{"id":69794,"date":"2020-08-09T09:36:04","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T14:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=69794"},"modified":"2020-08-09T19:19:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T00:19:28","slug":"69794","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=69794","title":{"rendered":"Poetry For Reflection On Sri Lanka\u2019s Election Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nBy<\/p>\n

D.B.S.Jeyaraj<\/strong><\/p>\n

S<\/strong>ri Lanka or Ceylon as it was known earlier has faced many challenges and problems since Independence from Britain in 1948. We have had military coup attempts, communal riots, pogroms, armed revolts, external military intervention, assassinations of heads of State, terrorist violence and above all a long secessionist war that threatened to tear apart the country.<\/p>\n

What Sri Lanka can be proud of as Asia\u2019s oldest democracy is the fact that despite many formidable challenges and crises the country continues to be basically democratic. Elections are a crucially essential feature of democracy. Despite many problems, Sri Lanka has continued to have elections. We\u2019ve had many flaws in conducting elections in the past. Despite these flaws Sri Lanka can be proud of keeping the light of democracy alive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today 5 August is a Day of Decision for Sri Lanka as it faces yet another election to elect a new Parliament for the country. It is being conducted in a very difficult environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic threat. Under prevailing conditions, it is unlikely to be a \u201cperfect\u201d one.<\/p>\n

In spite of the imperfections, Sri Lankans must continue to keep their democratic tradition alive and strive for greater perfection in the days to come. For this, as many voters as possible should exercise their franchise. They must vote early and go out to booths in large numbers while adhering to health rules like face covering and maintaining a metre distance from each other.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As a Tamil and a Christian I would very much like the minority ethnicities of Sri Lanka to be conscious of the important role they have to play in this poll. The recent past has been one where the minorities were regarded as being of no consequence in determining the outcome of a Presidential Election. However this election provides an opportunity to demonstrate that every citizen of Sri Lanka regardless of race, religion, caste or creed can exercise his or her franchise to elect the Parliament of their country. The minorities must vote courageously in large numbers and prove that they are an integral component of the country, no matter what their detractors may say.<\/p>\n

As is well known, Sri Lanka\u2019s election laws place restrictions on what could be stated by journalists on Election Day and days preceding it. Hence this column is unable to write more specifically on the elections apart from the general observations expressed above. However I would crave the indulgence of readers to share a few poems and verses that are close to my heart in this week\u2019s \u2018Political Pulse\u2019. I feel that they are appropriate to read and reflect on an important day like this for the Sri Lankan nation and people. It is my fervent hope that Sri Lankan voters would make informed, courageous choices on this D-day.<\/p>\n

ONCE TO EVERY MAN AND NATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first is from James Russell Lowell, a 19th century American poet. Lowell who was a Professor at Harvard University had also been the first Editor of \u2018Atlantic Monthly\u2019. He wrote this poem for the \u2018Boston Courier\u2019 of 11 December 1845. It was titled \u2018The Present Crisis\u2019 and written in protest against America\u2019s war with Mexico.<\/p>\n

The title inspired the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) to name its official magazine \u2018The CRISIS\u2019. The NAACP has been for long the premier Afro-American organisation fighting for the rights and emancipation of the coloured people in the USA.<\/p>\n

The poem is rather long with many parts that may not be relevant to Sri Lanka at this point of time. There were however some verses that were modified into a Christian hymn. This hymn relates to the responsibilities of people as they make decisions shaping the destiny of their country.<\/p>\n

It is a hymn often sung in churches at times of national importance like an election. I do feel that it would appeal not only to Christians but to all people of goodwill who believe in the almighty or in a conscience.<\/p>\n

Incidentally this poem-hymn was quoted by Rev. Martin Luther King at the conclusion of his speech, \u2018Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence\u2019 on 4 April 1967 at a meeting of clergy and laity concerned at Riverside Church in New York City.<\/p>\n

Here are the four stanzas comprising this poem-hymn titled \u2018Once To Every Man And Nation\u2019.<\/strong> (Women please forgive Lowell. He was from another male-dominated era where women could not vote.)<\/p>\n

Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
\nIn the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
\nSome great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
\nAnd the choice goes by forever, \u2019twixt that darkness and that light.<\/p>\n

Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
\nEre her cause bring fame and profit, and \u2019tis prosperous to be just;
\nThen it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
\nTill the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.<\/p>\n

By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
\nToiling up new Calv\u2019ries ever with the cross that turns not back;
\nNew occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
\nThey must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.<\/p>\n

Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
\nThough her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
\nYet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
\nStandeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.<\/p>\n

*******************<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second poem I would like to share is also from an American poet the famous Robert Frost. He has been one of America\u2019s frequently-quoted poets. Robert Lee Frost who won four Pulitzer prizes for poetry was born in California but lived in Massachusetts. Many of his poems were based on rural life in New England. They were used often to deal with complex philosophical themes.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Road Not Taken\u2019 by Frost is a poem published in 1916 in the anthology \u2018Mountain Interval\u2019. It\u2019s the first in the volume. Apparently Frost used to take long walks with his friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas in the countryside. Thomas at the end of a walk would often complain that they should have taken another path.<\/p>\n

This amused Frost and the poem was a gentle swipe at his friend\u2019s pet peeve. However the poem was perceived to be of greater depth and regarded as inspirational. <\/p>\n

Many regard it as a paean to individual freedom, independence of action and choice.<\/p>\n

According to some it illustrates \u201cthat once one takes a certain road, there is no turning back. Although one might change paths later on, the past cannot be changed. It can be seen as showing that choice is very important, and is a thing to be considered\u201d.<\/p>\n

I do think the question of choice in deciding which path to pursue is of paramount importance to the Sri Lankan people as they go to the polling booths today to make their choice and decide upon the future course of the Country.<\/p>\n

Here then are the verses from \u2018The Road Not Taken\u2019<\/strong> by Robert Frost:<\/p>\n

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
\nAnd sorry I could not travel both
\nAnd be one traveler, long I stood
\nAnd looked down one as far as I could
\nTo where it bent in the undergrowth;<\/p>\n

Then took the other, as just as fair
\nAnd having perhaps the better claim,
\nBecause it was grassy and wanted wear;
\nThough as for that, the passing there
\nHad worn them really about the same,<\/p>\n

And both that morning equally lay
\nIn leaves no step had trodden black.
\nOh, I kept the first for another day!
\nYet knowing how way leads on to way,
\nI doubted if I should ever come back.<\/p>\n

I shall be telling this with a sigh
\nSomewhere ages and ages hence:
\ntwo roads diverged in a wood, and I
\nI took the one less travelled by,
\nAnd that has made all the difference<\/p>\n

***********************<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

The third poem I want to share is from someone very well known in Sri Lanka. It\u2019s from India\u2019s Rabindranath Tagore and I know a whole lot of people in Lanka are familiar with this particular poem.<\/p>\n

Tagore as is known was a Bengali and wrote poetry in the flowery Bengali language. An anthology of 103 of his poems were published as the \u2018Gitanjali\u2019 and was translated into English by the poet himself. \u2018Gitanjali\u2019 earned Tagore the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. Interestingly enough Tagore\u2019s poems are sung as national anthems by two countries. \u2018Jana Gana Mana\u2019 in India and \u2018Amar Shonar Bangla\u2019 in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

The poem I present here is \u2018Chitto Jetha Bhayashunyo\u2019 (where the mind is without fear)<\/strong>. It was written before Indian Independence from Britain and articulates the vision of Tagore for Free India.<\/p>\n

This poem is one of the most well-known of Tagore\u2019s creations and one of my favourites. I do think it\u2019s appropriate for Sri Lanka at this juncture. <\/p>\n

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
\nWhere knowledge is free;
\nWhere the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
\nWhere words come out from the depth of truth;
\nWhere tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
\nWhere the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
\nWhere the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action\u2026.
\nInto that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.<\/p>\n

*************<\/strong><\/p>\n

CALL TO LANKA<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fourth to be shared are three verses from the lengthy poem \u2018Call to Lanka\u2019 by Rev. W. S. Senior. Walter Stanley Senior was a scholar, pastor, teacher and poet who served in Sri Lanka for many years as Vice Principal of Trinity College, Kandy and Vicar at Christ Church, Galle Face.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the landscape and people of the island then called Ceylon, W.S. Senior poetically envisaged a future Sri Lanka of unity and tranquillity where the races had blended and marched to a single drum. However I must say that I interpret his dream of \u201cblended\u201d as a mosaic of integration and not as a melting pot of assimilation.<\/p>\n

