Applying New Criticism

Sujata Bhatt

Introduction:

She was born in 1956 and grew up I Pune and later on went to United States in 1968. She studied there. She won many prizes. Her first collection ‘Brunizem’ won the Common Wealth Poetessry Prize (Asia) and the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award.

Title of the poem: ‘Muliebrity’

Muliebrity

I have thought so much about the girl
who gathered cow-dung in a wide, round basket
along the main road passing by our house
and the Radhavallabh temple in Maninagar.
I have thought so much about the way she
moved her hands and her waist
and the smell of cow-dung and road-dust and wet canna lilies,
the smell of monkey breath and freshly washed clothes
and the dust from crows’ wings which smells different –
and again the smell of cow-dung as the girl scoops
it up, all these smells surrounding me separately
and simultaneously – I have thought so much
but have been unwilling to use her for a metaphor,
for a nice image – but most of all unwilling
to forget her or to explain to anyone the greatness
and the power glistening through her cheekbones
each time she found a particularly promising
mound of dung –

Analysis:

‘I have thought…..in Maninagar’. We can refer these lines as the first stanza of the poem. In the very beginning the poetess starts her poem as ‘I’. So, in this poem the poetess sets a scene of a girl picking up cow-dung. This is a shameful thing for many people. Many would generally be kind of disgusted of picking up cow-dung and embarrassed being seen picking up cow-dung.

‘I have thought…and simultaneously’. So, again these lines we can refer as second stanza of the poem. Here again the words ‘I have thought’ is repeated. So, we can say that the girl has created a kind of lasting impact on the poetess. May be in real life Bhatt was used to see a girl picking up cow-dung. Here we can see that the girl is pictured as a graceful figure even though she is picking up cow-dung. Here the smell of cow-dung is compared with the plants like Canna, Lilies-native to India.

‘I have thought…..mound of dung’. Again these lines refer to the third stanza of the poem. So, again the words ‘I have thought’ is repeated here. Again these words also say that unknowingly the girl has created a lasting impact on the poetess. In this stanza the poetess clearly says that unwillingly she used the girl as the metaphor of the poem. In a way she also talks about the beauty of the girl. And the poetess like the way that girl was confidently doing her job that is picking up the cow-dung.

Applying New Criticism

So, to apply New Criticism first of all we have to remove the name of the author and the title of the poem. We just have to read the words of the poem only.

So, first of all we have to find out that who is the speaker of the poem? Here the author is supposed to the speaker. Because the very first line of the poem starts with the word ‘I’ and repeated again and again in this poem.

Then we have to find out that who is being spoken to or addressee of the poem? Here, we mean readers have to imagine themselves as they are the addressee of the poem because with the author we can also visualize the girl.

Then we have to find out that what the setting of the poem is? So, here the setting of the poem is a place near the Radhavallabh temple in Maninagar because the author clearly writes about the place in the poem.

Then we have to find out that what the central metaphor of this poem is? So, here we can find central metaphor as a girl because through that girl the author has conveyed the message. Then here we will find that what the message of the author is? So, through the words we may find that the author is supposed to talk about ancient values v/s modern values because in India even today the cow-dung is used as fuel. So we will find some difficulty in understanding the true message of the author.

So, if we are not supposed to provide the title then we will interpret the poem’s message as per our understanding. The title of the poem sometimes gives the hint of the poem’s message. So, even in New Criticism we will find some misunderstanding.

Conclusion:

In this poem the word ‘Muliebrity’ stands for the celebration of the women-hood. Though the words of the poem are very simple and even we can also visualize the girl with the poetess but still we will find some errors in New Criticism. So if we want to unlock the real meaning of the poem then we have to go outer sources, beyond the words.

Thank you.