"Birds of North Europe" is a poem by Tabish Khair, the internationally acclaimed Indian English author and journalist. The poem won First Prize in the Sixth All India Poetry Competition conducted by The Poetry Society (India) in 1995.[1] The poem brought the first major literary award for Tabish Khair, who is better known as a novelist of repute.
Twenty-four years in different European cities and he had not lost
His surprise at how birds stopped at the threshold
Of their houses. Never
Flying into rooms, to be decapitated by fan-blades or carefully
Herded through open windows to another life, never
Building on this lampshade
*****
Did not intrude into private spheres. demanding to be overlooked
Or worshipped. They did not consider houses simply
Exotic trees or hollowed
Hills. Not being particularly learned, he did not know the thread
Of fear that knots the wild to the willed, not
Being well-read, he
Did not remember the history behind their old and geometrical
Gardens, could not recall a time when the English
Parliament had killed a bill,
Shocked by a jackdaw's flight across the room. He simply marked
The absence of uncaged birds in their homes. He thought
It was strange.
Comments and criticism
The poem has received positive reviews since its first publication in 1995 in the book Emerging Voices[2] and has since been widely anthologised.[3] The poem has been frequently quoted in scholarly analysis of contemporary Indian English poetry.[4]
birds, north, europe, this, article, about, poem, birds, europe, list, european, birds, poem, tabish, khair, internationally, acclaimed, indian, english, author, journalist, poem, first, prize, sixth, india, poetry, competition, conducted, poetry, society, ind. This article is about a poem For birds of Europe see List of European birds Birds of North Europe is a poem by Tabish Khair the internationally acclaimed Indian English author and journalist The poem won First Prize in the Sixth All India Poetry Competition conducted by The Poetry Society India in 1995 1 The poem brought the first major literary award for Tabish Khair who is better known as a novelist of repute Contents 1 Excerpts from the poem 2 Comments and criticism 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 External linksExcerpts from the poem EditTwenty four years in different European cities and he had not lost His surprise at how birds stopped at the threshold Of their houses NeverFlying into rooms to be decapitated by fan blades or carefully Herded through open windows to another life never Building on this lampshade dd dd Did not intrude into private spheres demanding to be overlooked Or worshipped They did not consider houses simply Exotic trees or hollowedHills Not being particularly learned he did not know the thread Of fear that knots the wild to the willed not Being well read heDid not remember the history behind their old and geometrical Gardens could not recall a time when the English Parliament had killed a bill Shocked by a jackdaw s flight across the room He simply marked The absence of uncaged birds in their homes He thought It was strange Comments and criticism EditThe poem has received positive reviews since its first publication in 1995 in the book Emerging Voices 2 and has since been widely anthologised 3 The poem has been frequently quoted in scholarly analysis of contemporary Indian English poetry 4 See also EditThe Poetry Society India Notes Edit Award Winning Poems AIPC 1995 Archived from the original on 2015 03 17 Retrieved 2014 04 09 Poetry India Emerging Voices by H K Kaul Virgo Publications 1995 Contemporary Indian Poets by Jeet Thayil Fulcrum Bloodaxe Books 1996 Fourteen Contemporary Indian Poets Rana Nayar in The Tribune References EditSixth National Poetry Competition 1988 Award Winners An Interview with Tabish Khair Contemporary Indian Poetry by Jeet Thayil India Writes Contemporary Indian PoetryExternal links Edit Popular Indian Poems Tabish Khair Poems Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Birds of North Europe amp oldid 997422678, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
