JIBANANANDA DAS’ CONCEPT OF POETRY VIS-A-VIS EUROPEAN POETS AS REFLECTED IN HIS BENGALI TREATISE ON POETRY ENTITLED KOBITAR KOTHA

Abstract

Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) is a modernist Bengali poet par excellence. His poetic credo is built on his subtle awareness of poetic textures of Bengali poetry as well as English poetry. His deep knowledge of poetic subtlety inherits from his study of the growth and the evolution of poetry as a whole. His knowledge of the creative works of European poets is obvious. He keeps himself updated with contemporary Bengali poetry simultaneously. His Bengali treatise on poetry named Kobitar Kotha written in 1938 bears witness to his intimacy with the poetic cosmos of European poets. His literary attitudes towards such poets are reflected in Kobitar Kotha, which epitomizes his poetic credo too. In the treatise, poet Das reiterates that all are not poets; some are poets; they are poets as they most importantly possess the kind of imagination integrating judiciously experience with the solidity and essence of thoughts which together enable them to get enlightened by poetic visions both newer and centuries old; they by virtue of this specific imagination tend to be creative and then compose poems after coming to terms with the discovery of subtleties and complexities of human universe.