1

Comparative Study of the Revolutionary Works

of Shelley and Faiz Ahmed Faiz
BY
MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM
The Thesis Submitted to the NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF
MODERN LANGUAGES Islamabad, Pakistan
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of MA English





NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES
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Islamabad, Pakistan
Jan, 2014
RESEARCHERS DECLARATION
I, Muhammad Ibrahim, solemnly do hereby declare that the
work presented in this thesis is my own and was carried out
under the supervision of Mrs. Ayesha Waqar. I have never
presented it to any other university or institution for the
award of degree.


____________________
Muhammad Ibrahim

(Researcher)

CERTIFIED



____________________

Dr. Nighat Ahmed

Head of Department
Faculty of English Language,
Literature and Applied
Linguistics


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__________________
____________________
Mrs. Ayesha Waqar
Mr. Zawar Hussain Hashmi
(Supervisor)
(Subject teacher)



DEDICATION
This research work is dedicated to my beloved parents, who
guide and assist me throughout my life. I am nothing without
them.








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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Allah, almighty, is the only one deserving of all praises and glory, we
as His humble creatures bow to Him as He is the only one who can set
our paths straight. Muhammad (P.B.U.H), our beloved prophet of
Allah Almighty is the one who show mankind the path of
enlightenment and brightening way of Hidayah.
Research is of course a tedious and painstaking task which cannot be
completed in isolation. So we need support and help of our friends and
the guidance of teachers which is of utmost importance in the process,
i express my deepest gratitude to those who helped me in the journey.
I would like to thank Syed Muhammad Ali Ghazanfar for his special
consideration my elder brother Fahim khan whose support was at ready
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at any given moment, and I also extend thanks to Arif Hussin who,
during my thesis, used to prepare for me soul-refreshing coffee .
I am also profoundly thankful to my research supervisor Madam
Aysha Waqar who crystallized and widened my thoughts. Thanks to
my Baba Jan Hamid ullah khan whose paternal, pedagogic; and
spiritual gaudiness heightened my spirit in studies.






TABLE OF CONTENTS
S/No Title Page No.
1. Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.2 RESEARCH STATEMENT
1.3 DELIMITATION

01
01
14
14
6

1.4 OBJECTIVES
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

15
16

2. Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

17
3. Chapter 3
CONTENT ANALYSIS

33
4. Chapter 4
CONCLUSION

71
5. WORKS CITED 76









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Chapter No 01
INTRODUCTION
Poetry is a way to express ones profound feelings. Poets are always
found to be expressing some mysterious aspects of either the subjective
or objective world. Poets are usually revealing their ideology in a
suggestive way. According to Plato poets is a man communicating to
man. Poets share common worries and sufferings but unlike the
common man they have deep perception of the world around them.
They share what they perceive through imagination. They raise their
voice for the downtrodden, cheer up the unhappy and console and
comfort the deserted. They challenge the tyrant, and bring hope to the
miserable. They enlighten the mind and the soul of poor of their worth,
power, and importance by revealing their importance the in order of
nature. They inspire the poor to raise their voice against the oppressor
for their rights. By doing so, they render the humanity an invaluable
service.
Indeed, Faiz Ahamad Faiz and Shellys poems provoke the
feelings to initiate struggle for freedom, to stand up against the
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oppressor, and to annihilate the tyrant. Faiz is one of the few oriental
intellectuals who was unreasonably persecuted for his progressive and
revolutionary ideas. Despite the suffering through which he marched,
he became renowned not only in the sub continent but all over the
world.
He wants the downtrodden to realize their true worth and self-
esteem. He expresses his conviction in his poem Dogs, referring to the
poor as dogs as following:
These stray dogs in the streets,
Begging an endowment for their only for their only treat
Curses from other, are their total effects
Abuses from the world, are their only assets
Neither rest at night, nor joy in the day.
Filth in their abode, in gutter do the lay
In the last stanza of the poem, Faiz express the actual power of the
oppressed in the manner.
If the poor beasts lift up their heads
Mankind would, then, forget all deeds of rebellion
If the decide, they can won the universe
Each can chew down the bones of their cruel masters.

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Faiz advocates the rights of the poor who have been enchained
by the tyrants since the creation of the world.
Shelley wants the oppressed and downtrodden to raise their
voices for their rights and to start struggle for their own rights. He
wants the poor to challenge the cruel authority and to mend their
pathetic and deplorable condition. He wants them to wake up from the
deep slumber of ignorance and take initiative to make their condition
of life better. Shelley is profoundly agitated by the condition of the
poor and he addresses them in these words;
Men of England, heirs of glory,
Heroes of unwritten story,
Nursling of your mighty mothers
Hopes for her and one another
Rise like lions after slumber
If unvanquishable number
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you
You are many they are few.

