Criticism : I.A.Richards Practical Criticism Poems Reading

CRITICISM : I.A.RICHARDS PRACTICAL CRITICISM 

Hello, I am Emisha Ravani. In this blog we are supposed to do practical criticism of given poem by Dr.Dilip Barad. In this task we are not allowed to read the background of the poem, The writer, The Period of the poem or the situation in which the poem is written, keeping the poem away from its external connections. We are just going to do the texual or physical analysis.

In this task i am going to deal- with the poem:

Oh Jerusalem, the city of sorrow

A big tear wandering in the eye

Who will halt the aggression

On you, the pearl of religions?

Who will wash your bloody walls?

Who will safeguard the Bible?

Who will rescue the Quran?

Who will save Christ, From those who have killed Christ?

Who will save man?

(Nizar Qabbani: “Jerusalem! My Love,My Town:)

A big tear wandering in the eye

Who will halt the aggression

On you, the pearl of religions?

Who will wash your bloody walls?

Who will safeguard the Bible?

Who will rescue the Quran?

Who will save Christ, From those who have killed Christ?

Who will save man?

(Nizar Qabbani: “Jerusalem! My Love,My Town:)

Watchwords : Aggression, Religions, Bible, Quran, Chirst

When we look at this poem very first time, We can get that this is the poem where specker and listener are there. Because the first line of poem is in the form of adreessing to something or someone. This is the general idea of the first outlook. Then as we go further we will reach to the "Jerusalem", there we find that here the poet talks about a city if we are aware about the places. He says that "the city of sorrow", we can find the tragic flow towards "Jerusalem". 

Furtherly, "A big tear wandering in the eye", it seems like "A cry of a city". From the third line of the poem, Poet starts the questioning. But here we should concern about the one's 'anxiety' in the form of questioning. And on going poet continuesly asking questions like, 

On you, the pearl of religions?
Who will wash your bloody walls?
Who will safeguard the Bible?
Who will rescue the Quran?
Who will save Christ, From those who have killed Christ?
Who will save man?

By, these questions the poets may showing the historical contaxt of the city Jerusalem.The holy city which was situated in Israel. (we can see here the history of the city Jerusalem). And also poet wants to show the sorrow of the poeple after wars. Poet tried to neglected the scary religious prectices and ideas.

When we look to the last line we can find that there is said that "Who will save man?". It is showing that poet is craving or insisting Humanity over any religious perspectives.