Nissim Ezekiel’s Latter-Day Psalms: His Religious and Philosophical Speculations
By Dr. Pallavi Srivastava
The depiction of Indian experience by Indian poets writing in English must not be confused with
the futile attempts of the poets to imitate the West. Similarly, it must not be considered a substitution
game for Indian poetry in English proved to be extremely receptive and assimilative to English
education and English language. It never lost its native colour, taste, opinions, morals and intellect.
Thus Indian sensibility in Indian English poetry completes a full round. It started with the mystic,
religious, spiritual and philosophic and now it also speaks about the city life, the self and of the
practical world and its problems. It can be seen in the poetry of Indian English writers in the form of
Indian mythology, history, culture, religion and life. In the beginning this sensibility is emotional as
we see in the poetry of earlier idols like Tagore, Aurobindo, Toru or Sarojini Naidu etc. But it becomes
intricate as we come to modern poetry of Ezekiel, Ramanujan, Kamala Das and others. It is the credit
of Indian writers writing in English that they used English language prolifically and profitably in their
best works. Today we have a glittering galaxy of talented writers in India who are on their way to
produce works of merit and skill, especially in the domain of poetry. There are the poets like Nissim
Ezekiel, A.K. Ramanujan, K.N. Daruwalla, R. Parthasarathy, Kamala Das, Gauri Despande, Jayant
Mahapatra, and many others. These poets have given excellent works to Indian literary world and
proved fruitful and rewarding because of the depiction of the warm soul of India
In this context, Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) whose poetry is an embodiment of Indianness
occupies a prominent place in modern Indian English literature. Ezekiel has seven volumes to his
credit – A Time to Change (1951), Sixty Poems (1953), The Third (1959), The Unfinished Man (1960),
The Exact Name (1965), Hymns in Darkness (1976) and Latter-Day Psalms (1982). When Ezekiel
commenced his poetic journey, he was surrounded by a host of inhibitive complexes owing to his
Jewish background. This instinctive awareness of marginality is the main cause of the notes of
anguish and anxiety, recurrent in his poetry. In fact, this records Ezekiel’s incessant struggle to
transcend his position and force himself onto the centre. The impelling urge of the marginal inclined
Ezekiel to formulate personal strategies to device his relevance to his surroundings. The beginning of
his poetic career is marked with a developing sense of commitment and belonging to broaden his
individual self in his creative pilgrimage and this concern of Ezekiel is the most pervasively
pronounced in his poetry. Thus Ezekiel has been authentically an Indian poet without any faults of
many other Indian English poets of today. He regarded himself essentially as an Indian poet writing in
English. He has always aspired to the genius of the soul of India.
Ezekiel’s seventh volume is Latter-Day Psalms, which was published in 1982 from the Oxford
University Press. Ezekiel was invited to Rotterdam International Poetry Festival for poetry reading
from 11-17 June 1978, where he composed this volume. This volume has also been translated into
Assamese. Out of 150 Psalms given in the Bible. Ezekiel has selected only nine, corresponding to
numbers 1, 3, 8, 23, 60, 78, 95, 102, and 127, and to maintain a sense of modernity, he has given them
his own views and a characteristic modern touch as discerned in the tenth. To quote Dr. A.N. Dwivedi,
“This latest poetical work of Ezekiel running into sixty-three pages and spanning a period of about
twenty-five years in its coverage of a wide spectrum of experience and knowledge has in its texture a
beautiful blood of the old and the new, of religion/philosophy and worldliness/sensuality, of
traditional value systems and modernistic value systems, and of all those contrarieties which
constitutes the present–day human life of complexities and difficulties.”
1
The volume reveals in
particular, a passion for form and precision, like some of his earlier volumes- The Unfinished Man,
The Exact Name and Hymns in Darkness. The volume, in a sense, unfurls Ezekiel’s struggle for
words, language, irony and paradox in order to achieve a universal range of self-expression. “The
Postcard Poems” of this volume is quite remarkable for language experiments; so also the poet’s
attempt to define himself. To quote S.C. Dwivedi, “Latter–Day Psalms is full of idioms of modern
Indian society sometimes employing the literal translation of colloquial words and phrases in order to
keep touch with the reality.”