Shelley is a true revolutionary poet he expresses his zeal for
revolution in his poems. In his poem ode to the west wind, he predicts
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of a new life, a life that will bring happiness and prosperity to the
human race. He wants the west wind to destroy the existing order of
the world and replace it with a new one. He expresses his revolutionary
feelings in this manner;
Be through my lips to the unawakened earth
The trumpets of prophecy o! wind
If wind comes, can spring be far behind
Men of letters are usually considered as the most important
ingredients of a society. These learned people contemplate deeply and
then express what they see around them. They take deep interest in the
life around them and as such, sometimes, some of them revolt against
the existing social order, what they conceive is a more than just social,
political, and moral order on which they are not ready to compromise.
Shelley and Faiz belong to this category of creative minds. They are
multidimensional and both have achieved the highest position among
the revolutionary poets of the world. Shelley was born in August 1792.
He was the son of an influential person, timothy Shelley. Shelleys
early life at Field place in Horshen-Sussex was happy in the adoring
company of his younger sister but his school days were miserable due
to his rebellious and nonconformist attitude.
At Eton, he was known as mad Shelley and Atheist
Shelley, there he started composing sensational Gothic tales and his
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career at Oxford was cut short when his friend wrote and published a
pamphlet the necessity of atheism in which Shelley was ultimately
incriminated and expelled from the university.
This was the beginning of his lasting estrangement with his
family. Shelley instead of becoming a member of parliament like his
father and grandfather, liked to live for the cause of the poor people
and the down trodden of the society. Shelley didnt attempt to attain
the privileged position of his family and therefore decided not to
entangle himself in the detestable intricacies of the politic.
Shelley grew more active politically when he read the book the
works of Godwin and found him relevant to the spirit of the age like
Rousseau, Godwin would insist on a rational approach to life and its
difficulties..
The society of Shelley was indeed the society of aristocrats,
landlords and the so called representatives of the royal family high
officers of the army and the capitalists who are handful yet they held
the power to deny all sorts of rights to the poor people.
In that age it was easy as it was a traditional privilege for the
influential families to send their own family members to the parliament
as it is clear in the case of Sir Timothy Shelley, the poets father, who
was an elected member of the parliament from his home constituency
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through shameless rigging and fraud. Therefore the election of this
constituency was declared null and void. But his powerful patron, the
duke of Norfile, had him reelected again from another constituency
that was the reason of his hatred against the French revolution against
the French revolution.
The French revolution profoundly affected the than poets and
writers who had been already displeased with the existing literary
tradition. Shelley and all other contemporaries were deeply influenced
by the French revolution and it can be traced easily in their poetry.
This revolutionary atmosphere can be said to have nourished
the seeds of Romantic Movement in England. The Romantics took
their inspiration from the French Revolution and it legitimized their
new tradition in the poetry. Wordsworth was particularly impressed by
the ideas of the French revolution. He glorified it in his poetry and was
impressed by its guiding philosophy. The French revolution
tremendously inspired the romantic poets. Wodsworth couched his
own theory of poetry in which simple diction and simple people would
be highlighted. Probably nonconformist approaches would have been
jeered at, had they not been promoted by the strong current of the
raging French revolution. ..
Shelley supported the Irish cause for independence against the
England. He took an active part in this campaign under the influence of
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William Godwin. He composed some freedom sonnets and pamphlets
to stir the conscience of the people of the Ireland. Even though Shelley
was not successful in his Endeavour, he was able to awaken the Irish
people to persist their struggle for freedom. As a result, the common
people of England took an active part against their own government for
the first time. In that period, women of England even did not have the
right to cast their votes, marched with the rally for the first time.
Afterwards this came to be known as the Peterlo massacre. It was
actually the culmination of a number of incidents in which the military
clashed with the radical elements in the public, and the result was a
gory tragedy.
Of course Shelleys age was full of controversies, and England
was in the grip of chaos as well. Widespread unemployment and
hunger were the prevailing disease in England at that time. The time
was ripe for revolution.
Shelley aristocratic family wanted to make him a member of
parliament but he spent most of his time in war between France and
England. Shelley saw great sorrow and pain, which moved his heart to
write a great deal of poetry for the man in distress. He has not
inclination to become the member of the parliament and its misrule.
Shelley was not a religious family. He himself has no
inclination towards religion. He was popular as an atheist. The bible
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was a work of extraordinary imaginative force, a collection of myths
and parables. Indeed. His religion was the emancipation of man.
Shelley adored the spirit of freedom.

Shelley spent most of his time in Europe. Therefore, he was not
aware of the luminaries beyond his continent or beyond his period. He
belongs to the romantic period, the period from 1797 to 1832. The
romantic period was delimited into two major groups of poets namely
the older generation and the younger generation. The older generation
of the romantic poets were inspired by the uprising of the people that
started in 1789 and the younger rebelled against the revival of the
traditional oppression that started after 1815. Shelley belonged to the
latter generation.
He was inspired by the poets of both the older and the younger
generations. Shelley is more influenced by Wordsworth, a great mystic
poet. Wordsworth was a great admirer of nature and so was Shelley,
but their respective approaches were quite different.
Wordsworth was a poet of butterflies and nightingales, oceans,
emotions, pastures, roses and daffodils. He loved tranquility,
spirituality and beauty in nature. Nature embodied for him a soul
somewhere in the universe which was the second half of his soul. He
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was more responsive to the spiritual love which could be accomplished
by the force of imagination. It is agreed that Shelley intellectualized
nature and Wordsworth spiritualized it.

