Enterprise – Nissim
Ezekiel
Introduction:
Enterprise by Nissim Ezekiel is a satiric poem with a moral. It deals with pilgrimages which serve no useful purpose. The poet suggests that religious pilgrimages are a waste and snobbish. In ‘Enterprise’ which contains the two central metaphors of his poetry – pilgrimage and home – Ezekiel reveals his attitude of commitment. Besides, according to him, to please God one need not go on pilgrimages as He is within.
A Pilgrimage: Without Getting the Call:
The poem is in the form of a
narrative. The narrator, the poet explains how he and some others started on a
pilgrimage. The aim of the pilgrimage was to ennoble the minds and to make the
burdens light. The pilgrimage had no hitch, to start with. While, at the second
stage, they did not know whether they got a call at all. Obviously, they had
started casually, and impulsively. It was very hot and they were unable to beat
the heat. Thus they were physically unfit for the pilgrimage.
Mission Misunderstood by the Pilgrims:
The pilgrims visited various
places of interest on the way and took down notes on the very humdrum aspects
of life and on curiosities. Thus, ironically, the pilgrimage had started with a
distraction. Obviously, the pilgrims had misunderstood their mission. Soon,
differences arose among the members of the team over silly matters. The best
intellectual among them left the team egotistically. This made the team gloomy.
Division Among the Pilgrims:
After the best intellectual left
the team, the division in the team grew day by day. Obviously a religious man
must be humble. Egotism cannot exalt the mind. On another day, the group was
attacked twice and they lost their way. One section of the pilgrims lost faith
in the leadership and tried to form a separate group. The leader was helpless
and he said that he was ‘smelling a sea of problems’. The narrator could only
pray.
A Scattered Group Without Hope:
The group of pilgrims had now
become listless. They could see nothing. They were a scattered crowd with no
hope. They had also exhausted all their essential provisions like soap. Some
had lost their hope and others were merely bent by the problems.
Charity Begins at Home:
Atlast, the pilgrims reached the
place of pilgrimage. They did not know why they went there. They had lost face
in the trip. They discovered that their deeds were ordinary and common placed.
The narrator discovered that we can get God’s grace at home. Serving one’s own
family by practising virtues at home is the way to please God. After all,
charity begins at home.
Conclusion:
The poem is full of irony. People
who wanted to exalt their minds became mean. The pilgrims wanted the pilgrimage
to lighten their burden. But the pilgrimage itself became a burden. Ironically
the leader was helpless. The anti-climax was reached when the pilgrims did not
know why they arrived ‘there’. Obviously, without faith and unity of purpose, God
can never be reached.
*****
Good Summary.interesting and precise.
ReplyDeleteThank You for the post. :D :)
This saved my life !!! Much appreciated
ReplyDeleteNice summary...Thanks a lot
ReplyDeleteNice Summary....Thanks a lot
ReplyDeleteEnterprise by Nissim Ezekiel
ReplyDeleteEnterprise is one of those poems of Nissim Ezekiel which really interest us as for the title starting as a business full of adventure, mutual transaction, trust and bonding, but fails it when the base fissures in some cracks and the establishment held in disbelief and skepticism. The context of the poem is one of united we stand, divided we fall or may be it disbelief and distrust intercepting the enterprise. The stakeholders forget it how they one day tried to put it up with their heart and soul, the same they have forgotten it over the stretch of time. The heart which it mends, the distrust shatters in at the indication of suspicion cropping in.
The enterprise which was the edifice of collective human labour and bonding, trust and understanding established for the purpose of job, employment, benefit and sustenance collapsed it finally when suspicion made inroads, guilt took over, distrust shook the foundations so miserably, finally leading to the fall and tottering of the enterprise.
The joint venture which flourished and prospered as a stance of collective labour, worth and excellence showed the good signs of progress and development.
An enterprise was it, with its base stuck into the foundations deep of collective efforts, mutual relationship and joint venture, but the effort gnawed by suspicion and poisoned by envy, malice and misanthropy lasted it not long. The monument of human labour and economy crumbled it, leading its totter and fall from a height it has reached.
The religiosity and goodness of vision it when they sat together to open an establishment, but failed it when suspicion started clawing it, injecting with the vials of poison. A venture which took so much of human endeavor and efforts failed it when fed upon the seeds of suspicion and mistrust. Finally, it tottered and crumbled like a pack of cards, the mansion remained it, but turned it into the bone of contention.
The enterprise started it as a pilgrimage with the exalting minds, making the burdens light. The second stage explores the possibilities, but gives not the acid test. The sun beats down to match the rage of the entrepreneurs. Among them one takes a note of all that going within as a transaction. The things bought and sold are noted down as for to keep a record. But tragedy starts befalling when all others one by one starts deserting. The words of the sages are but other things to be taken a lesson from. How to cross the dessert patch is the thing to be discussed? A friend of them leaves on the midway whose handwriting had been good and used to write stylish prose. After he leaves the shadows start falling and foreshadowing. Another phase is reached when they are attacked twice and as thus they lose their liberty and freedom of speech. A section claims liberty and separates from. Finally, the things disintegrate and collapse, totter and fall down. The poet takes up the poem in such a way that he mixes them both, the enterprise and the pilgrimage. God knows, what sort of pilgrimage was it?
Nissim Ezekiel actually quotes from The Waste Land, a Psalm of Life, stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening and so on to put the things metaphorically. The enterprise as a pilgrimage comes to a close with the pilgrims have returned back to their homes.
Thank you Sir for the insightful insights. It perfectly complements the critical appreciation given!
DeleteThank you so much.
Awesome interpretation.
ReplyDeleteThankiuuuuu from the core of my heart.
Awesome interpretation.
ReplyDeleteThankiuuuuu from the core of my heart.
it helped me a lot
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