Abstract
In this paper, the two poems “East Coker” by Eliot and Akhavan’s “Miras” [Heritage] will be compared and contrasted in order to check if the allusions to sacred places and sacred times in these poems would match with the primitive man’s understanding and application of the concepts, and if the poets have assumed for themselves the same poetic responsibility of the myth interpreter as Eliade assigned for the modern poets. Eliot wrote “East Coker” after visiting his ancestors’ village, East Coker, and in the poem, he is concerned about the notion of time. In “Miras”, the narrator is talking about a piece of heritage handed down to him from his distant ancestors through the time past. He symbolically refers to the heritage as “pustin-e kohneh” [an old fur cloak]. The findings of the research reveal that while there are similarities in the deep respect and nostalgic feeling the poets show for the sacred past time, there are differences in the poets’ choice of poetic diction and myths they allude to. The findings will, also, confirm that in their myth application, both poets have remained committed to their poetic responsibility as myth-interpreters of their time.
Keywords: Akhavan, Eliot, Myth, Miras, East Coker
Introduction
Since the Persian poet Mahdi Akhvan Sales and the British Poet Thomas Stearns Eliot have had a very lasting impact on the modern poetry of their countries, it is essential to offer a brief synopsis of their poetic lives. Akhavan is known as one of the most prominent contemporary poets and one of the pioneers of Modern Poetry in Persian language. He had a deep passion and respect for Iran’s ancient culture and literature and is most well-known for his classic poetic diction and his epic style. Eliot is considered one of the 20th century’s major poets and his poems are seen as the masterpieces of the Modernist movement. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.
Thus, because of their contributions in modernizing the poetry of their languages, and also because of their great knowledge and deep interest in mythology and their frequent alluding to myths, their poems can be reviewed as the most appropriate samples of myth application in the poetry of 20th century. As such, in order to trace the allusions made to sacred places and rituals of re-actualization of eternal time as performed in mythologies, in Akhavan’s “Miras” and Eliot’s “East Coker”, first, the poems will be reviewed in their own contexts and the myths alluded to in each poem will be identified and elaborated on. Then, to compare the extent to which each poet has engaged himself with the notion of sacred time and sacred places as discussed by Mircea Eliade, the poets’ approach to time past in contrast to the time present will be discussed.
Akhavan’s Miras
Akhavan wrote “Miras” in 1956; it was almost three years after Mosadegh’s government was overthrown in the 1953 coup d’etat. Throughout the poem, the first-person narrator speaks boastfully about an old fur cloak, pustin-e kohneh, which he claims has been handed down to him from his distant forbearers. He explains that nothing can be found about his ancestors in recorded chronicles, apparently, because he does not belong to any noble birth family.
Jabbari (2018), a Persian literature critic, has reviewed critical articles written on Akhavan’s “Mirs” since the time it was first published in 1956. He asserts that almost all critics, concentrating on the first three stanzas and trying to decode what the symbolic expression “pustin-e kohneh” might be representing, neglect the rest of the poem which contains very important key words and implications to the thorough interpretation of the poem. Jabbari notes that most reviewers agree that the expression, “pustin-e kohneh” is symbolizing Iran’s old culture and history, spiritualties and traditions.
Indeed, mostly under the influence of the sad and disappointing condition of the country after the coup in 1953, critical reviewers have been able to present good interpretations of the poem, it is claimed in this research that a mythological reading can still reveal some more hidden aspects and of the main theme and the concept of pustin-e kohneh as a heritage or “Mirs” for the young readers of the poem.
In The Sacred and the Profane the Nature of Religion, Eliade discusses how important the circular redemptive perspective of history, termed as eternal return, was for the primitive mind. He explains how the mythic man’s attempts to regain the sacred time through rituals brought him peace and joy in life and a hope to join the eternity after death.
Eliot’s “East Coker”
Eliot wrote “East Coker”, the second poem of the “Four Quartets”, in 1940, after he had visited his ancestral village “East Coker” in Somerset England. It was, in fact, the home of Eliot’s first forebear before they left for America in the 17th century. The poem was originally written for Good Friday. Thus, it can make a good case to search for Eliade’s interpretation of the notion of sacred time and sacred place.