2
Some critics observe that this volume lacks harmony and thematic
unity, but it is quite outstanding in its pursuit of the concept and image of man. Poems like “Songs For
Nandu Bhede”, exhibits Ezekiel’s brilliant use of wit, humour and understatement, and “Undertrial
Prisoners” exposes both the judiciary and the Indian Jail system. They are truly arresting in appeal.
Thus, the poems of this volume are quite remarkable for their modernity, sophistication, paradox,
irony and detachment – an indelible contribution to Indian poetry in English indeed.
The idea of writing these Psalms struck the poet during his stay in a hotel in Rotterdam. The
Psalms of David, as referred to on p.43. These Psalms were the part of the song-singing in the public
services of the Israelites and also in their private devotions. In essence, they touch poetic heights and
are highly readable. The volume is remarkable for Ezekiel’s art, sophistication, and choice of exact
words. The poet employs irony, metaphor and symbols to achieve his perception of paradox. Ezekiel’s
themes stem from his own experiences and the experiences of the people around him. He exposes the
Indian people’s faulty use of language in “Very Indian Poems in Indian English”. These poems namely
“The Patriot”, “The Professor” and “Irani Restaurant Instructions” highlight in a humorous tone the
linguistic errors of Indians while speaking English. The volume is a fine specimen of language
alteration in a radical way. In this respect, Ezekiel attempted to alter the tone and idiom of language in
his poetic corpus. Thus Latter-Day Psalms is remarkable for Ezekiel’s great feeling for the language.
Apparently, there may be lack of harmony and thematic unity in it as some critics have pointed out. In
fact, the volume exhibits the social, personal and religions commitments and involvements of the poet
in a busy metropolis. As for lack of harmony and thematic unity, the poet pursues the concept and
image of man in his poems to make a unifying whole. Man acts as the centre as well as the uniting
factor. Even “Latter-Day Psalms”, which is a religious poem, deals with the decline of man and his
dilemmas. These poems establish his position as a religious-cum-philosophical poet. “Postcard
Poems” depict responses of a skeptical and secular man to the religious texts. In short, the volume is
commendable for its use of the Biblical theme in the modern language. The apt combination of
religious strain in unorthodox and modern consciousness demonstrates the poet’s struggle in most
passionate and emotive language to define and redefine him and is a brilliant specimen of Ezekiel’s
extensive use of the lucid and plain language of poetry. In fact, the volume is credited to have brought
the central Sahitya Akademi Award for Ezekiel in 1983.
Latter-Day Psalms, succeeding Hymns in Darkness six years after is a characteristic evidence of
the Hindu view of life and tradition affecting the poet. The very opening poem of the collection,
“Counsel” expresses the classical Hindu view of action– giving, receiving and restraint:
Express your gratitude By giving
what you have to give.
You may get nothing in return.
And bear your restlessness with grace.
3
(CP, p.230)
The above mentioned excerpt appropriately reminds us of datta damyat, dayadhhwan. The last line
is highly characteristic as it contains the undertones of the Bhagwad Gita, preaching us to endure loss
and gain, success and failure with equanimity. The poet wants to pass on the encapsulated wisdom
enshrined in the Hindu Scriptures to the succeeding generation. The protagonist of the poem ardently
seeks after success that is rarely achievable –“Success at the moment/is not in your interest” (p.229).
As a fatalist, the poet suggests:
Turn to silence, nothingness.
Where you are
Is where you have to be.
(CP, p.229)
The poet’s further advice to us is that we should sort out personal weaknesses in our existence
that enrich and strengthen our personality. In spite of being aware of the difficulty involved in this
task, the poet advises us to:
Know, you are not wise:
This is difficult
Grasp you folly
And you grasp your self.
(CP, p.229)
The line – “Do without, be absent” (p.229) – to exist within limitations and imperfections emerges
just like a caution that contains material condemnation that is treated by people as the very soul of
life. The poem contains a list of non-attachment and determinism that is often stressed in the Hindu
view.