According to the biographt of Shelley, he settled in Albion
house in Buckinghamshire where he conceived the influence of
Peacock and Leigh-Hunt. Among Greek philosophers, Shelley was
influenced by Plato. He adopted Platos views of death and soul but
also differed from him to some extent. Indeed, these Platonic ideas
were in common currency affecting all sensitive souls. The difference
is reflected in the writings of all contemporary poets and writers, and
Shelley could be no exception.
Faiz life and struggle are very much akin to that of Shelley.
Like Shelley, Faiz is also considered a great revolutionary poet. He
was born to a religious middle class family. He chose the cause of
revolution at a time when revolution was hanging in the air in the
subcontinent. The subcontinent was rent apart by the powerful tremors
of the Freedom Movement. Faiz father, Chaudry Sultan Muhammad,
was a learned person he was appointed as a teacher to an Afghan
princess. Later he was sent to England as an ambassador of
Afghanistan and remained there for three years. He was born in Sialkot
in 1931 where his father served as a barrister. His father was a learned
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man, he, therefore, entertained the company of the literary milieu of
the time. He was expert in Arabic and Persian lore.
The young Faiz grew up as a poet. Very soon he was
recognized as a notable poet. Gradually he accomplished such high
distinction that he could be considered the greatest Urdu poet only
after Allama Muhammad Iqbal. He began his career by memorizing
the Holy Quran and also learned Arabic, Persian and Urdu languages.
He did his MA in English and Arabic literature from government
college, Lahore. This suggests his interest in religion and literature.
But his later life appears to have centered on literature alone.
Afterwards, he joined the British Indian Army and served as a
lieutenant in the Second World War.
After the Independence of the subcontinent from the British
rule, which accompanied the partition of the subcontinent Faiz chose to
live in Pakistan and became the editor of the Pakistan Times in 1957.
He won popularity as a poet in the Indian subcontinent, lionized by the
literary critics as well as the masses. He grew up amidst the anti
imperialist movement of the thirties. This was the age of liberation
struggle of the people of Asia and Africa and the movement in the sub-
continent was a necessary part of that struggle.
Faiz initiated his revolutionary poetry in 1955. Before this he
used to write love poems. Faiz looks at revolution from another
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dimension. Faizs poetry represents the constantly transforming image
of the individual as a revolutionary. He gives vent his hope and
despair, his acceptance of self-sacrifice and his pain at the sacrifice of
others, his loneliness as well as his hope of rescue, his deep desires for
life and its beauty and his realization of the inevitable fact of death as a
necessary end to the struggle.
Faiz was given the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962. He was
appointed as the chairman of National Council of Arts during the rule
of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. (1971-1977) But he lost his position when
general Zia-ul-Haq toppled Bhuttos regime.
Faiz paid a very great price for his revolutionary struggle. He
was arrested a along with several left wing army officers on the charge
of a soviet-supported coup. He spent four years in prison, mostly in a
solitary confinement under the martial law of Zia-ul-Haq. He was
released in 1978, and he returned to work in The Pakistan Times. In
1978, he was dismissed from the post when a new military government
took over. Faiz lived in exile in Beirut until the Israel invaded
Lebanon, there edited Lotus, the famous journal of the Afro-Asian
writers. He passed away in November 1978.
In order to trace the influence and impacts on Faizs poetry,
Iqbals name comes at the top of the list. Iqbal was the first poet who
welcomed transforming the consciousness of the people.
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The new literature of protest signifies a radical change in the
words of Faiz, it bestows on us the power of forcefully suppressing the
hands of the killers; it does not admit defeat because it is inevitable
that the darkness should and must end.
. Like a true revolutionary poet, Faiz adopted the collective cost
and made the transformation of individual human being and his
passage through the infinite variety of situation and moods in this
process as a subject of his poetry.
Indeed, the new literature of protest was discovered by Dr.
Iqbal. He represents the truthful description of the condition of human
life. Iqbal indicates those factors which causes our decadence and
strives to give a manifesto of the revolutionary struggle of the colonial
people against imperialism and its gross form of tyranny.
With Iqbals revolutionary poetry, a poetry of classical
dimension as the background of literary creative activity begin in the
sub-continent. In the age of Faiz, the young writers of thirties started a
movement whose focus was not the individual poet and his personal
fate, but rather the fate of the poet in the collective world of which he
found himself an essential part.
When we consider Faizs poetry, particularly the volume of
Sar-e-Wadiay Sina, we find a passage which bears close resemblance
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with Iqbals views. Faizs poetry saturated with passionate anger and
prophetic warnings, especially the poems written after the Israels war.
Faiz poems there is thunder again in the valley of sinaai under the
title of Nushka-hai-Wafa is full of righteous indignation and
prophecies of disasters that lie ahead. Ghalib is also influenced Faiz
Naqsh-e-fryadi, as a remarkable poem by Faiz, begins by quoting his
favorite poet, Ghalibs, which in prose translation read thus:
If the river Dajla is not visible in the drop in totality of its parts, then
it is simply the childs play and not the all embracing eye.
(Imdad hussain: an introduction to the poetry of Faiz, pg #130)

1.2 Research Statement
Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Shelley shared the same revolutionary
ideas in their poetry.

