Soft Storm | Soft Storm Poem Exercise | Soft Storm Exercise Solution | Class 12 - Soft Storm Note

 Soft Storm

- Abhi Subedi

A prolific poet, playwright, and critic, Abhi Subedi (1945) has remained one of the eminent personalities in the field of literature in Nepal. Born in Sabla village of Terhathum district, Subedi has written several plays including Dreams of Peach Blossoms (2001) and Fire in the Monastery (2003). Subedi, who taught at the Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University, for around 40 years, has poetry collections like Manas (1974) and Chasing Dreams: Kathmandu Odyssey (1996) and Shabdara Chot (1997) to his credit. In the present poem entitled “Soft Storm,” Subedi, with a touch of compassion, contemplates over the absurdities of tumultuous times.

 

• Poem:

I became soft

I became soft

after I heard the tumult and

crashed on the eerie stillness;

I inherited the soft

when the sky grew like crocuses

over stones and

became five inches taller

that very night

when moon skidded down

your walls

speaking in the language

of posters and politics

rituals and reasons.

I became soft

as the softness rose like a gale

tearing my roofs

that very night

when the moon sang of

lampposts and gutters

in this seamless city.

I became soft

when homeless children in Thamel

cried with hunger under the bat-bearing

trees of Kesharmahal;

I became soft

when I returned

from the melee

where ceremony

dances with mad steps

on the unwedded gardens of history

growing around protruded rocks.

I became soft

when I alone turned to you

leaving deep dents of words

on these white sheets;

I became soft storm

when I saw a forlorn child

carrying transistor radio around his neck

run around wailing

to find his mother

in the corridors of violent history.

I became a soft storm

when I saw a man

beaten mercilessly

for no reason

before his family

by nobody for no reason

in no sensible times.

I became soft

when I saw

a blood-stained shirt

speaking in the earth’s ears

with bruised human lips

in the far corner

under the moon

of history and dreams

playing hide and seek

in open museums

of human times.

I became soft

since you gave words

but did not listen to them,

gave storms

but didn’t wait to see its Leela

over the silent stone.

Crocuses have grown

over the stone–

I saw last moonlit night,

storms have loitered

in the narrow lanes

where I too have walked alone

pensively in rain tears

and little chuckles of sun laughter

that have risen and melted

like rainbow.

Soft is my storm

that rages and rages

over silent pages,

silent stones,

silent forlorn shirts carrying war memories,

silent dilapidations of gods’ abodes

where dances and songs

are buried under helpless divine debris

in human courtyards.

Soft is what you saw,

I honor your mooneyes

but the mad time spools

winding all that we see and live with,

stone growing in flower

moon humming melodies

history rushing under the lamppost

and over deforested land,

birds singing of bizarre journeys

over the warming earth

rhododendron blooming in winter,

mother earth telling of the tumults

in the songs of the sad birds.

All in unison have created

this soft gale.

But in these hard times

I want to melt like a rainbow

my soft storm in your minuscule sky.

My soft storm

dances in ripples

of your uneasy lake.

• Glossary:

tumult (n.): violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd or mob; uproar

eerie (adj.): so mysterious, strange, or unexpected as to send a chill up the spine

crocuses (n.): a type of flowering plants in the iris family

seamless (adj.): moving from one thing to another easily and without any interruptions

or problems

melee (n.): confusion, turmoil, jumble

protruded (adj.): stuck out from or through something

Leela (n.): a divine play

loitered (v.): moved slowly around or stand in a public place without an obvious reason

pensively (adv.): done in a thoughtful manner, often with sadness

spools (n.): a cylindrical device which has a rim or ridge at each end and an axial hole

for a pin or spindle and on which material (such as thread, wire, or tape) is wound

minuscule (adj.): very small

• Summary:

The poem ‘Soft Storm’ is written by a popular poet  Abhi Subedi. He is the most prominent personality in the academic field of Nepal. He has taught for more than 44 years in different universities and equally contributed to the field of literature by writing several poems, essays, stories and dramas in both Nepali and English languages.

This poem presents the speaker of the poem as a rebel in society. He doesn’t like the useless and cruel activities of society. This poem indirectly attacks the mal-practices of Nepali society very minutely. The poem is a bit longer than other poems in this book. It is written in free verse. It has a beautiful combination of the description between nature and society.

The poet describes the environmental disorder in Nepali society using the words tumult, eerie, stillness, sky like crocuses, stones, skidded moon, tearing roof etc. in the first stanza. In the same way, he makes a correlation between those natural disorders with the practices of human society by using the words like politics, postures, rituals and reasons. In the last line of the first stanza, the poet uses the term seamless city which refers to the problem less or unified city of the past. It’s no more than the recall of the time where there were very fewer social problems in the society.

In the second stanza, he gives the reference to homeless children who are crying in Thamel. They are also crying because of hunger under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal. He shows the bitter reality of a developing country through the lines. It is a serious social problem of the nation which should be solved at any cost. In the same stanza, he uses the term ‘unwedded gardens of history’ from which he wants to refer to the past unflourished incidences of the society which literally means lawless, disturbed and chaotic situations created by social and political domination in the Nepalese society.

