Bombs and Shrapnel Drawing Verses: The Motif of Violence in Harshdev Madhav's Poetry
Bombs and Shrapnel Drawing Verses: The Motif of Violence in Harshdev Madhav's Poetry

Summary/Abstract: The article introduces and analyses selected Sanskrit poemscomposed by Harshdev Madhav (b. 20.10.1954 in Vartej, Gujarat), a re-nowned Indian poet honoured in 2006 with the Sahitya Akademi Awardfor Sanskrit. The compositions in question reveal the directions in whichmodern Sanskrit poetry is hoping to proceed: break with literary norms es-tablished by the rhetoricians of classical literature; exploration of contem-porary themes and motifs; and introduction of new literary forms in Sanskritwritings. Analysis of Madhav’s free verses, haikus, typographic poems, andother compositions focused on the theme of violence shows how the lan-guage often considered ‘dead’ can become a medium for poetry—endowedwith ingenuity and modernity—which tackles problems of interest to thecontemporary readers.

• Details
• Contents