1.3 Delimitation
Due to shortage of time, and extensively researched area of
literature of the research topic, the researcher wills delimits the study
to a few poems and ghazals of Faiz Ahmad Faiz and Shelley.
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Selected poems of Shelley are listed below;
i. Prometheus unbound
ii. Queen Mab
iii. The mask of anarchy
iv. The revolt of Islam
v. Ode to the west wind
Selected poems of Faiz Ahmad Faiz;
i. Dogs
ii. Soherash-e-berbat O naiy
iii. Dedication
iv. Speak up
v. We will see
vi. A song for a Punjabi farmer
vii. Do not ask me II
viii. Mozoo-ae .sukhan
ix. To the political leader

1.4 Objectives
To get insight into the elements that influence the two poets
respectively
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To deepen the understanding of the researcher about the
literature of Urdu and English
Enhancing knowledge about objectives of their revolutionary
poems
To compare their revolutionary poetry to bring out their ideas
and its essence

1.5 Significance of the Study
Poets express their sufferings, joys, delight, gloom, ideas,
philosophies, desires, convictions and ideals through their poetry.
Poetry deals with the both worlds, imaginary as well as the objective
world .they strive to express and impress at the same time .they are
commemorators of society and reformer of the human action .they
satirize, ridicule and appreciate humans accordingly. As Shelley and
Faiz are poets of a supreme order and their ideas have inspired million
of people, therefore we shell try to find out and reconstruct their source
of inspiration. The enquiry of the comparison of their respective ideas
regarding revolution is a bridge between Urdu and English literature. It
will help all the progressive and revolutionaries to understand their
predecessors in a better light. To give a better understanding of the
revolutionary aspects of both poets.
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23


Chapter No 02
LITERATURE REVIEW
Indeed Faiz and Shelley want the people to stand against the
oppression and realize their power. They want the downtrodden to rise
against the tyranny and the despicable exploitation. They make them
realize that they have the same rights as the elite class has. Their poem
preaches that there is no distinction between the poor and the rich, and
if any one tries to deprive them of their right, they should have the
courage to snatch it by force.
Shelley wants the emancipation of the poor. He advocates their
cause and espouses their rights. Shelley revolutionary is as pertinent
for the current age as it was for his own age. Chris long says the
Shelleys poem the Masque of Anarchy is a slogan of freedom for the
modern times. The poet and professor of Metropolitan University
Adam ORiordan admires Shelleys poem the mask of anarchy in this
words the most compelling thing about the poem is how it came to be.
Further he says that it still resonate with the modern world because it
purrs and growls and beats with the authentic rhythm of dissent and
unrest and in doing so captures the spirit of the city.
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After reading Godwins famous book the political injustice,
Shelley was deeply impressed by it .this work has an immense impact
on the mind and the soul of young Shelley. According to Godwine
philosophy man is perfect able. A man who is fair and just will always
promote the greatest general good while taking care of that his
immediate motives are never unworthy. He bestows his wealth on the
needy but never expects any gratitude from them. Godwin severely
criticizes injustice and is said to have violated most of the existing
institutions, as they were bent on perpetuating injustices actively or
passively. Shelley has derived most of his ideas of his poem Queen
Mob from the books of Godwins political justice. The influence can
be felt particularly in canto III of the poem in which he has attacked
the tyrannical and despotic monarchs. Shelley did not achieve the
fame which he deserved during his life time. Critics of that time
severely criticized him for his bring an atheist, his moral degeneration
and his subversive political views. Shelley grew up in a family which
had political sympathies with the right wing party. But Shelley could
not bring himself to accept the demands and hypocrisy of the political
expediency. Godwins book political justice exerted a profound
influence of Shelleys poetry. Having read the book Shelley was able
to see things in pure black and white. The essential revolutionary
utopianism and optimism put forward by Godwin found an echo in
Shelleys own temperament. England at the time of Shelley was
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resonated with both politically and economically ideas and the events
of American and French revolution.
Shelley born in an age, where forces of repression, brutality,
savagery and barbarism were prevalent, As Shakespeare would have
puts it, something was rotten in the state of Denmark and the Hamlet in
Shelley was out to purge it.
The beginning of the French revolution saw the spread of
liberal ideas among those who had been rubbed of their rights for a
long time. This air of liberation did not only influence French but
spread to everywhere there was repression and tyrannical despotism. It
made man realize their worth that ultimately gave them a sense of
dignity.
In 1814, Shelley started perceiving what was happening in
Europe. Shelley eloped with Mary Godwin and travelled through
France. It was the time when Shelley composed the poem Revolt of
Islam. Shelley gives a perceptive and balanced account of the years of
French revolution in the poem. Shelley was a rebel by nature. This
poem demonstrates his views but is not that successful as his other
poems. The prolong and the jumbled story of Loan and Cythna is
replete with ideas of images somewhat naively presented but
afterwards transformed into splendor of the Prometheus Unbound and
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its reflects precisely his conception of revolution and its uses, first
presented in Queen Mob.
The Revolt of Islam is based on the grand epic scale. Shelley
has adopted Spenserian stanzas of the Farie- Queen. The poem is
mainly concerned with the eternal conflict between good and evil. The
endeavourer for the Golden city depicts Shelleys vision of the world
as it is and the world as it could be if man would lend ear to Godwins
teaching of love and reason. Loan the protagonist and the champion of
good, and Cythna ,the ideal woman ,who emerges as the stronger
character of the two as the new woman in the mould of Mary
Wollstonecraft are Shelleys ideals of a nation.
Made free by love, a mighty brotherhood
Linked by a jealous interchange of good.
( patricia Hodgart. A preface to Shelley,p-62)
In the original account of Loan and Cythna were brother and
sister, but was changed to avoid further attacks on the poem which was
already considered to be offensive. Shelley emphasis the woes which
they must undergo for the liberation cause. There are many details that
prefigures Prometheus Unbound. It presents beautiful scenery of
mountains, cans and wild oceans to emphasis that how much beauty
liberty holds.
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The Revolt of Islam in spite of its miserable posturing in the
face of tyranny ,is still an optimistic poem. The ultimate message of
the poem is despair not and it is depicted that what will happen when
good spreads. The poem shows the basic goodness of man. Shelley
ambitious and noble prophecy is also reflected, If winter comes can
spring be far behind. It is an unfortunate fact that at this stage of his
poetic development, Shelley could not deftly handle the complications
of a poem extending over twelve cantos. The narrative is unreasonably
involved and another flaw of the poem is the confusing symbolism of
snake and eagle. It needs a profound allegorical interpretation, in other
words, Yeatsian approach.
One finds the reflection of Shelleys political thinking in the
poem. The poem makes explicit Shelleys attitude towards the French
revolution and its outcome which is the master theme of his generation,
or the regeneration of faith in the freedom of man. His optimism
regarding the future is not just a timely impression but an established
belief. His conscience is overwhelmed by and abject situation of
human in the repressive social atmosphere. He is mainly concerned
with human dignity and the exercise of justice and the establishment of
what a christen would say, The establishment of Kingdom of heaven
on earth.
28

