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| Soft Storm Poem by Abhi Subedi | Summary and Question Answer |
Interpretation of the text
The poem ‘Soft Storm’ composed by the most prolific and versatile writer, poet, professor of English Mr. Abhi Subedi is a rebel against the current social disorder and absurdities. He contemplates upon the social mismatch caused by so-called modernity. He is both compassionate and rebellious in the poem. The poem speaks about the indifferent feelings of people towards the miserable conditions and sufferings, tumultuous atmosphere, malpractices and social chaos. The poem is a blend of natural and social description. The poet discusses about the environmental as well as humanistic disorder in the Nepalese society.
In the first stanza, the poet discusses about the environmental disorder and at the same time he seems to be hopeful. He writes ‘sky grew like crocuses’ that indicates the blooming of Irish flower over the stones. When the moon is about to set, he speaks the language of posters and politics and rituals reasons. It metaphorically means that people discuss about many social activities when they present each other. This expression is more satirical in the sense that the people don’t pay attention about the sufferings and miserable condition of others, but they are concerned about politics. He has used a paradoxical line in the poem ‘the softness rose like gale’. This simile refers to the calm but violent and disturb feeling aroused by the absurdities and malpractices.
In the second stanza, the poet presents a pathetic condition of homeless and parentless children who are dying of hunger and roam in search of their mothers. They don’t have a shelter to live and pass their nights under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal. He satires the corrupted political leaders who only think of themselves ignoring the welfare of the needy street children. He compares the condition of street children with affluent rich people who enjoy their nights by dancing with mad steps at night clubs, bars, ceremonies and parties.
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The poet is more emotional when he sees a child with a transistor radio round his neck wailing to find his mother whose mother has gone out for work but not returned yet. The dam of his heart breaks along with when he finds a man mercilessly beaten for no reason but no one is ready to help him. This is a bitter satire on the selfish attitude of the modern people and it shows lawlessness.
In the fourth stanza, the poet talks about a man with blood-strained shirt and bruised lips who can’t speak openly because he is made silence by the night rulers. It is the night time at Thamel when the land owners and their workers play a game of hide and seek. The poet finds apolitical and lawless activities everywhere and he wants to rebel against human tyranny.
The poet states about the words, but they are unheard. He didn’t wait till its divine play would work. His soft feelings gradually turned to hard like inner storms seeing the absurdities. The poet is optimistic when the night is about to pass. His rage is about to settle down along with the beginning of a new day. The speaker calls the time ‘mad time’ because everything he sees has absurdities like stone growing in flower, moon humming melodies, history rushing under lamppost, birds singing of bizarre journeys over the warm earth, rhododendron blooming in winter, mother earth telling of the tumults in the songs of sad birds etc. the poet concludes the poem by saying that everyone needs freedom so that they can freely live without any social restriction in the sweet melodies of their happiness.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. When does the speaker grow soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows soft.
Ans: According to the poet, the speaker of the poem “Soft Storm” by Abhi Subedi grows soft when he hears the tumult that crashes on the mysterious stillness, the sky grows like crocuses over the stones, and the Moon skids down on the walls speaking in the language of posters and politics. Similarly, the speaker grows soft when softness of the rose grows like a wind that blows tearing the roofs, and the Moon sings of lampposts and gutters in the seamless city.
b. What do you understand by ‘this seamless city’?
Ans: The term ‘this seamless city’ refers to the city which moves without any transitions, interruptions and problems.
c. Describe the poor children portrayed in the poem.
Ans: In the poem, the poor children are portrayed as the homeless and hungry children who roam here and there in search of food and cry with hunger under the bat bearing trees of Kesharmahal that signifies the place of highly affluent ruling class people under whose surrounding the children beg food for a living.
d. What do you understand by ‘the unwedded gardens of history’?
Ans: The term ‘unwedded gardens of history’ refers to the negligence and ignoring of the historically typical Nepalese culture despite its richness, ownership and compassion. The rich and inborn Nepalese culture is badly encroached by the borrowed western culture.
e. Why was the forlorn child wailing?