The title poem “Latter–Day Psalms” represents the culmination of Ezekiel’s spiritual speculations
though he has not accepted that he is a religions poet in the accepted sense of the term. Writing a
letter to V. A. Shahane, he wrote:
I am not a religious or even a moral person in any conventional sense. Yet, have always felt
myself to be religious and moral in some sense. The gap between these two statements is the
existential sphere of my poetry.
4
The poem was composed during Ezekiel’s stay at Rotterdam in June 1978 for poetry reading. At his
hotel, he had no reading material with him. Ezekiel composed his poems in reply to Psalms. The
modifier “Latter-Day” in the title represents the irrelevance of the Biblical Psalms to contemporary
man concerned with the immediate and the real. Thinking that the Psalms need to be retouched, the
poet evolves a compromise formula to seek good. The first nine Psalms correspond to 1, 3, 8, 23, 60,
78, 95, 102, and 127, representing the 150 Biblical Psalms. As the title itself suggests, these Psalms
offer a modern interpretation of the original Psalms. The poet intends these Psalms to be “only Post -Judaic-Christian”. Using his favourite mode of expression, i.e., irony, Ezekiel recasts the original sense
of the Psalm in such a way as to overturn their meaning.
The very first verse of Psalms, in comparison with Ezekiel’s first “Latter-Day Psalm,” is liable to
quote to underscore the quality of adaptation:
Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the con-ventional and is at home with
sin as with a wife. He shall
listen patiently to the scorn-ful, and understand the sources of their scorn.
(CP, p.252)
This outrageous analogy “at home with/sin as with a wife” (p.252) brings out the fact that he is a
believer in the world of experience. The enjoyment of sin implies tolerance, understanding and
salvation. In fact, the poet defends involvement in life which is an admixture of both good and evil.
Like the Gandhian philosophy of ‘hate the sin and not the sinner’, Ezekiel sympathies with the
depraved and expresses his concern for mankind in general and the suffering people in particular
through his Psalms.
The second Psalm alludes to the doctrine of the Gita. It is the doctrine of dispassionate action or
work without being involved in it. The poet uses this philosophy because man lives in time and “Rare
is the man whose fruit is/in his season” (p.253). With ‘the Time’s chariot drawing near’, the poet sees
the Good ironically. The congregation of the Good and the Evil signify the humanit y. Ezekiel’s second
Latter-Day Psalm is based on the third Biblical Psalm, having echoes of Hinduism in its Catholic
approach. The opening verse is a prayer to God to save both the good and the evil from their potential
human weaknesses. Ezekiel creates his characteristic mode of humour in quoting literally the Biblical
Psalm 3:
How can I breathe freely if
thou breakest the teeth of
the ungodly?
(CP, p.254)
Ezekiel’s Psalms have more tolerance, permissiveness and broad-mindedness than those in the Bible;
his Psalms encompass the whole of mankind, not only the believers of a particular church.
The impact of Hindu tradition and individual talent can be discerned in the whole of Ezekiel’s
“Latter-Day Psalms.” These Psalms reflect religious strain in an unorthodox way. Ezekiel’s eighth
Psalm extensively overhauls Psalm 102, featuring the afflicted devotee who complains before the Lord
about his temporal existence. And after some subtle modifications, Ezekiel’s verse comes out as:
I am like a pelican of the wild-erness, like an owl of the de
sert, like a sparrow alone
upon the housetop-but not in
misery.
I forgot to eat my bread,
not because my heart is
withered like grass.
(CP, p.259)
It is because of mortality that the Biblical Psalmist obliterates all his wayward considerations, even the
bare necessities like food. However, Ezekiel’s regret to ‘eat his bread’ is born of different reasons. Both
Ezekiel and the Biblical Psalmist put forth similar attitudes to worship God who “regards/the prayer
of the destitute, who hears the groaning of the/prisoner, and of those who are/appointed to death”
(p.259). The Biblical Psalmist vents his humble anguish over his appointment with death.