Exactly the same pattern of thought is employed in the
Revolution of Islam is repeated in 1818, a year later in Lines written
among the Euganean Hills. The poem was composed by Shelley after
the death of his daughter. In the poem he stares at the wave less plain
of Lombardy lie beneath him as he stands upon the hill. Venus and
Padua, the plain of the cities, are seen as the objects of the tyrannical
rule of the Austrians. He is likewise grieved by human barbarity and
racial savagery.
Shelleys poem Ode to liberty and ode to Naples both
composed in 1820, praise the positive advances for the freedom of
nations. These odes strike a triumphant note for the removal from the
personal meditations on the Euganean Hills. Both of the odes are
astounding in their use of the ode form the Pindaric ode to liberty
being handled deftly. As it was the demand of the public and political
theme, therefore the diction of the odes inclines to shrill and over-
heated personification.
Indignation
Answered pity from her care
Peuth grew pale within the grave
And desolation howled to destroy, save!
(O Niel Michal: A literary life p-25)
29

Ode of Liberty was, indeed, an essential kind of exercise for the
poets of Romantic age. It is an inevitable response to the surge of
sentiments which blowing across Europe, and ultimately influenced
every sensitive soul. The poem contains philosophical ideas from the
outset which can be related to those pertinent to the French revolution,
the great event which had deeply influenced the affairs of his life time.
Shelley had acquired his habit of skepticism from English empirical
writers, due to which there can be realized the strain of skepticism in
his subsequent works.
Shelley regarded Godwins book political justice as The Bibl
and its preference acknowledges the authors indebtedness to
Godwines speculations which had more than a lasting effect on him.
Shelley seems to have dedicated his life to this ideal and wrote about it
with full conviction. As Milton would have put it regarding Shelley,
Shelley was out to justify the ways of Godwin to man.
Shelley composed his first long and important poem Queen
Mab in 1812. It seems that has invested all his intellectual excitement
in the poem. The poem is replete with passionate specifications,
contradictory theories and material accumulated from his extensive
reading. Queen Mab opens with the epigraph of Voltires famous
expression Ecrasez inframe with which Shelley launches his assault
on the enemies of society, monarchy, religion, warfare. Shelley put
30

forward a progressive and enlightened Government under which
religious toleration and freedom of expression as well as thought
could flourish. Shelley was against the church and its excessive
interference with life of people. He expresses his disgust against the
unjustified power of the church in the following lines:

prolific fiend
Who peoplest earth demons
Hell with them and heaven with slaves

Shelleys account of necessity the great chain of nature in
Queen Mab, is given a bestowed with a panorama of past and present
leading to future in which the habitat earth is full of bliss and man
lives in harmony with all its creatures. The purpose behind Queen
Mab to represent what monarchs and conquerors in their pride have
made of earth, in building and destroying cities, waging wars and
subduing their subjects, the desperately wandering Jews are testimony
to the malignant nature of God and his Son. Nature is depicted as a
heedless force.
All that wide world contains.
31

Are but thy passive instruments, and the regardest them all with and
impartiality.
(Hodgart Patricia: A preface to Shelley,p-29)
It seems that Shelley believes in the cause of Nature necessary
progress the golden age will return as he predicts afterwards in
Prometheus Unbound and Hellos. He firmly believes in the ultimate
spiritual revival of man and the world.
Critics consider Queen Mab as a piece of intellectual show
about the subject towards which Shelley was inclined as a young man,
namely astronomy, vegetarianism and so on. But it also establishes him
as a romantic poet even when committed to the materialistic program
of the philosophies and philosophers of his choice. Here, we find
Shelley in the role of Romantic reformers.
Shelleys poems bear a magical and dreamlike framework. He
is not only dealing with the dry bones of philosophy or parroting
abstract philosophical concepts; but he creates the visionary setting of
an artist, full of beauty and bliss.
Shelleys Ode to the West is reckoned to be one of the
characteristically revolutionary poems. It is the essence of Shelleys
genius. Indeed it is an appreciable poem because of its grand theme
and matchless weep, its smoothness, poetic beauty and lyrical quality.
32

