The Immortalising Power of Poetic Art: A Study with Special Reference to Shakespeare's Sonnets

Abstract

William Shakespeare's sonnets, dedicated to the fair youth, rumble with the reiterating theme of mortality. The thoughts of death, decay and destruction almost always marred the joy of praising the beauty of his friend. Still Shakespeare wished to immortalise the beauty of the fair youth as he did not want his beauty to fade away like ‘the darling buds of May’. He challenged himself to immortalise the personal charms of his friend. He was confident that only poetic art (the finest of all fine arts) can perform the task. Poetic art has an upper hand over the other fine arts as no gross material (which is perishable) is needed for its composition. Time exercises its devastating power on the masterpieces of other arts of architecture, sculpture and painting, but poetic art has the privilege of survival through the ages with all its originality. By applying the Indian ideology of Sthula (gross) and Sukshma (fine), the current article tries to compare the other fine arts with poetic art and prove that only poetic art is the finest of all fine arts and can lend immortality to a person or a thing it sings for. For example, the mighty Epic – Ramcharitmanas – has immortalised Rama. When no Ayodhyapuri (symbol of architecture) and no original statue (art of sculpture) or painting of Rama has survived the mighty blows of time, it is only by the guidance of the Epic (poetic art) that a painter paints a poster or a sculptor carves the idol of our worship. The current article summarises a minor research project named The Recurring Theme of Death and Mortality vs. Immortality in Shakespearean Sonnets, submitted to the UGC, University Grants Commission.