EZEKIEL'S POETIC TECHNIQUE

INTRODUCTION: Nissim Ezekiel is a very great Indo- Anglican poet. Versatility is the outstanding characteristic of his poetry. He has experimented endlessly with form and craft. He has made a valuable contribution to stylistic felicities in Indo- Anglican poetry.

TECHNIQUE AND STYLE: Ezekiel is perhaps the first Indo- Anglican poet to show consistently that craftsmanship is as important to a poem as its subject matter. He does not regard the writing of a poem as a casual affair. According to him the writing of a poem involves a lot of toil. He says,' We must labour to be beautiful'. In one of his poems Ezekiel is of the view that the best poets wait for words. He regards a poem as an organic, integrated composition. Thus the form, the structure, the words and phrases used by him become very important and a matter of vital concern.

EZEKIEL'S LANGUAGE: Ezekiel is economical in the use of language. He believes in clarity, economy and directness. He has been adopting a conversational style. The simplicity and conversational ease make his poetry memorable. The frequent use of colloquial idiom imparts to his poems a fine combination of the clarity of expression and a cogency of argument. Obscurity is carefully avoided by the poet and beauty and bareness of statement are often wedded together. His poem 'The Egoist's Prayers' shows his poetic language at its best.

THE USE OF WORDS: Ezekiel shows a keen sense of form and structure and a special concern for the use of the right words in right places. Words are chosen carefully by him. The economy and exactness in the use of words is praiseworthy. His words are highly suggestive. He uses words from the common everyday vocabulary. He neglects the use of archaic words. He creates fine poetic effect by blending sense and sound. The use of contemporary idiom imparts simplicity, lucidity and clarity of expression to Ezekiel's poetic style.

HUMOUR WIT AND IRONY: Ezekiel is popular for his rich sense of humour and for the sharpness of his wit and irony. In many of his poems he has ridiculed the absurdities and follies of the Indian people. For this purpose he has used humour and irony as his chief weapons. In his poems like 'Good-bye Party For Miss Pushpa', 'The Railway Clerk' and 'The Healers and Guru' one can easily find Ezekiel's humour, wit and irony. Thus there is, indeed, a large fund of humour, wit and irony in Ezekiel's poetry.

IMAGERY AND SYMBOL: Nissim Ezekiel uses highly evocative and suggestive symbols and images in his poetry. Through these devices he makes the abstract concrete. The women, the city and the nature are recurring images in his poetry. Hills, rivers, winds, skies, sun and rain are also some important images. With the help of these natural images Ezekiel skillfully evokes graphic picture of human life. Ezekiel's best poems have an indefinable pictorial quality. They show an obvious affinity with the visual arts. For instance in 'In India' the poet has given us vivid pictures of Bombay.

CONCLUSION: Thus Ezekiel is a great and gifted poetic craftsman. He is the most versatile poet in the country. He experiments endlessly with form and craft. He is respected for the austerity of his art, for the simplicity and conversational ease of his language and for the economy and exactness in the use of words. The impressiveness of his imagery and the sharpness of his wit and irony are also praised.