On the other hand, Ezekiel’s Latter-Day Psalm simply reflects the borrowed metonymy, without
having any compliant for his predicament:
I wax old as a garment;
as a vesture I am changed.
In this I accept the condition of humanity.
My children shall continue,
and their children shall continue . . .
(CP, p.259)
Ezekiel’s surprising knowledge of the Hindu Scriptures makes the above extract remarkable. It
eloquently echoes the celebrated advice of Lord Krishna to Arjuna:
V a s a ni j i rn a ni yath a vih a ya, nav a ni grihn a ti, naropar a ni.
Tath a sharir a ni vih a ya j i rna , ny a nyani sany a ti nav a ni deh i . 5
The fate of mankind has been one of anguish and suffering ever since Adam’s fall. Referring to such a
situation, the great Romantic poet John Keats writes in his famous “Ode to a Nightingale”:
Thou wast not born for death, immortal bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
6
This temporariness of human existence is perceptible to Ezekiel that is hinted by three dots at the end
of the above quoted extract of Ezekiel’s Psalm. It appears that Ezekiel tries to put this endless
occurrence of human predicament into verbal form. Being basically a humanist, Ezekiel is endowed
with an instinctive empathy for man’s weaknesses. He expresses his sense of admiration for his
Psalms as they are human creations, and hence destined to be flawed and incomplete. Putting forth
his comment on the poetic virtues of the Psalms, he also admires their lyrical quality and the richness
of images and over’s, “they swim in my Jewish consciousness” (p.261). This ‘Jewish consciousness’
makes him aware of the fact that:
God is a presence here
and his people are real.
I see their sins. I hear
His anger.
(CP, p.261)
At the same time, the poet admits an instinctive awareness in the shaping of his sensibility. In the
concluding Latter-Day Psalm, Ezekiel reiterates the significance of the Biblical Psalms in the growth of
his personality:
Now I am through with
the Psalms; they are
part of my flesh.
(CP, p.261)
However, it is notable that Ezekiel does not have any intention to reject or discredit the original
Psalms. In fact, they act as an inspiration for him in enhancing his sense of integrity in religious faith.
Ezekiel’s non-conformist attitude to Psalms is deeply-rooted in the catholicity of human love. Its
appeal has a telling effect of its own. Bruce King rightly observes in this connection:
The ‘Latter-day Psalms’ reflect Ezekiel’s struggle with his own Jewish heritage and end with an
ironic ‘Jamini Roy’ conclusion in which the art of the psalms provides a model for his own
work.
7
Thus, the Psalms are imbued with the poet’s deep sense of faith that makes him see the workings of
God.
In fact, Ezekiel’s commitment to Indian thought and tradition makes his poetry quite reflective
and meaningful. His recent poetry evinces his keen interest in the Hindu mysticism, philosophy and
theology. However, he is not committed to any particular system of thought or religion. It is because
of the exploration of philosophical and existential aspects of life, that Ezekiel has become an eminent
Indian English poet. Though Ezekiel is a Jew belonging to the Bene-Israel community, the impact of
the Hindu thought on him can be discerned easily.
REFERENCES
1. A. N. Dwivedi, “Modernity in Nissim Ezekiel’s Poetry”, Perspectives on Nissim Ezekiel, ed. Suresh
Chandra Dwivedi (Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1989), p. 108.
2. S. C. Dwivedi, “Nissim Ezekiel’s Latter-day Psalms: A Critical Study”, Perspectives on Nissim Ezekiel, p.
132.
3. Nissim Ezekiel, Collected Poems 1952-1988. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989. All the subsequent
quotations of the poems are from this collection.
4. Vasant A. Shahane, “The Religious and Philosophical Strain in Nissim Ezekiel’s Poetry”, Perspectives on
Nissim Ezekiel, p. 33.
5. Quoted in Sanjit Mishra, The Poetic Art of Nissim Ezekiel (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2001), p. 144.
6. Cited from A Garland of Flowers, A New Anthology of English Poetry, Vol. I, ed. Dr. A.N. Dwivedi
(Allahabad: Narayan Publishing House, 1992), p. 99.
