Educational Content

1. WELCOME
• PowerPoint Presentation
• By
• Rekha E (Sl.No 307)

2. POEM - THE HARP OF INDIA
• This is a poem by one of the earliest Indian English poets, Henry Louis Vivian
Derozio.
• Derozio was attached to his homeland, Bengal. He is regarded as the first modern
Indian English poet.
• His patriotism is evident in the poems that he wrote during his brief life.
• Despite being half British, Derozio longed for the freedom of India.

4. SUMMARY
• The poet is lamenting the loss of India’s past glory.
• The poem is written in the form of a sonnet.
• The “harp” is symbolic of the old poets who dedicated their lives for the
emancipation of India.
• The harp has now turned into something devoid of purpose, indicating that the
past poets have been prevented from using their writing talents.

5. SUMMARY
• The poet mourns the dearth of talent which has come about due to the
suppressive British regime.
• It is silence that now pervades and the poet makes use of personification to
describe silence.
• Similes are also employed and one example is the comparison of the old poets to
ruined monuments.
• The poet is humble when he acknowledges the greatness of the ancient poets.

6. ANALYSIS
• The poem has two parts – the first is a lamentation while the second expresses
hope.
• The second part focuses on the glorious poetry that was written in the past.
• Many such poets became famous and their poetry is like beautiful flowers.
• Their fame has preserved their honour, thus living even after death.
• The poet concludes with the desire of reviving the past literature and exhorts the
harp to bring back India’s lost glory.

7. THEMES
• The predominant theme is nostalgia for the past glory of Indian poetry that is
sadly lost.
• The poet exhorts his fellow-poets to rise up and pursue writing with renewed
vigour and enthusiasm.
• The poet’s patriotic zeal is manifested along with his sadness at the silencing of
poetic voices.

8. POETIC TECHNIQUES
• The poet, Derozio engages himself with the predicament of Indian poets who
have been muted under the oppressive British regime.
• Sonnet is the form used here. It means a fourteen-lined poem with an octave and
a sestet, or two parts of eight and six lines each.
• The poet compresses his thoughts and feelings regarding the British atrocities in
this poem.
• Similes, personification and imagery are employed to heighten the feelings of
despair and hope.

9. CONCLUSION
• The poet is critical of the practices employed by the British in silencing the voices
of protest and revolt.
• Derozio’s strong patriotism augments his poetic sensibility.
• The poem is a clarion call to all Indian poets to resume writing and not resort to
defeat.
• The poet salutes the dead poets whose greatness cannot be erased by the
oppressive machinery.

10. THANK YOU