“Why I Write”; Corresponding Elements in the Poetic Discourse of Jibanananda and Wordsworth

Abstract

In his Bengali treatise on poetry named Kobitar Kotha/Why I Write there is evidence of vernacular poet Jibanananda (1899-1954). Jibanananda was familiar with the poetic cannons of European poetry. He emphasizes, in his treatise on poetry, on “experience” along with “imagination” as intrinsic to the creative process of poetry. The affinity of English Romantic poet William Wordsworth’s (deliberation on nature of Poetry and the definition of a Poet in Preface to The Lyrical Ballads and Jibanananda’s two articles on the same subject-Kobitar Kotha/The Story of Poetry and Keno Likhi/Why I Write is remarkable. This paper seeks to identify some areas of commonality in this sphere.