7. Bruce King, Three Indian Poets (Madras: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 48.
By Dr. Pallavi Srivastava
The depiction of Indian experience by Indian poets writing in English must not be confused with
the futile attempts of the poets to imitate the West. Similarly, it must not be considered a substitution
game for Indian poetry in English proved to be extremely receptive and assimilative to English
education and English language. It never lost its native colour, taste, opinions, morals and intellect.
Thus Indian sensibility in Indian English poetry completes a full round. It started with the mystic,
religious, spiritual and philosophic and now it also speaks about the city life, the self and of the
practical world and its problems. It can be seen in the poetry of Indian English writers in the form of
Indian mythology, history, culture, religion and life. In the beginning this sensibility is emotional as
we see in the poetry of earlier idols like Tagore, Aurobindo, Toru or Sarojini Naidu etc. But it becomes
intricate as we come to modern poetry of Ezekiel, Ramanujan, Kamala Das and others. It is the credit
of Indian writers writing in English that they used English language prolifically and profitably in their
best works. Today we have a glittering galaxy of talented writers in India who are on their way to
produce works of merit and skill, especially in the domain of poetry. There are the poets like Nissim
Ezekiel, A.K. Ramanujan, K.N. Daruwalla, R. Parthasarathy, Kamala Das, Gauri Despande, Jayant
Mahapatra, and many others. These poets have given excellent works to Indian literary world and
proved fruitful and rewarding because of the depiction of the warm soul of India
In this context, Nissim Ezekiel (1924-2004) whose poetry is an embodiment of Indianness
occupies a prominent place in modern Indian English literature. Ezekiel has seven volumes to his
credit – A Time to Change (1951), Sixty Poems (1953), The Third (1959), The Unfinished Man (1960),
The Exact Name (1965), Hymns in Darkness (1976) and Latter-Day Psalms (1982). When Ezekiel
commenced his poetic journey, he was surrounded by a host of inhibitive complexes owing to his
Jewish background. This instinctive awareness of marginality is the main cause of the notes of
anguish and anxiety, recurrent in his poetry. In fact, this records Ezekiel’s incessant struggle to
transcend his position and force himself onto the centre. The impelling urge of the marginal inclined
Ezekiel to formulate personal strategies to device his relevance to his surroundings. The beginning of
his poetic career is marked with a developing sense of commitment and belonging to broaden his
individual self in his creative pilgrimage and this concern of Ezekiel is the most pervasively
pronounced in his poetry. Thus Ezekiel has been authentically an Indian poet without any faults of
many other Indian English poets of today. He regarded himself essentially as an Indian poet writing in
English. He has always aspired to the genius of the soul of India.
Ezekiel’s seventh volume is Latter-Day Psalms, which was published in 1982 from the Oxford
University Press. Ezekiel was invited to Rotterdam International Poetry Festival for poetry reading
from 11-17 June 1978, where he composed this volume. This volume has also been translated into
Assamese. Out of 150 Psalms given in the Bible. Ezekiel has selected only nine, corresponding to
numbers 1, 3, 8, 23, 60, 78, 95, 102, and 127, and to maintain a sense of modernity, he has given them
his own views and a characteristic modern touch as discerned in the tenth. To quote Dr. A.N. Dwivedi,
“This latest poetical work of Ezekiel running into sixty-three pages and spanning a period of about
twenty-five years in its coverage of a wide spectrum of experience and knowledge has in its texture a
beautiful blood of the old and the new, of religion/philosophy and worldliness/sensuality, of
traditional value systems and modernistic value systems, and of all those contrarieties which
constitutes the present–day human life of complexities and difficulties.”
1
The volume reveals in
particular, a passion for form and precision, like some of his earlier volumes- The Unfinished Man,
The Exact Name and Hymns in Darkness. The volume, in a sense, unfurls Ezekiel’s struggle for
words, language, irony and paradox in order to achieve a universal range of self-expression. “The
Postcard Poems” of this volume is quite remarkable for language experiments; so also the poet’s
attempt to define himself. To quote S.C. Dwivedi, “Latter–Day Psalms is full of idioms of modern
Indian society sometimes employing the literal translation of colloquial words and phrases in order to
keep touch with the reality.”