Similarly, in the third stanza, he talks about a forlorn child carrying a transistor radio around his neck who is wailing to find his mother. This phrase indicates the painful condition of street children. There is also a reference to a man who was beaten mercilessly for no reason. Likewise, in the poem, he presents a reference to an injured man with a blood-stained shirt crying for humanity. When these words of agony are not heard, it reflects the situation of lawlessness, which ultimately makes the speaker become rebellious against the system. 

In the remaining stanzas, the speaker has also presented the disturbing courses of our society and the courses of our nature. The dominated person can’t speak because his voice is locked. It is like the game of hide and seek. The references of crocuses have grown over the stone, rain tears, sun laughter, deforested land, rhododendron blooming in winter, songs of the sad birds etc. have shown the degradation of social values and environmental conditions. Indifferent, selfish and lawless activities of present people have disturbed and spoilt earth and the creatures of the earth. In the final stanza, the speaker concludes it by stating the desire for freedom for him as well as other creatures of the earth. He favours the beautiful, lovely and calm sky with the sweet music of soft storm.

SOFT STORM EXERCISE 

Understanding the text

 

Answer the following questions.

a.       When does the speaker grow soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows soft?

Answer: The speaker grows soft when:

-He hears the tumult.

-The sky grew like crocuses.

-The moon skids down.

-The softness rises like a gale.

-The moon sang of lampposts and gutters in this seamless city and so on.

 

b.       What do you understand by ‘this seamless city’?

Answer: By ‘this seamless city’ I understand the place having no awkward transitions, interruptions or indications.

 

c.       Describe the poor children portrayed in the poem.

Answer: In Thamel, the children who are poor and homeless are seen. They cry with hunger under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal.

 

d.       What do you understand by ‘the unwedded gardens of history’?

Answer:  By ‘the unwedded gardens of history’ I understand the ignored culture, history of the valley.

 

e.       Why was the forlorn child wailing?

Answer: The forlorn child was wailing to find his mother in the corridors of violent history.

 

f.        What do you understand by ‘soft storm’?

Answer: By ‘soft storm’ I understand the speaker’s disturbed feelings, but they are not disastrous. Soft storm can be taken as a non-violent revolt.

 

g.       Why does the speaker call our time ‘mad time’?

Answer: The speaker calls our time ‘mad time’ because stone grows in flower, the moon hums melodies, history rushes under the lamppost and over deforested land, birds sing of bizarre journeys over the warming earth, rhododendron bloom in winter, mother earth tells of the tumults in the songs of the sad birds.

 

h.       What does the speaker want to do in “hard times”?

Answer: The speaker wants to melt like a rainbow in “hard times”.

Reference to the context

a.       The poet uses the word ‘soft’ with the words like ‘storm’ and ‘gale’, which generally refer to disorder and violence. What effect does the poet achieve through the use of such anomolous expressions?

Answer: Analogous expressions are the expressions which are syntactically well formed but semantically meaningless. In the poem, the expressions ‘soft storm’ and ‘softness rose like a gale’ are unusual and paradoxical in nature. Through these expressions the poet achieves psychological effect. Connecting two contrasting ideas, he is able to express his disturbed inner experience.

 

b.       What is the speaker’s attitude towards the time he describes in the poem?

Answer: The speaker’s attitude towards the time is not positive. He considers the time to be mad as he experiences several unusual things happening around him. Since the society is in complete disorder and out of control, he is having hard times.

 

c.       What is the speaker like? Is he a rebel? Why? Why not?

The poet finds the society in complete disorder. People are suffering from poverty, hunger and corruption. He sees homeless children who cry with hunger. He witnesses people ignoring the history. They are treating one another inhumanely. He seems to challenge all these things. Though he is like a rebel, his rebellious nature is not directly presented in the poem.

 

d.       Explain the stanza below In your own words:
I became soft
When I saw
A blood-stained shirt
Speaking in the earth’s ears
With bruised human lips
In the far corner
Under the moon
Of history and dreams
Playing hide and seek
In open museums

Answer: In the given lines, the poet says that he suffers from uneasy feelings when he sees a person in a miserable condition during night. The speaker experiences soft inner storm when he sees a person with a blood- stained shirt. The person is lying unconsciously on the ground. It is a moonlit night. The moon of history and dream referring to the history of human dreams and achievement, is sometimes covered in clouds. When the moon appears, the moonlight falls on the place of cultural and historical importance. Though this natural interplay during night, it seems people are indifferent to the injured person who might be the victim of violence.

 

 

Reference beyond the text

a. Write an essay, highlighting your dissatisfaction towards social, cultural, economic and political issues prevailing in Nepal at present.
b. Suppose you are a rebel, who wants to change the society by eliminating malpractices and anomalies prevailing in the society. Draft a speech outlining your vision for change.