"The Earthen Goblet"

 

The Earthen Goblet

O, silent goblet red from head to heel,

         How did you feel

         When you were being twirled

         Upon the Potter’s wheel

Before the Potter gave you to the world?

‘I felt a conscious impulse in my clay

            To break away

 From the great Potter’s hand that burned so warm.

                         I felt vast

           Feeling of sorrow to be cast

                         Into my present form.

‘Before that fatal hour

             That saw me captive on the Potter’s wheel             And cast into this crimson goblet-sleep,

                         I used to feel

The fragrant friendship of a little flower

Whose root was in my bosom buried deep.

‘The Potter has drawn out the living breath of me

And given me a form which is the death of me.

My past unshapely natural state was best

With just one flower flaming through my breast.

                                 Harindranath Chattopadhyaya

The Earthen Goblet by Indian poet  Harindranath Chattopadhyaya; woven around the theme life, brings out the pain and agony of a red, silent goblet. The poem is an elegy because it tells the tragic story of a sod of clay. 

The poem is actually a conversation between the poet persona and the goblet. 

        "O, silent goblet

          ... how did you feel ... upon the potter's wheel."

Because of the silence in goblet, poet starts the conversation inquiring how it felt when it was being  twirled upon potter's wheel. The silent goblet take this as a chance to express his inner sorrows and to let its emotions rage out.

The goblet tells us about the beautiful life he had before the interference of the potter, how it enjoyed its life with a sweet little flower.

        "The fragrant friendship of a little flower"

This shows how it appreciated its past life and bonds it had before transformation. This demonstrate the interdependence in components of nature. The sod of clay provided the little flower with all the nourishment it needed to grow and spread her beauty and as a gratitude the little flower provided the sod of clay with beauty and fragrance. However when this great potter interfered with sod of clay's life everything went sideways. The sod of earth lost his friendship and the little flower lost the nourishment it needed. 

Unlike our ancestors who cared about spiritual value of everything nowadays due to capitalism and materialism, people only see the utility value. We are lucky that when we were kids we had chance to be with nature and play with our friends till we perspire but in the present kids are pushed towards a rat race that never ends. They are given a certain role model to be without giving a choice to the kid, just like the goblet.

Throughout this poem we get to see the immense power of capitalism and materialism.

        "To break away from the great potters hand that burned..."

The epithet shows us the utilitarian driven society's power to change anyone's life even they refuse.

The words great potter is ironical because this so called great potter has given it a shape which is death of it.

         "The Potter has drawn out the living breath of me

           And given me a form which is the death of me."

This line shows the goblets accusation towards the potter for giving it a rigid form which will bring him death if it breaks. This death image is very powerful and this shows its inability to fight against the power of materialism. 

 

However someone can argue over the fact that goblet is useful than a sod of earth. That simply reflects the conflicting ideas between traditional and modern life styles. So what we should do is harness the virtues of both traditional a  modern ideas and applying those to our lives to  make it better. This is how this poem shows us the changing and challenging aspects of life by taking us through the bitter sweet memory of the Earthen Goblet.