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones
really indestructible and how long
does it take for the eyes
to dissolve in the grave?
It’s a conversation between poet and a person who is going to die. To express the uncertainty of life poet address to a person, that
is on a deathbed and says I am holding your sinking pulse and feeling you taking last breath. Normally it is considered that hair
and bones of body stayed long while all body parts dissolved soon. So he demands a question here that how much time your hair
and bone will take to dissolve in the grave and do I too live alive till that time. Do I have the assurity of my own life that how
long I live. It’s a very nice quotation of Euripides about the uncertainty of life: No one can confidently say that he will be living
tomorrow.
Two streams mingle in a forgotten river,
Between the eye and tear,
In this verse the poet wants to say that, the Existence of human beings is the combination of soul and body, and these two
elements mingle into the luxuries and colors of life. The word ‘two streams “used in these lines which means that, the human soul
and human body and which “mingle into the forgotten river” of world. The relationship between life and death is like the
relationship between an eye and tear. In the busy life people forget death will come as rapidly as tears flow out from eye. No one
knows that when tears will begin to move outside the eye similarly, no one knows that when death will come but it will surely
happen.
There is an archipelago of naked rocks
Only sleep and silence there,
No anchorage for grief.
Now the Daud Kamal presenting the condition of grave after death, there is a silence, and endless sleep in the group of islands.
The silence in the island in literature is the symbol of danger and also shows the silence of death because there are no more
hardships of life. Actually Daud Kamal here presents the Islamic point of view about the eternal life after death. He says that this
is a place of barrel naked rocks, and there is no space of grief, it is free from all trails. Troubles, sorrows of life.
I, too have wandered in a forest of symbols
And clutched at the hanots of memory,
In this verse the readers also seems Daud kamal’s, personal feelings about his own past life. He says that he had indulged in
ethically bad habits. He says that,
when I imagine his own death time, and thinks about his past life,there is nothing except the darkness of prostitutes.I have seen
the stars praament to their dark addresses I have felt your absence around my neck…
Now here Again Daud Kamal presenting the concept of death that death is a ultimate reality. Everyone have to die. We can take
an example from the history, that the brave leaders like Muhammad bin Qasim and even cruel leaders like Hitler was came, but
the end of all was death. Death is blind it never see who is in front of it, either it is a huge or small creature.

But let bygones be gones

Who was the deceiver and who the deceived
Was I on a floating island?
And were you on the shore,
Which one of move away.
These lines are about the feeling which a man feels when death occurs and poet has express all these feeling very beautifully. He
says that I am feeling that my life is moving away from me. Death as a cruel monster is engulfing my life. I can feel but can’t do
any do anything because I am hopeless. The poet is expressing pessimists feeling of man. The poet says that no one knows; either
life is deceiver or death or which one of them is going to deceive or both are giving deceive to each other. Daud kamal is asking a
question to life that either on floating Island or you was on a shore actually no one knows who moves away he is conversing with
life that either you moved away from me or I came near to death.

Technical Analysis
Ode (Lyrical poem):-
A poem that expresses deep personal feelings in a way that is like a song. This poem of Kamal has personal thoughts and
feelings. Ode is a lyric poem typically of elaborate or irregular metrical form in which a person expresses a strong feeling of love
or respect for someone or something. This poem is written as an ode form.
Poem:-
An ode to death is a poem about the ultimate reality of death that death must happen in every one’s life. So, when a man comes in
this world a dream is also born with him. In the poem “An Ode to Death” the diction employed by Daud Kamal is finest. His
writing style is deeply influenced by the imagists. “Poetry for him was of Yeats and Pounds”. He was the true son of soil.
Tone:-
The tone of the whole poem is pessimistic, gloomy and dark. It is full of suspense and sensation. It does not vary from stanza to
stanza, it remains consistent, spiritual. The theme of death is so gloomy and serious and that seriousness reaches to its height by
his using diction like thunderbolt, grave, forest of symbols etc.
Metaphor:-
It is a word or phrase for one thing that is used to refer to another thing in order to show or suggest that they are similar. So, he
has used metaphorical expressions in the first stanza such as:
“And in every particle of carbon-dust
There lives a diamond dreams”
Every man nourishes a dream which dies with his death. So, here ‘diamond dream’ and ‘carbon dust’ represent death of man’s
dream with his death.
“ how many galaxies yet to be explored” here the word ‘galaxies represent man’s wihes or dreams that are not yet fulfilled but
death finished it.
“ The pine tree blasted by last year’s thunderbolt
And the burnt-out match-strike in my ashtry look so terribly alike”
Here poet compares the man’s death with the death of ‘pine tree’ and “match strike”. He tells about the uncertainty of death and
says that thing can be big like pine tree and can be small like match-strike but everything has to taste the death.
Imagery:-
Imagery means to use figurative language to represent objects, actions and ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical
senses. So, poet has used imagery in the second stanza like:
“I have sat by your bedside and felt
Your sinking pulse. Are the hair and bones
Really indestructible and how long
Does it take for the eyes?
To dissolve in the grave”
In this whole stanza the poet has depicted the whole scenery and he appears to be a witness of a person’s breathing his last.
Islamic Approach:-
“Two streams mingle in a forgotten river.
Between the eye and the tear
There is the archipelago of naked rocks
Only sleep and silence there-
No anchorage for grief.”
In this stanza the poet describes Islamic approach using the word ‘forgotten river’ that our soul and physical body mingle in
forgotten river, and we have forgotten our real aim and so busy in the luxuries of the life that we have ignored eternity. Forgotten
river is the ignored eternity. ‘Sleep and silence’ symbolize the eternal peace.
Style:-
The style of this poem is dramatic monologue and dramatic monologue is a poem in the form of a speech or narrative by an
imagined person, in which the speaker inadvertently reveals aspects of their character while describing a particular situation or
series of events. Daud Kamal representing this poem in the form of dramatic monologue he represents in these verses such as:
“I have felt your absence around my neck
But let bygones be bygones
Who was the deceiver and who the deceived
Was I on a floating island?
And were you on the shore?
Which one of us moved away?”
So, the poem ends on the confusing note that this is an address to a man by his soul or soul is addressing to the man. Hence
suspense remains till the end.
Conclusion
It is concluded that “An Ode to Death” by Daud Kamal is a poem about the certainty of death. It is not written for the special
area. It is a universal phenomenon. By using different examples like ‘clock’, ‘thunderbolt’, ‘galaxies’ etc. he creates the effect of
naturality. Images create concrete pictures in our mind. That images have symbolic interpretations for e.g. clock is the symbol of
uncertainty of life as time is uncertain. It does not wait for anyone. Language used by Daud Kamal is very simple and easy.
Construction and arrangement (syntax) of words is easy to understand. Equally important are inter-woven stanzas that create the
boundage of thought throughout the poem. In the whole poem reader finds himself engaged with the idea of happening of death.
Whole poem revolves around the opening verse of poem that is “Death is more than a certain”. In the last he has personal feelings
as he was involved in ethically corrupt habits.