The Tower and the Seven Stars: Archetypal Symbols in the Poetry of W.B. Yeats and Jibanananda Das

Abstract

The poetry of Jibanananda Das shows a remarkable similarity with that of W.B. Yeats when one considers, apart from other thematic and aesthetic resemblances, the unique tendencies of both when it comes to the creation of archetypal symbols and the use of images. Regarding the creation of images and the power of imagination, Yeats signifies, through the power of imagination, the ancient and the Surreal; Jibanananda uses the same to explain ‘kalpana-manisha’ (‘imaginative sensibility’). Both Yeats’s and Jibanananda’s affinity for symbols reveal a unique mobility in their respective poetical canons – one which distinctly contributes towards the ushering in of modernism in their own respective poetic traditions while imbibing possibilities of greater meaning and contextual expansion of the same by blending uniquely the traditional, the mythical and the familiar. This article shall, therefore, attempt a comparative study of Jibanananda and Yeats as regards their conception and treatment of archetypal symbols. Beginning with a short introduction which observes the similarities in the poetic deliberations of the two, this article will try to locate the poetic consciousness of Jibanananda as well as Yeats as regards their relationship with and renditions of symbolism. Finally, this article will examine the unique relationship of archetypal symbols with the poetic canons of Jibanananda and Yeats.