Shelley has wonderfully dramatized his sharp senses of painful
pessimism and ultimate triumph of optimism.
Faiz Ahmad Faiz expresses his revolutionary zeal in his poetry.
For questioning the dominant authority he was unjustly terrorize and
persecuted, but he would not abandon his ideals. Some lines extracted
from Tadeebs Article put his struggle in this word, the great crusader
against imperialism who is suffering from torture due to his
progressive thought.
Faiz was the poet of all oppressed human beings as Iftikhar
Arif describes Faiz and his work in this words, Faiz was the poet of
mankind ,his poetry was eternal ,universal, and the representative of
human values, but is obvious that not being a man of regional acclaim
one cannot become universally.
Faiz is considered one of the greatest Urdu poets. He is
renowned for his revolutionary struggle and for revolutionary poetry as
well. According to Khalid Hussain, Faizs poetry is indistinguishable
from the way he has live his life. The publication of his first
collection of poems, Naqshe e-Faryadi, catapults him to fame. One
of the most widely known and admired poem is Do not ask me my
beloved for the previous kind of love, in which be renounce the
romantic kind of love for his beloved for meditation of the suffering
and miseries of the world. This poem is milestone in the poetry of Faiz.
33

It drives him to consideration of the miseries of the world around him;
and the troubles around him regarding the freedom struggle in his land.
The poem depicts the conflict going on in Faiz mind, the conflict
between the pull and push of love and demands of patriotism.
Dont ask me my beloved for the previous kind of love
If I get you fate will be sealed.
But things were not like that I had only wished them to be so,
There are other agonies of the world besides the agony of love
There are other kinds of joys in addition to the solace of love. (II 6-9)
(Daud Kamal: Unicorn and the dancing girls, p138)

Faiz another poem Speak Up is a short but powerful poem
which was written before the partition of the sub-continent. Critics
have called it the Testament of the Third World. This poem was
written in the heydays of the Bristish Raj when the protest movement
was entirely banned and public protest was ruthlessly quelled. It was
the time where free expression was ruthlessly treated and simply to
sand and speak was to wreck the wrath of the oppressors, namely the
colonial masters.
To awaken the people of sub-continent and to make them
realize of their inhumane treatment, Faiz wrote another poem in that
34

volume. The title of the poem is (pie dogs). Faiz presents the condition
of his country man in the form of dogs. He strives to make the aware
of their degradation. This poem is purely political and revolutionary
poem by which he wants to stir the conscience of the poor people of
the sub-continent.
Somebody should make them realize them conscious of their
degradation.
Somebody should shake their sleeping tails.
These lines embody Faiz extreme desire to overthrow the
unnatural British rule, which snatched the people of the subcontinent
from their legitimate rights.
After the publication of Naqh-e-Faryadi, Faiz was working on
his new book which came out in 1953 entitled as Dast-e-saba. This
collection of poems signifies that Faiz is undergoing a struggle
between his romanticism and realism, the two kinds of love namely
the love of his beloved and the love of humanity are exercising its
forces . At the onset of the collection he makes evident the fact that an
understanding of the collective struggle of human life and participation
in the struggle is not only an obligation of life but also of art. One of
the often quoted poem of Faiz is we shall see. This poem is actually
based on a quranic verse which means everything will die and the
35

only person of your Allah will remain, who is powerful and great.
Faiz is considered the poet of masses therefore he endeavored to dispel
the worries and sufferings of the people whom were ruled and
tormented by tyrants. The following poem reflects Faiz hope for a
better future;
we shall see,
It is certain that we shall see
The mighty mountains of cruelty and oppression,
Shell be blown about like cotton woll,
(We shall see)
Aymen Zaheer in his essay IN REMEMBERENCE OF FAIZ
AHMED FAIZ written on Faiz birthday describes Faiz in the
following words; today is the hundredth birthday of a person who can
be outlined as a populous majestic and renowned literary figure of
South Asia, and it will be celebrated all through the world by his
lovers. His verses have enlightened the soul of millions people and by
his humanistic and revolutionary concepts many of us have got a
comfort and courage to stand for the right of everyone equality and
humanness.
36

The revolutionary poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz has profoundly
influenced the hearts of the people of South Asia, and today is the day
to pay a highly rich tribute in his honor.
Elegance and adoration are the characteristic features of Faiz
poetry. The golden era of began when he wrote his ever most well-
known lyrics translated as "Don't ask me now, Beloved". In his initial
period, Faiz initiated his poetry in various forms, which mainly dwells
on traditional, social and political affairs. When one goes through his
poetry, one come across a mixture of romantic and political poems in
which he has depicted his aspects at a time and convey to the people
in a matter of fact way. Moreover, this amalgamation is found in such
abundance in his poetry which we have never seen in anyone poetry at
all.
Khalid Hasan in his article introduction to Faiz appreciates
Faiz poetry in the following manner; Politics and history are
interwoven, but not commensurate said Lord Acton (1834-1902) in
his inaugural lecture as Regius Professor at Cambridge in 1895.
Sometimes Politics and prose, and, in the worst of times, politics and
poetry. Here we have no better example of this axiom in the twentieth
century than the writings of the revolutionary Urdu poet, Faiz.
People from the sub-continent read Faiz in Urdu; few would
have read his writings in English. Faiz wrote about the affairs of the
37

