Do Something, Brother

Do Something, Brother

M Gopalakrishna Adiga (1918-1992): Kannada poet. Translated Ibsen and Whitman into Kannada. Edited Sakshi, a literary magazine

I.

Do something, brother:
keep doing something, anything;
you mustn’t be idle.
pull out this plant, nip this little leaf,
crush that flower.
There’s grass,
run your brand through it,
burn it like Lanka.
Tiny butterflies, parrots, sparrows—
chase them, catch them,
pluck their wings,
pull out their fur and feather.
There, in the garden,
jasmine and the banana’s gold
grow for the wild elephant’s feet.

II.

All over the walls
virility’s master-switches
itch for your fingers;
close your eyes
and pull down twenty of them.
Earth, water, the skies,
they’re all your geese with golden eggs:
gouge them out, slash them.
‘Do, or die’, they say.
Disasters are the test
for your genius’s galloping dance:
something must crash every minute.
Brother, act, act at once, do something.
Thought’s weights and measures
are all for the past,
for the undying ghostly treasures of the dead.

III.

There’s the forest
cut it clean to the stump
slit it for your buntings.
You have the axe, the sickle,
the saw and the knife;
go, harvest all the world
with a flourish of your hand.
But you meet
winter mists, walls of fog,
walls that line the space between face and face,
and the road that sighs and breaks in two
under your eyes,
a couple of mountain-peaks that rear their hoods
and lower upon your head,
or lightning-winks from sirens
that sing in every tree;
do they plunge you into anxieties
and dilemmas of reason?
No, no, this won’t do.
You’re a simple man, and that’s your strength.
Horse-sense and the blinkers
are your forte.

IV.

Eat what comes to hand; crush what you touch;
cut the hindering vines.
Mother Earth herself, though tired,
lies open to the skies;
there’s still flesh on her bone,
marrow for your hunger.
Come, come, brother,
never forget that you’re a man!

V.

Then there’s the Well of Life.

Rope the wheel and axle.
pull out all the water.
Reach the last dryness of the rock;
grope, grope with the grappling iron.
“V for Victory”, brother.
Break down the atom,
reach for the ultimate world within.
Find God’s own arrow
and aim it right at the heart
of God’s own embryo-world.
Do something, anything,
anything, brother.
Idle men
are burdens on the land.
Do brother, do something.
Keep doing something all the time
to lighten Mother Earth’s loads.
This is right. This is natural.
This is the one thing needful.

(Translated from Kannada by A K Ramanujan)

Do Something, Brother mocks man’s hurry to be always ‘up and doing’, without considering the consequences of his actions. The poet takes a cynical look at the world and what it deems right and necessary. The poem reflects elements of satire as well as hopelessness.

Some ideas of note in the poem:

An urge to do and act

A warning to avoid thoughts that can pull him down

An opposition between Man and Woman – nowhere in the poem we see any reference to actions that are customarily performed by women. The focus is on the violent actions of man.

 Structure: 5 stanzas, which do not follow a regular pattern. Sort of a rambling monologue.

 Stanza 1: In the Garden

Starts with an exhortation to ‘do something... you mustn’t be idle’. The speaker seems to be zealous in his commitment and mission. The reader expects some lofty advice to take up glorious tasks. But all that is let down from line 4: pull out this plant, nip this little leaf.  The actions mentioned cross terrains of all sorts: from the mischievous acts of a child to the laborious task of clearing the grass, which itself is compared to the epic fight in Lanka. Nature itself has this plan of destruction.

Stanza 2: Within the Building

Virility’s master-switches combine the age-old, seemingly unquestioned image of masculinity and modernity. A rash and violent action is advocated. The images taken from conventional stories are carefully chosen – only those that ask for thoughtless thinking. At no point should a person pause to think or evaluate the rashness of his actions.

The translator has included a well-known proverb in English. Does it flow naturally with the rest of the stanza, or does it appear artificial?

The speaker is aware that violent actions can invite disasters. He justifies them to be elements of proof of one’s genius. He plays down the idea of ‘thoughts’ as outdated and dead.

Stanza 3: Out in the Forest

Starts with an idea of ‘forest’. We are urged to cut and clear it (- a note that signals the trend of urbanisation). The fact that you are armed and equipped is an encouragement for this. Then the poet takes us to a profusion of images associated with nature. It all ends with a warning: such elements may plunge us into thoughts of reason. Never yield to that – because, after all, you are a simple man! But not the glorious simple man as we see in conventional literature. Here, this means an unthinking, animal sense which is blind to what is around.

Stanza 4: Throughout the Earth

A short stanza of 8 lines. The utilitarian idea to possess and destroy is justified with a philosophy – Mother Earth herself is open to the skies, which is a signal to go unrestrained. The command is to prove that you are a man. In your attempt to do so, you needn’t spare anything... which implies, you can take advantage of the female. Thus, you treat Mother Earth and her resources as ‘marrow for your hunger’.

Stanza 5: At the Well

The last stanza moves from the hard terrain of land, into the realm of water - a sign of spreading the arms of exploitation to all resources. The Indian image of the rope, wheel and axle. The urgency is reflected – the imperative ‘rope the wheel and axle/ pull out all the water’. Even after draining the water, more is to be done: the grappling iron is to be used to dig out what remains behind. ‘V for Victory’ again appears to be beyond the limits of plain translation. ‘Reach for the atom’ is an idea that goes beyond all that was mentioned earlier – after destroying all that is visible and possible, all that is on land and water, now the act has to stretch to the finest, the invisible, and the seemingly impossible – even to break ‘God’s own embryo-world’. The philosophical note in the last stanza attains a divine perspective as well. It is no ordinary well, but the Well of Life – the use of capitals in the English translation helps to add emphasis. The subjects and agents in the breaking process also attain a divine perspective: God’s own arrow, God’s embryo world, and the atom, which is invisible to the ordinary eye. There can be the question: why, why this compulsion, why can’t I just sit without doing anything? Such thoughts are silenced as the poem reaches its conclusion: such thoughts come from idle men. Keep doing something, as it lightens earth’s loads. This is right, natural and needful.

 Virility: strength, masculinity

Bunting: a piece of cloth for making flags. Here it can mean sticks used to tie flags

Horse-sense: practical knowledge

Blinkers: blinds put on horses

 

Identify these features in the poem:

 Stanza 1:

The reader expects some lofty advice to take up glorious tasks.

The change of tone from seriousness.

Acts of varying nature:

Destruction is the plan of nature:

 Stanza 2:

Images: Masculinity:       Modernity:         From fables:

A proverb in English:

The attitude to disasters that come with violent action:

Thoughts:

 Stanza 3:

An exhortation to do something:

How equipped are you for that?

The images of nature that you may come across:

How can these images impact you?

What is the strength that helps you overcome this impact?

Stanza 4:

Connect the word ‘herself’ in line 3 with the first two lines.

Think of the significance of ‘man’ in the last line.

 Stanza 5:

The draining of the well is to be done to the maximum. How is this done?

What is the note of success sounded in this stanza?

Prepared by Jacob Eapen Kunnath