2
Some critics observe that this volume lacks harmony and thematic
unity, but it is quite outstanding in its pursuit of the concept and image of man. Poems like “Songs For
Nandu Bhede”, exhibits Ezekiel’s brilliant use of wit, humour and understatement, and “Undertrial
Prisoners” exposes both the judiciary and the Indian Jail system. They are truly arresting in appeal.
Thus, the poems of this volume are quite remarkable for their modernity, sophistication, paradox,
irony and detachment – an indelible contribution to Indian poetry in English indeed.
The idea of writing these Psalms struck the poet during his stay in a hotel in Rotterdam. The
Psalms of David, as referred to on p.43. These Psalms were the part of the song-singing in the public
services of the Israelites and also in their private devotions. In essence, they touch poetic heights and
are highly readable. The volume is remarkable for Ezekiel’s art, sophistication, and choice of exact
words. The poet employs irony, metaphor and symbols to achieve his perception of paradox. Ezekiel’s
themes stem from his own experiences and the experiences of the people around him. He exposes the
Indian people’s faulty use of language in “Very Indian Poems in Indian English”. These poems namely
“The Patriot”, “The Professor” and “Irani Restaurant Instructions” highlight in a humorous tone the
linguistic errors of Indians while speaking English. The volume is a fine specimen of language
alteration in a radical way. In this respect, Ezekiel attempted to alter the tone and idiom of language in
his poetic corpus. Thus Latter-Day Psalms is remarkable for Ezekiel’s great feeling for the language.
Apparently, there may be lack of harmony and thematic unity in it as some critics have pointed out. In
fact, the volume exhibits the social, personal and religions commitments and involvements of the poet
in a busy metropolis. As for lack of harmony and thematic unity, the poet pursues the concept and
image of man in his poems to make a unifying whole. Man acts as the centre as well as the uniting
factor. Even “Latter-Day Psalms”, which is a religious poem, deals with the decline of man and his
dilemmas. These poems establish his position as a religious-cum-philosophical poet. “Postcard
Poems” depict responses of a skeptical and secular man to the religious texts. In short, the volume is
commendable for its use of the Biblical theme in the modern language. The apt combination of
religious strain in unorthodox and modern consciousness demonstrates the poet’s struggle in most
passionate and emotive language to define and redefine him and is a brilliant specimen of Ezekiel’s
extensive use of the lucid and plain language of poetry. In fact, the volume is credited to have brought
the central Sahitya Akademi Award for Ezekiel in 1983.
Latter-Day Psalms, succeeding Hymns in Darkness six years after is a characteristic evidence of
the Hindu view of life and tradition affecting the poet. The very opening poem of the collection,
“Counsel” expresses the classical Hindu view of action– giving, receiving and restraint:
Express your gratitude By giving
what you have to give.
You may get nothing in return.
And bear your restlessness with grace.
3
(CP, p.230)
The above mentioned excerpt appropriately reminds us of datta damyat, dayadhhwan. The last line
is highly characteristic as it contains the undertones of the Bhagwad Gita, preaching us to endure loss
and gain, success and failure with equanimity. The poet wants to pass on the encapsulated wisdom
enshrined in the Hindu Scriptures to the succeeding generation. The protagonist of the poem ardently
seeks after success that is rarely achievable –“Success at the moment/is not in your interest” (p.229).
As a fatalist, the poet suggests:
Turn to silence, nothingness.
Where you are
Is where you have to be.
(CP, p.229)
The poet’s further advice to us is that we should sort out personal weaknesses in our existence
that enrich and strengthen our personality. In spite of being aware of the difficulty involved in this
task, the poet advises us to:
Know, you are not wise:
This is difficult
Grasp you folly
And you grasp your self.
(CP, p.229)
The line – “Do without, be absent” (p.229) – to exist within limitations and imperfections emerges
just like a caution that contains material condemnation that is treated by people as the very soul of
life. The poem contains a list of non-attachment and determinism that is often stressed in the Hindu
view.
