International Islamic University Islamabad
Précis of two Articles:
1. TAUFIQ RAFAT AS AN ASIAN ROMANTIC:
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF POETRY COLLECTION 'ARRIVAL OF THE MONSOON'
2. TAUFIQ RAFAT’S POETRY
THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF VARIOUS ‘ISMS’:
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED POEMS FROM ARRIVAL OF THE MONSOON
Course Code: ELL- 506
Course Title: Pakistani Literature in English
Submitted to
Dr. Neelam Jabeen
Department of English Literature
Submitted by
Group 1
Name Name
Sameera Rafique Aneela khan
2415-FLL/MAENG/F-20 2436-FLL/MAENG/F-20
Sumaiya Usman Nabeela Rauf
2423-FLL/MAENG/F-20 2443-FLL/MAENG/F-20
Javeriya Khalil
2447-FLL/MAENG/F-20
International Islamic University Islamabad
TAUFIQ RAFAT AS AN ASIAN ROMANTIC:
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF POETRY COLLECTION 'ARRIVAL OF THE MONSOON'
Introduction
Taufiq Rafat is a renowned Pakistani poet writing in English. He paved and
flourished the ways in the Asian style of writing romantic poetry. His work
comprised of post-independence era proceeds to 1990s. The researchers have
endeavored to analyze Rafat’s Poetry through the Lens of British Romanticism in
his first collection of poetry “The Arrival of the Moonsoon”.
Summary
Rafat’s poetry clearly displays his faculty of imagination, notions, poetic sense and visualization.
His poetry is a graphic representation of the land of Punjab. Rafat has freed the English language
from the expression of British style by employing traditional idioms to communicate the
sensitivities of local people. Love for nature, beauty, simplicities of common man’s life, nostalgia,
and past time are the subject matter of Rafat’s poetry. His hatred for wars and politics brings him
closer to romantic poets.
We can discern the British romantic tendencies in his poems; “Ceremony of Autumn”, “A Cool
May” and “Season” that depict the beauty of nature and different seasons. In “KITCHENS” we
find nostalgia of childhood when relations were precious, warmer, and closer. It was the time
before Industrial Revolution.
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His famous poem “ARRIVAL OF THE MOON SOON” signify the beauty and specialty of the
monsoon season. In the poem, “SQUIRRELS”, he expresses his notion that a poet should be
expressive irrespective of social approval and write poems whether they are liked or not. Further,
in “Going after Geese”, he suggests that the poet should be as determined as a hunter who hunts
Geese. Another of his marvelous poems “Written in Early Spring” portrays Wordsworth's poetic
style; simple, modest prose like collegial language with pastoral imagery.
Rafat has beautifully communicated and reflected Pakistani culture, local fauna and flora, idioms
cultural practices, and romance. He artistically narrated the local cultures in detail, colorful seasons
and ordinary people as in “Village Girl” and “A Wire Swinging”.
International Islamic University Islamabad
TAUFIQ RAFAT’S POETRY—THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF VARIOUS ‘ISMS’: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF
SELECTED POEMS FROM ARRIVAL OF THE MONSOON
Introduction
Taufiq Rafat is a remarkable Pakistani writer. His poetry is stuffed with cultural
insight and rural imagery. He has quite efficiently used the tool of imagery in his
work. His best work, Arrival of the Monsoon: Collected Poems (1985), comprising
four parts, brought him to the climax of honor and recognition.
Summary
In his poem "KITCHENS" there is an ironic display and comparison of past culture with
modernism. The imagery of the kitchen establishes the fact that not only the styles of kitchens
have changed rather there is a whole shift in the culture. He gives a vivid picture of how traditional
kitchens were the main sources of sharing the news. The use of the phrase "we grew up" gives
the impression of unity and solidarity. In the present times, we see the common use of the word
"I”. This shows the materialistic shift in the modern world. In the latter part of the poem, the
imagery of modern-day lives is projected. His most famous poem "Arrival of the Monsoon” very
beautifully assimilates the imagery of the Moonsoon season; a smooth transition from summers
and it welcomes the winters.
Sawan when comes gives a new life to every creature on earth. Rafat touches upon the process of
creativity both in the creative artists and the agricultural lands. Moonsoon is productive for both
International Islamic University Islamabad
poets and agricultural lands. Through his strong sense of imagination, the poet portrays all the
creatures having a sense of happiness due to the arrival of Sawan as stated in the poem “the dry
trees rise and shake themselves” (p. 55). Through his words, it is very clear that the poet endeavors
to amplify the voice of nationalism. His use of indigenous vocabulary and Pakistani idioms in his
poetry proved to be a counter-discourse to the Colonization of his homeland.
Work Cited:
1. Hina Rafique, Farhana Tabassum, “TAUFIQ RAFAT AS AN ASIAN ROMANTIC: A
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF POETRY COLLECTION 'ARRIVAL OF THE
MONSOON”, Sci.Int. (Lahore), 33(1), 25-30, 2021.
2. Rana Jahif Shakerl, Shumaila Jafar, “TAUFIQ RAFAT’S POETRY—THE
KALEIDOSCOPE OF VARIOUS ‘ISMS’: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED
POEMS FROM ARRIVAL OF THE MONSOON “International Journal of English and
Literature (IJEL) ,Vol. 5, Issue 4, Aug 2015, 103-112.