“East Coker” starts with an assertion about time, “In my beginning is my end.” Considering the fact that the village, East Coker, he was visiting at the time, was the place where his ancestors lived and were buried and Eliot himself had asked for his remains to be buried there, critics are usually inclined to identify the first person narrator of the poem as the poet himself.
In the following strophe, as if moving back into history, there is an image of a summer midnight in an open field in the same the village in 17th century. A community of men and women is described to be dancing in public, hand in hand. The image of dancing as presented in this part of the poem has attracted the attention of different critics who mostly claim that the rhythm of the dance so subtly described is to recall the rhythm of life as described in the Bible.
In section II, in a different image of time, seasons are mentioned in a converted cycle. The cycle moves into an apocalyptic fire, and the fire will finally put an end to the world. After creating all these imageries of the cyclic nature of the time and the presence of eternal time, Eliot still has a lot more to add about the concept of time. He expresses his distrust of experience and criticizes those who rely too much on their knowledge because, he explains, things in nature are in constant changing, so no fixed pattern can be considered for them.
Meanwhile, as we know, Eliot originally wrote “East Coker” for Good Friday. Putting this point into consideration, critics have been able to decode most of the imageries applied in the poem more clearly in the context of Christian mythology. The most important image in part IV, “The wounded surgeon”, for example, is easily identified with Christ.
Once again, in part V, Eliot shifts his attention to the issue of words and their inability to express man’s deep religious experience. And as if he is completing the discussion he started in part III about the act of repeating what he has already said in his poems, Eliot, while he insists that he does it intentionally, he emphasizes on semantic poverty of words in expressing meaning.
Conclusion
Based on what was discussed in this research, it can be deduced that sometimes an object like “pustin-e kohneh” in “Miras” or a place, a city or a village, as in “East Coker”, representing the whole past, evokes a very deep nostalgic impression, i.e. a kind of sorrow accompanied with respect in poets and inspire them to write poetry. In writing these kinds of poems, the poets most often seek joy and release in remembering myths.
It was also shown that under the influence of their personal life and their socio-cultural background, each poet preferred to allude to a different type of myth and they also chose different poetic languages and vocabulary. While in Akhavan’s poems the myths alluded to were usually epic heroes and the poetic diction was more epic like and with more archaic and classic vocabulary. Eliot generally alluded to universal and religious myths and he preferred a philosophical language and modern English diction in his poetry.
Finally, we discussed that in spite of all the differences, the most important similarity in the poems reviewed was that in both of them, poets could manage to remain faithful to their responsibility as the myth interpreters of their time, a commitment which Eliade considers significant for poets.
Works Cited
- The Holy Bible, King James Version. New Delhi, 2019. Print.
- Akhavan-e Sales, Mahdi. Majmue Kamel-e Dah Ketab [Complete Collection of Ten Books]. Tehran: Zemestan, 2017. Print.
- Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane the Nature of Religion. trans. Willard R. Trask. Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovaovich, 1987. Print.
- Eliot, T. S. Collected poems 1909 — 1962. London: Faber and Faber, 1989. Print.
- Huber, Marie Denise. Bagh-e Bi-Bargi: Aspects of Time and Presence in the Poetry of Mehdi Akhavan Sales. Doctoral dissertation. Harvard University. 2013. Print.
- Jabbari, Najodin. Dogane Jazebiyatva Maneiyatdar Sher-e “Miras” Akhavan [The Binary of Attractions and Blocks in Akhavan’s Poem “Miras”]. Pazhuheshnameh Naghd-e Adabiva Balaghat. No. 1, pp. 21-29, 2018.
- Mc Nelly, Willis E. P. T. S. Eliot’s Four Quartets: A Study in Explication. Master’s Theses. Loyola e Commons, Loyola University Chicago. 1948. Print.
- Shafiee Kadkani, Mohammadreza. Halat Va Maqamat-e MimOmid [MimOmid’s Moods and Positions]. Tehran: Sokhan. 2011, print.
- Tearle, Oliver. A Short Analysis of T. S. Eliot’s ‘East Coker’. 2017.