Ans: The forlorn child carrying transistor radio around his neck was wailing to find his mother who was lost in the crowd of selfish and unhelping people of the city.
f. What do you understand by ‘soft storm’?
Ans: By the term ‘Soft Storm’ refers to the calm but violent and disturbed feelings aroused by the absurdities and unlawful situations in the societies that may result some disastrous actions.
g. Why does the speaker call our time ‘mad time’?
Ans: The term ‘Mad time’ refers to the time with absurdities and evils that is disastrous in its nature. The speaker calls our time a mad time because the time has brought absurdities, lawlessness and inhumane manners in people. The poet has mentioned some of the absurdities in the poem like stone growing in flower, moon humming melodies, history rushing under lamppost and deforested land, birds singing of bizarre journeys over the warm earth, rhododendron flowering in winter and the mother earth telling of the tumults in the songs of the sad birds.
h. What does the speaker want to do in “hard times”?
And: Realizing all the misleading absurdities emerged in the societies, the speaker wants to melt like a rainbow that displays seven attractive colours to add a joy in feelings of the people.
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Reference to the context
a. The poet uses the word ‘soft’ with the words like ‘storm’ and ‘gale’, which generally refer to disorder and violence. What effect does the poet achieve through the use of such anomalous expressions?
Ans: The use of the term ‘soft’ with the words like ‘storm’ and ‘gale’ is unusual and paradoxical. A storm or gale is never soft in nature. It is violent and destroyable. Soft storm or gale refers to the disorder and violence. The poet has used such anomalous expression to express his disturbed inner experience which has been caused by the mal practices, absurd behaviours and lawlessness emerged in the current time. The poet has connected his soft nature with a violent feeling which may erupt in anger and disaster at any time. The effect that the poet has achieved through the use of anomalous expression is his feelings have been so violent that may burst in rage against social absurdities.
b. What is the speaker’s attitude towards the time he describes in the poem?
Ans: The poem is satirical in nature. The speaker finds the present time with full of social and cultural absurdities, misleading characteristics of people, unlawful and inhumane activities and malpractices. Due to these reasons, the speaker’s attitude towards the time is not positive. He thinks the time is mad because the mad time has brought unusual malpractices and absurdities which have ruled in the minds of people. The relationship among human have fallen to gutters. The social rules and disciplines are totally disordered and out of control.
c. What is the speaker like? Is he a rebel? Why? Why not?
Ans: The speaker in the poem is a rebel who wants to fight against the social disorder and absurdities. He finds unusual practices in every step society. People are selfish and ripen with inhumane activities. They are suffering from poverty, hunger, and corruption. The number of homeless children who roam crying in the street in search of their mothers and food is increasing. The poet satires for forgetting the typical helpful Nepalese history. Therefore, the poet wants become a rebel in order to remove all those social absurdities and establish a corruption and poverty free selfless society so that the society can be structured with cooperation, humanity, peace and harmony.
d. Explain the stanza below in your own words:
I became soft when I saw
a blood-stained shirt
speaking in the earth’s ears
with bruised human lips
in the far corner
under the moon
of history and dreams
playing hide and seek
in open museums
of human times.
Ans: The poet depicts the current social condition in the extracted lines from the poem ‘Soft Storm.” He shows a complete disordered present state of the society. When he sees a man with blood-strained shirt, his blood boils in anger. People are made silence however they are brutally tortured, victimized and made to suffer. They are indifferent to other’s pain and sufferings although others rights are violated and crushed. The man with blood-strained shirt and bruised lips can’t speak openly for the misbehave done upon him. But they painfully bear the pain and lament in the corner. The condition of poor and working -class people is deteriorating. The rich are going rich and the poor are poorer. Human relationship has fallen due to the selfishness of the people. Seeing and realizing all these absurdities, the speaker feels uneasy and wants to rebel.
About the Author:
Tanka Bhattarai is a Second class Secondary Level English teacher currently teaching at Shahid Smriti Secondary School, Dharan, Sunsari. He is also an MToT of Education Training Centre, Koshi Province.
