Poetry and the Power of Unity

Ayushman Jamwal
The writer Wallace Stevens once wrote that ‘a poet is the priest of the invisible’. When you’re in the newsroom, following every angle of the nation’s top stories, seeing the best and worst of humanity, one sentiment that is regularly invisible is unity. In a nation as diverse as ours, with different faiths, languages, cultures and histories, the fragile idea of India sustains our national icons and shared heritage – the few things that keep us together as a nation. Powerful expressions have the ability to nourish whispers of ideas, turning them into towering and titanic forces of unity. Ever since man was compelled to mobilise an idea – one of the most potent forms in his arsenal has been poetry.
‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ – the American national anthem, was originally a poem titled ‘Defence of Fort McHenry’ written by Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814. It was inspired by the war of 1812 when the British bombarded Baltimore’s Fort McHenry during Britain’s second invasion. The writer was inspired to write the verse when the Fort’s flag flew high after the battle, signalling that the U.S troops had withstood the enemy. With the immortal lines ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’, it was officially made the American national anthem in 1931, and continues to carry the ethos of brotherhood, resilience, bravery and sacrifice through the most prosperous and trying times of the nation.
Apartheid was a deep scar on the conscience of the South African nation, and beyond the memory of Nelson Mandela, the nation’s national anthem is a poem that amalgamates two worlds. It combines the original anthem, ‘Lord, Bless Africa’ with the anthem of the anti-apartheid movement ‘The Call of South Africa’. Both melodies were combined and new lyrics were written, incorporating five languages – Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans, and English, creating the following eloquent verse of unity,
Out of the blue of our heavens,
From the depths of our seas,
Over everlasting mountains,
Where the echoing crags resound,
Sounds the call to come together,
And united we shall stand,
Let us live and strive for freedom
In South Africa our land
The spirit of Israel finds its origins in a poem as well. Two stanzas of the Hebrew poem Tikvatenu or ‘Our Hope’ by writer Naftali Herz Imber became the Israeli national anthem.
As long as in the heart within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And toward the eastern edges, onward,
An eye gazes toward Zion.
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope that is two thousand years old,
To be a free nation in our land,
The Land of Zion, Jerusalem
The poem has sustained hope for millions of Jews for generations during times of great strife and glory. In 1945, hundreds of survivors of the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp sang the verse during a special religious service just five days after their liberation. It was sung following the proclamation of the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948 at the Tel Aviv Museum, and till this day empowers the vision of Zion – the Jewish homeland amidst the turbulence of history and never ending conflict.
Our national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ by the immortal Rabindranath Tagore was written in Bengali and does not necessarily capture the rich cultural or linguistic diversity of India. On the other hand, it beautifully depicts the vivid natural beauty of the nation. We are a country rich with mountains, seas, rivers and valleys – and we come from a common mitti which is eternal and stronger that caste, creed and faith.
Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India’s destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab,
Sind, Gujarat, and Maratha,
Of the Dravid, and Orissa and Bengal.
It echoes in the hills of Vindhyas and,
Himalayas, mingles in the music of the
Jamuna and the Ganges and is chanted by
the waves of the Indian sea.
They pray for thy blessings,
and sing thy praise,
The saving of all people
waits in thy hand.
Thou dispenser of India’s destiny,
Victory, victory, victory to thee.
Unity is a beast in itself and to savour art and expression is to acknowledge the power of the human condition. In the brevity of words and symbols, humanity creates a sense of communion that boosts goodwill and peace, empowers communities, builds nations, shapes destinies and changes the world. Powerful words breathe life into great deeds, powering leaders and communities through the final mile that tests our resolve, proving us worthy of greatness. Poetry uplifts, hopes, heals, creates and destroys – it is eternally human.
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