The title poem “Latter–Day Psalms” represents the culmination of Ezekiel’s spiritual speculations
though he has not accepted that he is a religions poet in the accepted sense of the term. Writing a
letter to V. A. Shahane, he wrote:
I am not a religious or even a moral person in any conventional sense. Yet, have always felt
myself to be religious and moral in some sense. The gap between these two statements is the
existential sphere of my poetry.
4
The poem was composed during Ezekiel’s stay at Rotterdam in June 1978 for poetry reading. At his
hotel, he had no reading material with him. Ezekiel composed his poems in reply to Psalms. The
modifier “Latter-Day” in the title represents the irrelevance of the Biblical Psalms to contemporary
man concerned with the immediate and the real. Thinking that the Psalms need to be retouched, the
poet evolves a compromise formula to seek good. The first nine Psalms correspond to 1, 3, 8, 23, 60,
78, 95, 102, and 127, representing the 150 Biblical Psalms. As the title itself suggests, these Psalms
offer a modern interpretation of the original Psalms. The poet intends these Psalms to be “only Post -Judaic-Christian”. Using his favourite mode of expression, i.e., irony, Ezekiel recasts the original sense
of the Psalm in such a way as to overturn their meaning.
The very first verse of Psalms, in comparison with Ezekiel’s first “Latter-Day Psalm,” is liable to
quote to underscore the quality of adaptation:
Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the con-ventional and is at home with
sin as with a wife. He shall
listen patiently to the scorn-ful, and understand the sources of their scorn.
(CP, p.252)
This outrageous analogy “at home with/sin as with a wife” (p.252) brings out the fact that he is a
believer in the world of experience. The enjoyment of sin implies tolerance, understanding and
salvation. In fact, the poet defends involvement in life which is an admixture of both good and evil.
Like the Gandhian philosophy of ‘hate the sin and not the sinner’, Ezekiel sympathies with the
depraved and expresses his concern for mankind in general and the suffering people in particular
through his Psalms.
The second Psalm alludes to the doctrine of the Gita. It is the doctrine of dispassionate action or
work without being involved in it. The poet uses this philosophy because man lives in time and “Rare
is the man whose fruit is/in his season” (p.253). With ‘the Time’s chariot drawing near’, the poet sees
the Good ironically. The congregation of the Good and the Evil signify the humanit y. Ezekiel’s second
Latter-Day Psalm is based on the third Biblical Psalm, having echoes of Hinduism in its Catholic
approach. The opening verse is a prayer to God to save both the good and the evil from their potential
human weaknesses. Ezekiel creates his characteristic mode of humour in quoting literally the Biblical
Psalm 3:
How can I breathe freely if
thou breakest the teeth of
the ungodly?
(CP, p.254)
Ezekiel’s Psalms have more tolerance, permissiveness and broad-mindedness than those in the Bible;
his Psalms encompass the whole of mankind, not only the believers of a particular church.
The impact of Hindu tradition and individual talent can be discerned in the whole of Ezekiel’s
“Latter-Day Psalms.” These Psalms reflect religious strain in an unorthodox way. Ezekiel’s eighth
Psalm extensively overhauls Psalm 102, featuring the afflicted devotee who complains before the Lord
about his temporal existence. And after some subtle modifications, Ezekiel’s verse comes out as:
I am like a pelican of the wild-erness, like an owl of the de
sert, like a sparrow alone
upon the housetop-but not in
misery.
I forgot to eat my bread,
not because my heart is
withered like grass.
(CP, p.259)
It is because of mortality that the Biblical Psalmist obliterates all his wayward considerations, even the
bare necessities like food. However, Ezekiel’s regret to ‘eat his bread’ is born of different reasons. Both
Ezekiel and the Biblical Psalmist put forth similar attitudes to worship God who “regards/the prayer
of the destitute, who hears the groaning of the/prisoner, and of those who are/appointed to death”
(p.259). The Biblical Psalmist vents his humble anguish over his appointment with death.
On the other hand, Ezekiel’s Latter-Day Psalm simply reflects the borrowed metonymy, without
having any compliant for his predicament:
I wax old as a garment;
as a vesture I am changed.
