Smita Padmanabhan's A Drop of Water and Dylan Thamas' Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines

Smita Padmanabhan’s A Drop of Water is another masterly structured short lyric with tremendous thematic complexity and technical excellence. It is a poem about the creation and the imagery of the poem makes us realize the vast span of the thematic implications pervading every corner of creative possibility. The poem opens with the battling images of dark and light and creates the milieu that resonates with the theme of the poem. The images, with great transparency fight out an endless sally in small groups and render complexion to the images that might be glossy, or grey. Centripetal movements of the light are contrasted with the fast centrifugal moment of the dark which constructs the pillars of paradoxes forming the meaning and delineating the experience.

The waiting seems to be over
With the lights getting bleaker
And darkness fast approaching
Alas! The first drop of life…
Starts trickling from his abode
Bringing happiness and hope
To those dry despaired slopes

It is remarkable to note that the poem opens with a sigh of relief that the ‘waiting seems to be over,’ and this sense of relief is followed by the gold rush in contrasted directions as the’ lights’ are ‘getting bleaker’ and ‘darkness’ is ‘fast approaching.’ The poetess records success in creating the system of archetypal paradoxes existing and functioning at precise synchronicity. The inward movement of the images draws a close parallel with the process of creation which is manifest in a rich variety of ways; on one hand it is suggestive of the process of artistic creation and on the other hand it makes an obvious reference to sex leading to the creation of the universe and mankind. There is a symmetric pattern of distancing contrasts about the center in the opening stanza of the poem. The ‘fast approaching darkness’ paves way for the ‘trickling of life from his abode’ and the ‘lights getting bleaker’ draw an obvious contrast with the ‘bringing of hope and happiness.’ Likewise the first line of the opening stanza- ‘the waiting seems to be over,’ offers an obvious parallel with the ‘dry despaired slopes.’
The second stanza gives us a more vivid picture of all that is unseen. The poet creates a vivid picture of the whole process through the images suggesting a number of paradoxical implications fused in one complex perception. The poet very skillfully speaks the unspeakable, paints the invisible and versifies what without poetic methods can be the crudest to reveal if not with some clinical purpose. The second stanza begins with the alliterative revelation of the invisible and the images come one after another like the strokes of hammer curing the mind with revelation and knowledge. The alliterative effect in the first two lines of the second stanza, is soon followed by the image of the ‘polder’ and the ‘dykes’ together suggesting the presence of water (and consequently of life) and the confinement defining the periphery.

Driblets drip down dried stems
Swelling, shining shelled polders
Overflowing dead grassy dykes
Venturing further into the sites.
The image of polder and the dykes capture our attention as they in mutual complementation with each other illustrate the picture of the invisible. The ‘driblet’ dripping ‘down the dried stems’ sets into being the perception of the whole process that takes place in the invisible polder surrounded by visible dykes. The subtle use of alliteration also contributes to distinguishing the process with the landscape; the action and the locale. The imagistic delineation of the action imparts grace to the creative process. The treatment of romantic images in the relatively new context is another very conspicuous aspect of the poetic method employed in the poem;

Signaling birth of an new runnel
Progressing path with lingering life
Meandering the alley and plains
Enjoying the warmth and current mean
Treading all odds of the voyages
Till finally reaches the resting bay

The poem unequivocally involves more than one interpretation as it deals most essentially with the theme of the creation which may take place in a rich variety of ways. On one hand the poem deals with the theme of the conception and creation of the child and on the other hand it resonates with the parallel theme of the poetic creation. The parallel between two forms of the creation constitute the main axis of the thematic structure of the poem that define the dynamics of the images in the poem. The opening line of the poem- ‘waiting seems to be over,’ inkles the moment of enlightenment and preparedness of the creator The ‘darkness’ in the second line of the poem is the concentration which leads to the culmination of a poetic experience paving way for ‘the first drop of the life.’ The ‘happiness and hope’ is the beginning of the creation and the expressed in the ‘driblets dripping down the dried stems.’ The parallel between two creative processes grows stronger when the poet unifies the rapture of treading all the odds of the voyage.
It can easily be inferred that A Drop of Water is an example of the finest craftsmanship of the unpublished poet. A brief comparison of the poem with Dylan Thomas’ Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines become obligatory, as, both the poems are knit around the same themes with similar imagistic predilections. Thomas in his one of the most celebrated poem deals with the idea of creation in a very transparent manner with interpenetrating frontiers, providing easy and smooth voyage to images along the ocean of meanings and implications. The opening stanza of the poem by and large, a candid revelation of the process leading to procreation;

Light breaks where no sun shines;
Where no sea runs, the waters of the heart
Push in their tides;
And, broken ghosts with glow-worms in their heads,
The things of light
File through the flesh where no flesh decks the bones.

It is noticeable that the images used in A Drop of Water cover a wider sphere of imagistic and metaphorical magnificence, and, cruise smoothly from one domain of poetic experience to the other. The smooth voyage from one meaning to the other, from one experience to the other, enriches the images used in the poem with great metaphorical significance and the mind of the reader constantly oscillates between one experience to the other. The space is delineated in terms of the deluge of the battling metaphors. Thomas’ Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines, acquires this smooth sail of the meaning and experience in the fifth stanza when he subtly fuses the two implications of the creation and writes;

Light breaks on secret lots,
On tips of thought where thoughts smell in the rain;
When logics die,
The secret of the soil grows through the eye,
And blood jumps in the sun;
Above the waste allotments the dawn halts.

It is however interesting to observe that the young poet maintains the smooth sail of images and metaphors since the first revelation of the creative spirit realized along either axis defining the meaning. Thus it can be claimed that A Drop of Water is unquestionably a masterly written poem foretelling the advent of a new master ready to hit the literary horizon with new missiles ready for the launch.