subcontinent, prolifically and compellingly, and that shaped the destiny
of the sub-continent.
Shahrukh Husain who is an author and screenwriter, She is also
the editor of "The Virago Book of Erotic Myths and Legends" she
describes Faiz treatment of themes and his approach towards poetry in
this way.
Even in the poems where he protests blatantly they are also
nuanced with a wider kind of love and longing. His signature works in
free verse also employ the specific devices of a split voice or the idea
of divided love, in which romantic passion transforms, often without
warning, into a tormented love of humanity.
Riz Rahim in his book Faiz Ahmed Faiz A Renowned Urdu
poet describes Faiz poetry as following;
People loved his poetry, but authorities did not approve of the
politics and movements it represented. Towards the end of the 2007,
over twenty five years after his death, there was another insurgence of
Faizs words. His poetry recalled and recited after the Mushrraf
Emergency of 2007 (particularly his speak up, Bol a new powerful
slogan of sixty six years after its publication in NF) in a rather
unexpected but highly significant way. This shows the relevance of his
poetry for Pakistan to day and its lasting quality as well. He is
38

considered one of Urdus most respected and widely read poets today,
and it is hard to ignore why.














39



Chapter No 03
CONTENT ANALYSIS
Despite the cultural differences, and the long span of time
between the two eminent poets there is a striking convergence between
their ideas. Both of them ached for the poor and their miserable plight.
Regardless of conventional believes, they committed themselves to the
religion of humanity. They made the poor to realize their power and to
strive to break the shackles of the slavery.
Faiz passed through different phases of life and underwent
varied experience. On seeing the miserable plight of the poor , we felt
called upon to raise his voice for the downtrodden people of the
society. He witnessed the heart wrenching condition of the people and
came to the conclusion that the world should be viewed just from one
dimension. He felt a natural urge to stand for the poor people. In the
poem do not ask me Faiz beseeches his beloved not to ask for the
former kind of love because now he has seen the miseries and
sufferings of the world.
40

He has now realized that there are many other things to be
worried about that love. Realizing the pathetic condition of the poor
people, now it is impossible for him to passionately love his beloved.
This established Faiz as revolutionary poets. This poem explains why
he can no longer wrap himself inside romantic love:

That which then was ours, my love,
dont ask me for that love again.
The world then was gold, burnished with light
and only because of you.
He goes on to recall powerfully the total absorption of being in love:
How could one weep for sorrows other than yours?
How could one have any sorrow but the one you gave?
So what were these protests, these rumors of injustice?
A glimpse of your face was evidence of springtime.
The sky, whenever I looked, was nothing but your eyes.
But such romanticism is answered in the second part of the
poem, where his later experiences are described:

41

All this Id thought, all this Id believed.
But there were other sorrows, comforts other than love.
The rich had cast their spell on history

The youthful, Romeo-like quality in the line If youd fall into
my arms, Fate would be helpless cannot be sustained in the face of
reality:
Bitter threads began to unravel before me
as I went into alleys and in open markets
saw bodies plastered with ash, bathed in blood.
I saw them sold and bought, again and again.

An alternative translation of these lines puts it even more strongly:
Everywhere in the alleys and bazaars
Human flesh is being sold -
Throbbing between layers of dust bathed in blood.

42

He cant ignore this reality once he has seen it, and yet neither
can he forget his human beloved. And you are still so ravishing-
what should I do?
This, perhaps, is the source of the poems power its refusal to opt for
simple heroics and straighten out the ambivalence he feels. He cant
deny how sweet love is, and yet in spite of this he also acknowledges
that:


There are other sorrows in this world,
comforts other than love.
Dont ask me, my love, for that love again.

Their poetry inspires one to challenge the illegitimate exercise
of authority. They address particularly those who in some way are
victimized by the cruel authority. They encountered similar problems
and dilemmas in their respective countries during their own time.
Shelley himself saw death, destruction and misery. Shelley belonged to
the Romantic period during which the war between France and
England, which only added to the sufferings and anxieties of the
43

people. Same was the case with Faiz, his era was full of depression
and the stress because of the doom of democracy and the exploitation
of the poor by the ruling class. This struggle was mainly directed
toward the British colonialism and imperialism in the sub-continent.
During his stay in Italy, he become aware that at least 60,000 Radicals
took out a peaceful demonstration in Peterlo but the magistrate issued
an order to that the crowed to shot the crowd. Consequently it left a
substantive number of participants dead while a massive number of
people were left injured. Shelley composed the poem the Mask of
Anarchy on this occasion in which he addressed the people of
England to wake them from the deep slumber of ignorance, and to
arouse a sense of sympathy in them for the brutally oppressed helpless
people of their own country. Shelley in his poem the Mask of Anarchy
attempts to stir the conscience of the people and to ablaze their hearts
with the concept of freedom.
Man of England, heirs of glory,
Heroes of unwritten story
Nursling of our mighty mothers,
Hopes of her and one another,
Rise like lions after slumber
If unvanquishable number
Shake your chains to earth like
44