In this I accept the condition of humanity.
My children shall continue,
and their children shall continue . . .
(CP, p.259)
Ezekiel’s surprising knowledge of the Hindu Scriptures makes the above extract remarkable. It
eloquently echoes the celebrated advice of Lord Krishna to Arjuna:
V a s a ni j i rn a ni yath a vih a ya, nav a ni grihn a ti, naropar a ni.
Tath a sharir a ni vih a ya j i rna , ny a nyani sany a ti nav a ni deh i . 5
The fate of mankind has been one of anguish and suffering ever since Adam’s fall. Referring to such a
situation, the great Romantic poet John Keats writes in his famous “Ode to a Nightingale”:
Thou wast not born for death, immortal bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
6
This temporariness of human existence is perceptible to Ezekiel that is hinted by three dots at the end
of the above quoted extract of Ezekiel’s Psalm. It appears that Ezekiel tries to put this endless
occurrence of human predicament into verbal form. Being basically a humanist, Ezekiel is endowed
with an instinctive empathy for man’s weaknesses. He expresses his sense of admiration for his
Psalms as they are human creations, and hence destined to be flawed and incomplete. Putting forth
his comment on the poetic virtues of the Psalms, he also admires their lyrical quality and the richness
of images and over’s, “they swim in my Jewish consciousness” (p.261). This ‘Jewish consciousness’
makes him aware of the fact that:
God is a presence here
and his people are real.
I see their sins. I hear
His anger.
(CP, p.261)
At the same time, the poet admits an instinctive awareness in the shaping of his sensibility. In the
concluding Latter-Day Psalm, Ezekiel reiterates the significance of the Biblical Psalms in the growth of
his personality:
Now I am through with
the Psalms; they are
part of my flesh.
(CP, p.261)
However, it is notable that Ezekiel does not have any intention to reject or discredit the original
Psalms. In fact, they act as an inspiration for him in enhancing his sense of integrity in religious faith.
Ezekiel’s non-conformist attitude to Psalms is deeply-rooted in the catholicity of human love. Its
appeal has a telling effect of its own. Bruce King rightly observes in this connection:
The ‘Latter-day Psalms’ reflect Ezekiel’s struggle with his own Jewish heritage and end with an
ironic ‘Jamini Roy’ conclusion in which the art of the psalms provides a model for his own
work.
7
Thus, the Psalms are imbued with the poet’s deep sense of faith that makes him see the workings of
God.
In fact, Ezekiel’s commitment to Indian thought and tradition makes his poetry quite reflective
and meaningful. His recent poetry evinces his keen interest in the Hindu mysticism, philosophy and
theology. However, he is not committed to any particular system of thought or religion. It is because
of the exploration of philosophical and existential aspects of life, that Ezekiel has become an eminent
Indian English poet. Though Ezekiel is a Jew belonging to the Bene-Israel community, the impact of
the Hindu thought on him can be discerned easily.
REFERENCES
1. A. N. Dwivedi, “Modernity in Nissim Ezekiel’s Poetry”, Perspectives on Nissim Ezekiel, ed. Suresh
Chandra Dwivedi (Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1989), p. 108.
2. S. C. Dwivedi, “Nissim Ezekiel’s Latter-day Psalms: A Critical Study”, Perspectives on Nissim Ezekiel, p.
132.
3. Nissim Ezekiel, Collected Poems 1952-1988. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1989. All the subsequent
quotations of the poems are from this collection.
4. Vasant A. Shahane, “The Religious and Philosophical Strain in Nissim Ezekiel’s Poetry”, Perspectives on
Nissim Ezekiel, p. 33.
5. Quoted in Sanjit Mishra, The Poetic Art of Nissim Ezekiel (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 2001), p. 144.
6. Cited from A Garland of Flowers, A New Anthology of English Poetry, Vol. I, ed. Dr. A.N. Dwivedi
(Allahabad: Narayan Publishing House, 1992), p. 99.
7. Bruce King, Three Indian Poets (Madras: Oxford University Press, 1991), p. 48.