Smita Padmanabhan’s A Drop of Water is another masterly structured short lyric with tremendous thematic complexity and technical excellence. It is a poem about the creation and the imagery of the poem makes us realize the vast span of the thematic implications pervading every corner of creative possibility. The poem opens with the battling images of dark and light and creates the milieu that resonates with the theme of the poem. The images, with great transparency fight out an endless sally in small groups and render complexion to the images that might be glossy, or grey. Centripetal movements of the light are contrasted with the fast centrifugal moment of the dark which constructs the pillars of paradoxes forming the meaning and delineating the experience.

The waiting seems to be over
With the lights getting bleaker
And darkness fast approaching
Alas! The first drop of life…
Starts trickling from his abode
Bringing happiness and hope
To those dry despaired slopes

It is remarkable to note that the poem opens with a sigh of relief that the ‘waiting seems to be over,’ and this sense of relief is followed by the gold rush in contrasted directions as the’ lights’ are ‘getting bleaker’ and ‘darkness’ is ‘fast approaching.’ The poetess records success in creating the system of archetypal paradoxes existing and functioning at precise synchronicity. The inward movement of the images draws a close parallel with the process of creation which is manifest in a rich variety of ways; on one hand it is suggestive of the process of artistic creation and on the other hand it makes an obvious reference to sex leading to the creation of the universe and mankind. There is a symmetric pattern of distancing contrasts about the center in the opening stanza of the poem. The ‘fast approaching darkness’ paves way for the ‘trickling of life from his abode’ and the ‘lights getting bleaker’ draw an obvious contrast with the ‘bringing of hope and happiness.’ Likewise the first line of the opening stanza- ‘the waiting seems to be over,’ offers an obvious parallel with the ‘dry despaired slopes.’
The second stanza gives us a more vivid picture of all that is unseen. The poet creates a vivid picture of the whole process through the images suggesting a number of paradoxical implications fused in one complex perception. The poet very skillfully speaks the unspeakable, paints the invisible and versifies what without poetic methods can be the crudest to reveal if not with some clinical purpose. The second stanza begins with the alliterative revelation of the invisible and the images come one after another like the strokes of hammer curing the mind with revelation and knowledge. The alliterative effect in the first two lines of the second stanza, is soon followed by the image of the ‘polder’ and the ‘dykes’ together suggesting the presence of water (and consequently of life) and the confinement defining the periphery.

Driblets drip down dried stems
Swelling, shining shelled polders
Overflowing dead grassy dykes
Venturing further into the sites.
The image of polder and the dykes capture our attention as they in mutual complementation with each other illustrate the picture of the invisible. The ‘driblet’ dripping ‘down the dried stems’ sets into being the perception of the whole process that takes place in the invisible polder surrounded by visible dykes. The subtle use of alliteration also contributes to distinguishing the process with the landscape; the action and the locale. The imagistic delineation of the action imparts grace to the creative process. The treatment of romantic images in the relatively new context is another very conspicuous aspect of the poetic method employed in the poem;

Signaling birth of an new runnel
Progressing path with lingering life
Meandering the alley and plains
Enjoying the warmth and current mean
Treading all odds of the voyages
Till finally reaches the resting bay

The poem unequivocally involves more than one interpretation as it deals most essentially with the theme of the creation which may take place in a rich variety of ways. On one hand the poem deals with the theme of the conception and creation of the child and on the other hand it resonates with the parallel theme of the poetic creation. The parallel between two forms of the creation constitute the main axis of the thematic structure of the poem that define the dynamics of the images in the poem. The opening line of the poem- ‘waiting seems to be over,’ inkles the moment of enlightenment and preparedness of the creator The ‘darkness’ in the second line of the poem is the concentration which leads to the culmination of a poetic experience paving way for ‘the first drop of the life.’ The ‘happiness and hope’ is the beginning of the creation and the expressed in the ‘driblets dripping down the dried stems.’ The parallel between two creative processes grows stronger when the poet unifies the rapture of treading all the odds of the voyage.
It can easily be inferred that A Drop of Water is an example of the finest craftsmanship of the unpublished poet. A brief comparison of the poem with Dylan Thomas’ Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines become obligatory, as, both the poems are knit around the same themes with similar imagistic predilections. Thomas in his one of the most celebrated poem deals with the idea of creation in a very transparent manner with interpenetrating frontiers, providing easy and smooth voyage to images along the ocean of meanings and implications. The opening stanza of the poem by and large, a candid revelation of the process leading to procreation;

Light breaks where no sun shines;
Where no sea runs, the waters of the heart
Push in their tides;
And, broken ghosts with glow-worms in their heads,
The things of light
File through the flesh where no flesh decks the bones.

It is noticeable that the images used in A Drop of Water cover a wider sphere of imagistic and metaphorical magnificence, and, cruise smoothly from one domain of poetic experience to the other. The smooth voyage from one meaning to the other, from one experience to the other, enriches the images used in the poem with great metaphorical significance and the mind of the reader constantly oscillates between one experience to the other. The space is delineated in terms of the deluge of the battling metaphors. Thomas’ Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines, acquires this smooth sail of the meaning and experience in the fifth stanza when he subtly fuses the two implications of the creation and writes;

Light breaks on secret lots,
On tips of thought where thoughts smell in the rain;
When logics die,
The secret of the soil grows through the eye,
And blood jumps in the sun;
Above the waste allotments the dawn halts.

It is however interesting to observe that the young poet maintains the smooth sail of images and metaphors since the first revelation of the creative spirit realized along either axis defining the meaning. Thus it can be claimed that A Drop of Water is unquestionably a masterly written poem foretelling the advent of a new master ready to hit the literary horizon with new missiles ready for the launch.