IGNOU MEG-14 Block 6 Summary | Poetry
- Last Updated On October 15, 2025
Table of Contents
Here you will get the detailed summary of IGNOU MEG 14 Block 6 – Poetry.
We have provided the summary of all units starting from unit 1 to unit 6.
Introduction
IGNOU MEG-14 Block 6 – Poetry focuses on a selection of modern Indian poems translated from various regional languages, representing the country’s linguistic and cultural plurality. The poems chosen explore themes of death, spirituality, nature, motherhood, love, and artistic expression. Each poet brings a distinct regional sensibility while engaging with universal human emotions. Through their verses, K. S. Nongkynrih, Haribhajan Singh, Dina Nath Nadim, Kondepudi Nirmala, Ramakanta Rath, and Sitanshu Yashashchandra reveal how poetry becomes a powerful medium for reflection, resistance, and renewal in the Indian literary tradition.
Unit 1 – K. S. Nongkynrih: Requiem (Khasi)
K. S. Nongkynrih’s Requiem is a deeply meditative poem that contemplates death, memory, and continuity. Written by a poet from Meghalaya’s Khasi community, the poem captures the sorrow of loss while affirming the enduring connection between the living and the dead. Nongkynrih transforms personal grief into a collective reflection on mortality and human existence.
His imagery is rooted in nature — hills, forests, and silence — reflecting the Khasi worldview, where the spiritual and natural worlds are inseparable. The poem’s tone is solemn yet consoling, suggesting that remembrance is a form of keeping the dead alive within the living heart. Requiem ultimately becomes both a lament and a hymn of renewal.
Unit 2 – Haribhajan Singh: Tree and The Sage
Haribhajan Singh’s Tree and The Sage is a philosophical poem that reflects the poet’s deep engagement with Sikh and humanist thought. The poem presents a dialogue — explicit or implied — between the tree and the sage, symbolizing nature and wisdom. The sage observes the tree’s rootedness, endurance, and quiet acceptance, finding in it a lesson about spiritual balance and detachment.
The poem explores the relationship between the natural and the metaphysical. Singh’s use of simple language and profound imagery turns an everyday object into a spiritual metaphor. Tree and The Sage suggests that true wisdom lies in humility and coexistence, emphasizing harmony between human consciousness and the natural world.
Unit 3 – Dina Nath Nadim: The Moon
Dina Nath Nadim’s The Moon, translated from Kashmiri, reflects his poetic sensibility shaped by both personal emotion and political awareness. The moon, a recurring symbol in poetry, here becomes a witness to the poet’s sense of longing and the suffering of his people. The poem evokes beauty and melancholy together, blending natural imagery with deep emotional resonance.
Nadim uses the moon as a mirror for human desire and vulnerability — it illuminates the darkness but also reminds the poet of what is lost or unattainable. The poem’s lyrical tone captures both personal solitude and collective yearning, typical of Nadim’s work that bridges romanticism with social consciousness.
Unit 4 – Kondepudi Nirmala: Mother Serious
Kondepudi Nirmala’s Mother Serious is a poignant portrayal of motherhood, illness, and emotional endurance. The poem captures a moment of crisis when the speaker confronts the frailty of her mother, transforming a deeply personal experience into a universal meditation on care, mortality, and love.
The tone is intimate yet restrained; the speaker observes her mother’s suffering with a mixture of helplessness and reverence. Nirmala’s language is simple but charged with emotion, highlighting the silent strength of women who endure pain without complaint. Mother Serious stands as a tribute to maternal sacrifice and the deep, often unspoken, bond between mothers and children.
Unit 5 – Ramakanta Rath: Sri Radha
Ramakanta Rath’s Sri Radha revisits the mythological figure of Radha from a modern psychological and spiritual perspective. Rather than presenting her merely as Krishna’s lover, Rath explores Radha’s inner consciousness — her longing, self-awareness, and divine love. The poem reinterprets devotion (bhakti) as an intense, personal quest for union that transcends physical or social boundaries.
Rath’s language combines lyrical beauty with philosophical depth. By giving Radha a voice of her own, he humanizes the divine and spiritualizes the human, blending mysticism with emotion. Sri Radha thus becomes a profound expression of love that is both sacred and existential, revealing Rath’s mastery of poetic symbolism.
Unit 6 – Sitanshu Yashashchandra: Orpheus
Sitanshu Yashashchandra’s Orpheus draws on the Greek myth of the poet-musician who journeys into the underworld to bring back his beloved, Eurydice. By reinterpreting this myth through an Indian sensibility, Yashashchandra examines the relationship between art, death, and creation. Orpheus becomes a symbol of the artist’s struggle — the tension between inspiration and loss, beauty and despair.
The poem’s fusion of Western mythology and Indian philosophical insight highlights the universality of artistic suffering and transcendence. Yashashchandra’s modernist style, with layered imagery and reflective tone, emphasizes that poetry itself is an act of resurrection — an attempt to give life to what has been lost. Orpheus stands as a meditation on the creative spirit and the redemptive power of art.