2023-03-29 18:09:48 by ambuda-bot
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INTRODUCTION
together admirable verses-really just a narrative theme. The story
may at any time be interrupted by long descriptive irrelevancies on the
sunrise, the mountains, the moonset, which appear extraneous by stand-
ards emphasizing the unity of plot. Moreover, the overdevelopment and
the stylistic complexity of the stanza itself testify to a smaller unit of
composition. It is the stanzas and not the work which have a life of their
own in the historical traditions of Indian literature. The anthologies are
collections of such stanzas from disparate sources. Little value is attached
to the whole work, to which stanzas are freely added or from which they
are excerpted by the tradition.
But what are the aims and possibilities of such a stanzaic style? Evi-
dently, the structure of the stanza itself is considered the major achieve-
ment of the poet. The character of the stanzas is determined in large
measure by traits adapted from the peculiarities of the Sanskrit language:
a complex metrics based on syllable length, a sonorous phonemic system,
a complexly rich consonant system, an enormous vocabulary enabling
richness and overtone in expression and great multidimensionality of
the image, and a syntactical system tending in the opposite direction-
to great compactness and density through inflection and the compounding
of entire clauses. The tendency is toward the expression of one bewilder-
ingly complex but stringently coherent idea or image within the stanzaic
unit. The stanza imposes its form on the poetic content, which is delivered
compactly as image, as figure.
The formulation of the principles of stanzaic composition is found
adequately expressed in the older alamkārika treatises and reaches its
essential statement in the theory of the figures, an attempt to comprehend
the ability of language (its forms of grammar and thought) to express
and sustain this ideal microcosm and encompass a second level of mean-
ing. Language must do so compactly and rigorously within the structures
of coherence and relation of the syntax; language must state imaginations.
The typical stanza aims at a richness of intelligibility which is at first
overwhelming, and it is that intelligibility which is the aim of the poet.
The amount encompassed within the strict syllabic limitations of the
longer (or poetic) meters, is so great that a complete translation is often
two or three times as long as the original. Translations will tend to be
flabby and prolix precisely where the original displays a tense compactness
and is most striking in its beauty. Such intelligibility, admittedly an
intellectual value, cannot rush immediately and full blown from the head
of the poet; theories of intuition are lamentably inept in explaining the
significance of the kávya or, par contre, its ability to provoke delight.
INTRODUCTION
together admirable verses-really just a narrative theme. The story
may at any time be interrupted by long descriptive irrelevancies on the
sunrise, the mountains, the moonset, which appear extraneous by stand-
ards emphasizing the unity of plot. Moreover, the overdevelopment and
the stylistic complexity of the stanza itself testify to a smaller unit of
composition. It is the stanzas and not the work which have a life of their
own in the historical traditions of Indian literature. The anthologies are
collections of such stanzas from disparate sources. Little value is attached
to the whole work, to which stanzas are freely added or from which they
are excerpted by the tradition.
But what are the aims and possibilities of such a stanzaic style? Evi-
dently, the structure of the stanza itself is considered the major achieve-
ment of the poet. The character of the stanzas is determined in large
measure by traits adapted from the peculiarities of the Sanskrit language:
a complex metrics based on syllable length, a sonorous phonemic system,
a complexly rich consonant system, an enormous vocabulary enabling
richness and overtone in expression and great multidimensionality of
the image, and a syntactical system tending in the opposite direction-
to great compactness and density through inflection and the compounding
of entire clauses. The tendency is toward the expression of one bewilder-
ingly complex but stringently coherent idea or image within the stanzaic
unit. The stanza imposes its form on the poetic content, which is delivered
compactly as image, as figure.
The formulation of the principles of stanzaic composition is found
adequately expressed in the older alamkārika treatises and reaches its
essential statement in the theory of the figures, an attempt to comprehend
the ability of language (its forms of grammar and thought) to express
and sustain this ideal microcosm and encompass a second level of mean-
ing. Language must do so compactly and rigorously within the structures
of coherence and relation of the syntax; language must state imaginations.
The typical stanza aims at a richness of intelligibility which is at first
overwhelming, and it is that intelligibility which is the aim of the poet.
The amount encompassed within the strict syllabic limitations of the
longer (or poetic) meters, is so great that a complete translation is often
two or three times as long as the original. Translations will tend to be
flabby and prolix precisely where the original displays a tense compactness
and is most striking in its beauty. Such intelligibility, admittedly an
intellectual value, cannot rush immediately and full blown from the head
of the poet; theories of intuition are lamentably inept in explaining the
significance of the kávya or, par contre, its ability to provoke delight.