Introduction of the Poem:
In “The Abandoned British Cemetery at Balasore,” which appears in his Selected Poems, Jayanta Mahapatra reflects over the deaths of young British citizens of cholera a hundred and fifty years ago, who are buried in the cemetery at Balasore. This is a poignant and heart rending poem about “the forgotten dead”.
Critical Summary:
This poem describes the author's reflections upon entering a cemetery in which a number of Britishers lay buried but which was now deserted because of a lapse of a long period of time of about a hundred and fifty years. The poem refers to a historical incident. A number of British lives were lost on account of the outbreak of cholera at Balasore; and their dead bodies were buried in the graves in a specially selected piece of ground which thus became a cemetery or a graveyard. The poem opens with the words: “This is history,” meaning that what the poet is witnessing brings to his mind a historical incident. Then the poet says that he would not disturb it, meaning that he would not go much further into the cemetery because he would not like to disturb the graves wherein the dead lay buried. The tombs in this cemetery are now in a state of ruin. One can, of course, see the stone and the marble which had been used in building the tombs but which have now almost crumbled because of the passage of time. The poet then asks himself how he should behave at the present moment while standing in this cemetery where lie the dead belonging to a time long past. He uses the word “archaic”, meaning “ancient” because a long, long time has passed since these persons were buried here.
It was one hundred and fifty years back that the incident happened. It is quite possible that the poet, instead of living in the present times, might himself have lived in those days when this incident occurred. But now he stands here and sees only grass, bushes, thorns, and weeds around him. Nor does it matter that he did not personally know those who were buried here. What difference does it make to him who died of cholera in those days and who survived.
In spite of his attitude of indifference towards who died and who survived, the poet yet feels awed by the thought of the dead persons who were buried here and who have been forgotten because of the passage of time. He walks around the various graves of which there are thirty - nine. In other words, thirty - nine persons died of cholera and were buried here. His entering this cemetery cannot bring the dead back to life. His presence here cannot stir the remains of the dead persons. There is silence all around him though a lean lizard is closely watching what goes on, and though there is a scorpion resting upon one of the tombs on which the name of the dead person is inscribed.
The poet then reads the names of the dead persons inscribed on the tombstones. (A tombstone is a slab of marble planted at the head of a grave to indicate who lies buried here. The dates of birth and death of the person concerned and certain other particulars are also inscribed on a tombstone). The poet reads the name of Florence who is described on the tombstone as “the darling wife” of an army captain. She was just nineteen at the time of her death, and she had died of cholera. Then he reads the name of Helen, the beloved daughter of a British couple. She was just seventeen when she died of the same epidemic.
The British were at that time the rulers of India (which was a part of the British Empire). But now that empire does not exist any longer, and the poet says that the vanished British Empire is of no concern of his. It does not matter to him if his remote ancestors had lived as the subjects of the British imperialists. What he is concerned with are the deaths of the young persons who lie buried here and the young persons who die even now - a - days of one cause or another. It is the deaths of the young people which move the human heart deeply and which bring to surface the feelings and emotions lying dormant in the depths of the human heart.
Cholera still breaks out and kills young people. When it breaks out, it travels rapidly and powerfully, bringing about ruin and destruction. It is as sharp and cruel as iron. It may remain in abeyance like iron which is allowed to remain at one place and rust. But its menace or threat never ceases. Those, who die, leave behind a memory of their deaths. Death seems to smile as the victims die.
Seeing a heavy piece of timber lying close to the graves, the poet says that the force of the earth's gravity would continue always to operate upon this piece of timber. (The force of gravity means the power of the earth to pull things downwards). This heavy piece of timber, or anchor as it may be called, might in course of time acquire certain sanctity in the eyes of the people. By virtue of its very ancientness, this anchor might one day be treated as a deity and as an object of worship. This anchor would keep history alive by reminding people of the deaths which had taken place long, long ago; and this anchor would disallow the survivors to speak and make their existence known to others. In other words, this anchor would act not only as a source of some historical information but also as a forbidding power.
This poem reminds us vaguely of the famous Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray, though there is no resemblance of any kind between the two poems.
.webp)
