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AKHTAR SHEERANI
(1905-1948) |
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Mohammed Dawood Khan Akhtar Sheerani was born on 4th May, 1905, in Tonk state (Rajpootana, now Rajasthan). His father Mehmood Khan Sheerani was a professor at Oriental College, Lahore. Akhtar too joined his father's college, but beyond passing his Munshi Fazil and Adib Fazil examinations, he showed no special interest in academic achievements. He spent his time in cultivating his own. By virtue of his literary and linguistic abilities, Akhtar could secure editorial assignments on several literary journals like Hamayun and Shahkar. He also tried to run his own journals, Baharastaan, Khayalastaan, and Rooman, but such attempts proved abortive as Akhtar lacked the steadiness of purpose and mind, so essential to carry such tasks to success. Excessive drinking told on his health, and he died on September 9, 1948, at the comparatively young age of 43. His poetical works include: Naghma-e-Haram, Shairistaan, Subah-e-Bahar, and
Tayyur-e-Aawara.
Akhtar is quintessentially a romantic poet, a singer, like John Keats, of love and beauty, be it he beauty of woman, or of natural landscape. Romanticism gives preference to the individual over the society, to imagination over reason, to beauty over philosophy. Just as the Romantic movement in English literature marks a reaction against the classical poetry of Dryden and Pope, the advocates of reason and precision, and adherents of the heroic couplet, Akhtar's poetry may be seen as a reaction against the overly didactive and ethical verse of Hali, Akbar and Iqbal. All these poets carefully excluded from their poetry any mention of sensuous beauty or romance, and used it mainly as an instrument of social edification. Akhtar tried to reverse this trend by turning away from social and public issues, and by focussing his gaze on the inner world of feeling and imagination, highlighting in the process, the pivotal role of women in the theatre of human existence. He builds his poetry round the endearing figures of Salma, Azra, Rehana or Cleopatra, but creatures of imagination and models of womanhood, Akhtar deserves credit for giving a new direction to poetry, and for tapping the tremendous potential of a hiterto neglected topic.
In the matter of style, Akhtar adheres to the tradition of rhymed verse, along with "radif" and "qafia", and is not generally drawn by the new vogue for free verse or blank-verse. He is the master of the musical line and an adept in describing the beauties of the landscape. He has written several memorable poems on Barsaat or Basant, the two seasons specially adored by a wine-bibber.
In the matter of style, Akhtar adheres to the tradition of rhymed verse, along with "radif" and "qafia" and is not generally drawn by the new vogue for free verse or blank-verse. He is the master of the musical line and an adept in describing the beauties of the landscape. He has written several memorable poems on Barsaat or Basant, the two seasons specially adored by a wine-bibber.
Out of the three poems included in this volume "Aurat" dwells on the central role of woman in every sphere of human life, "Ali Ishq Hamen Barbad na Kar" is a plaintive song of a lovelorn lover, while the third poem, "Reehana", centres round a sweet little girl, breathing innocent charm, and dwelling in the lap of nature, strongly recalling Wordsworth's Lucky.
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