This poem is one that I frequently read. It is a beautiful one about Sri Lanka. However I am only excerpting three verses here. Sadly the vision and call of people like the British missionary Rev. W.S. Senior sounds as an unrealistic voice in the wilderness in the present context. Against the current nightmare of vocal warriors from sparring ethnicities in the pearl of the Indian Ocean, the Bard of Lanka\u2019s yearning for a time when the voice of strife is dumb does seem a distant dream<\/p>\n

Here are the three verses from W.S. Senior\u2019s \u2018Call to Lanka\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

.
\n\u201cBut most shall he sing of Lanka
\nIn the bright new days that come.
\nWhen the races all have blended
\nAnd the voice of strife is dumb
\nWhen we leap to a single bugle,
\nMarch to a single drum.<\/p>\n

March to a mighty purpose,
\nOne man from shore to shore;
\nThe stranger, becomes a brother,
\nThe task of the tutor o\u2019er,
\nWhen the ruined city rises
\nAnd the palace gleams once more.<\/p>\n

Hark! Bard of the fateful future,
\nHark! Bard of the bright to be;
\nA voice on the verdant mountains,
\nA voice by the golden sea.
\nRise, child of Lanka, and answer
\nThy mother hath called to thee.<\/p>\n

******************<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Hymn of Ceylon<\/strong><\/p>\n

The fifth and final poem is also by Rev. W.S. Senior titled \u2018Hymn of Ceylon\u2019. This was always sung at the annual prize giving event of St. Thomas\u2019 Preparatory School in Kollupitiya where I studied from 1959 to \u201964. It is a Christian hymn and was set to the melody of \u2018Danno Budunge\u2019 by Devar Surya Sena as requested by Senior himself.<\/p>\n

When we sang the lines \u2018Give peace within her borders, Twixt man and man goodwill,\u2019 in those days of innocent childhood, little did we realise that this blessed Island was going to be torn apart by a cruel war lasting for decades. The war has ended now. What is sad and troubling are the efforts by extremists on either side of the ethnic divide to whip up communal passions. One hopes and prays that saner counsel prevails and the merchandising of hatred ceases. Here is Rev. Senior\u2019s \u2018The Hymn of Ceylon\u2019<\/strong> for the island and all her people.<\/p>\n

Jehovah, Thou hast promised
\nThe isles shall wait for Thee,
\nThe joyous isles of ocean,
\nThe jewels of the sea.
\nLo! we, this island\u2019s watchmen
\nWould give and take no rest;
\nFor thus hast Thou commanded
\nTill our dear land is blessed.<\/p>\n

Then bless her mighty Father,
\nWith blessings needed most,
\nIn every verdant village,
\nBy every palmy coast.
\nOn every soaring mountain,
\nO\u2019er every spreading plain,
\nMay all her sons and daughters
\nThy righteousness attain.<\/p>\n

Give peace within her borders
\nTwixt man and man goodwill,
\nThe love all unsuspicious,
\nThe love that works no ill.
\nIn loyal lowly service,
\nLet each from other learn,
\nThe guardian and the guarded,
\nTill Christ Himself return.<\/p>\n

To Him our land shall listen,
\nTo Him our peoples kneel;
\nAll rule be on His shoulder,
\nAll wrong beneath His heel;
\nO consummation glorious
\nWhich now by faith we sing;
\nCome, cast we up the highway
\nThat brings us back our Kin<\/p>\n

________________________________________
\n(D.B.S. Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com)
\n________________________________________<\/p>\n

This article was written for the \u201cPolitical Pulse\u201d Column appearing in the \u201cDaily FT\u201d of August 5th 2020. It can be accessed here:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ft.lk\/columns\/Poetry-for-reflection-on-Sri-Lanka-s-Election-Day\/4-704084<\/a><\/p>\n

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By D.B.S.Jeyaraj Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was known earlier has faced many challenges and problems since Independence from Britain in 1948. We have had military coup attempts, communal riots, pogroms, armed revolts, external military intervention, assassinations of heads of State, terrorist violence and above all a long secessionist war that threatened to tear …<\/p>\n

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