Introduction of the Poem:
Luminol, taken from The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (1973), has been named after a sleep inducing pill. This irregularly written fourteen - line poem, is about the poetess’ longing for deep slumber from which nothing can arouse or awaken her.
Critical Summary:
Her husband's treatment of her, particularly during the sex act, makes her miserable of his roughness and the noisy movements he makes. She refers to him as the “ruthless one clumsy with noise and movement”. She does not want him to enter “the mute arena of her soul”; she can ensure his exclusion from that zone by “a silent sleep inside her sleep” even when she cannot stop him from the physical and lustful lovemaking he indulges in. She cannot allow him to disturb the peace of her soul; she can do so only if she has taken some drug like luminol to send her into deep slumber.
According to Eunice de Souza, Luminol is one of the most moving poems of Kamala Das. It shows her as a neurotic person who finds herself profoundly alone and longs for some peace from her inner conflicts. Kamala Das has played her role as an unhappy woman in many poems - both as a wife and as a mistress to many men. Her nymphomania brought her nothing but misery. She constantly looks for an escape from the memory of her disappointment and frustration and, as no real escape was possible, she could only think of a drug like luminal to full her to deep sleep.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
This poem was published in Kamala Das' third volume of poems which appeared in 1973 under the heading of “The Old Playhouse and Other Poems”, A critic regards this poem as one of the most moving Kamala Das has written. This critic thinks that this poem shows Kamala Das as a neurotic person who finds herself profoundly alone and longs for some peace from her inner conflicts. According to the same critic, Kamala Das has played out her role as an unhappy woman in many poems. She has been unhappy as a wife and unhappy as a mistress to many men. Her nymphomania (that is, her insatiable hunger for sexual gratification) had brought her nothing but misery; and she had therefore been seeking an escape from her memory of her sexual frustrations. As no real escape from memory is possible, she can only think of some drug like luminol to lull her to a deep sleep.
This poem is most irregularly written. There are some lines which are moderate in length, some which consist of only four or three or two words; and there are at least two lines consisting of only one word each. Although we do agree that it is a very moving poem, its irregular form is somewhat irritating to us. We are of the opinion that a poet should not take such extreme liberties with the technique of writing poetry. However, Kamala Das is not alone in this respect because, unfortunately, almost every Indo - Anglian poet has taken such liberties.
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