Which in sleep had fallen on you.
You are many, they are few,
This poem was composed on the occasion of the Massacre at
Manchester .its subtitle the Mask of Anarchy refers to the slaughter
which occurred in an English city. The author is directly addresses
someone, the supposed large number of his audience.
The author wants to show the miserable multitudes their
superiority over the handful monarchs and their stooges. It also show
them a path to materialize their freedom, to seek justice and to stand
against any kind of injustice and tyrannical rule. He points out their
numerical superiority and the skills and virtues that may help them
overthrow the oppressor. Shelley employs the simile lion as a token of
bravery. Lion as it stands for strength and bravery in actual life, in
literature it bears the same meaning. Shelley manipulates and utilizes
every means to stir the conscience of the common man. He addresses
them to stand against the tyrannical rulers who are unreasonably
prosecuting the poor people and have snatched away their basic rights.
The chains, as Shelley considers are fallen on in sleep, which implies
that our ignorance has let the rulers subjugate us. And in the next line
he indicates the vulnerability of the chain. Shelley claims that you can
set free yourself by mere a shook of your body. In fact, the ignorance
of the populace allows the tyrannical rulers to enchain the common
45

people either through in the name of some divine unjustified
principles, or other some detestable self- serving rules.
Shelley wants to stir the conscience of the common ignorant
people who have been trampled upon so for by a handful of aristocrats,
monarchs, priests and the like. He wants the multitudes to stop
pandering to the whims of their self-created gods, and by exercising
their own power to achieve their ultimate end, freedom. This poem is
a kind of revelation for the outcasts of the world. If they become
conscious of their self worth and their degradation by the hands of their
oppressors, it will lead to a revolution that will bring equality between
the poor and the rich. If people remain complacent with their condition
of life, there is no way to progress and no way to break the chains of
slavery. It gives them hope and leads them to determine their rightful
place in the world.
Faiz ahamad faizs poem speak up possesses the same strains
of optimism and revolution against the foul authority of the British Raj.
This poem was composed under the circumstances where every kind of
protest was entirely banned; it was Faiz who gave vent to the pent-up
emotion of the people of the sub-continent. It was the time when
speaking truth and taking about even legitimate rights was severely
punished and nobody can even call a spade a spade. Faiz came forth
46

with the mammoth task to awaken the sleeping multitudes of his
country.
Speak up
Speak up,
your voice is free
Speak up, open your mouth
Speak up, you're a free man
Speak up, you are your own person
your life's your own.
Look at the darting flame
and the red-hot iron at a blacksmith's,
locks are unlocked, closed mouths open
and the links in the chain cracks open.
Speak up, the moment is not just a brief moment,
speak before you die, your voice dies
Speak up; the truth is still here, alive
Speak up, speak up,
no matter what, you got to speak up.

Faiz asks the oppressed people of the sub-continent to speak
out for the thesis rights, because you still retain over it. They therefore,
must utilize it. He sets the fire of freedom ablaze in the hearts of the
people of the sub-continent. He wants to make them realize that
although they have lost control over the circumstances but they still
retain the control over their bodies. They must use their potential to
gain control of the miserable prevailing circumstances which
47

consequently lead them to live their lives in accordance with their
wishes.
He indicates that their protests will lead to break the chains of
slavery and will ultimately set them free from the constraints. Here we
see the same note of optimism and firm resolution in as we saw in
Shelleys poem, the dissenting tone has been infused in faizs poetry.
Shelley and faiz both address the same class of the society; therefore
their poetry bears a striking convergence. Shelley as well as Faiz both
of them were deeply depressed by the unchecked practice of the
authority and the expressed their feelings of disgust for the oppression
and appreciation for the deprived of class. Their poetry gives them the
light of hope and optimism to help them restore their condition, to
stand up against injustice in every form. They also addresses warn the
oppressors to stop maltreating the poor class of the society, lest it lead
to a slaughter, as we see Faiz warning the tyrants;
Dogs
On every street, these vagabond, good-for-nothing dogs,
on whom is bequeathed the appetite for beggary,
amass the slurs of their age as capital
and each rebuff from their world as wage.
No rest by sundown, nor relief at the dawn,
they make dwellings of dregs, domiciles of drains.
Should they dissent, domestic strife may be bred-
just flourish before them a stale scrap of bread.
48

They, who endure the boot-lash of each person,
condemned to perish, piteous with starvation;
should they, the oppressed, ever raise their heads
humankind would rue every condescension.
Should they desire to rule the world, they could;
and chew upon the very bones of their masters,
if only they were alerted to their deprivations.
O! For someone to tug on their insentient tails!
Here Faiz calls the poor people as dogs; in fact it was the deep
agony which was caused by the pathetic condition of the poor people
that led Faiz to call them metaphorically as dogs. The poor people are
so utterly degraded by the dictators that they resembles dog. Their
situation is no more than the stray dogs in the streets. Like the stray
god they too have no home to live in, no food to eat. Everyone scolds
them as if it were their own choice to be born poor. Everywhere they
meet humiliation and derision .they are treated like some filth and all
the civilized people look at them disdainfully. They are scolded,
despised, disgraced without impunity. It reveals how much suffering
and woes the poor encounter throughout their life. They render their
service to their masters wholeheartedly, but all they receive is
rebuking. Like dogs, they rescue their masters when any difficulty
befalls them, but when the master is angry he has no other one to let
his anger on but the poor, loyal servant. The poor or frankly speaking
49

the dogs have no other way but to put up with the humiliation and
disgrace silently.
Faiz indicates the services of the poor which they render to
their masters, but unfortunately it do not amount for the master so far
as to treat them with respect. Therefore Faiz indirectly conveys the
message of uprising against the masters, the despots.
Shelley aspires to the same purpose. This poem was written by
Shelley when he was twenty. In poem Queen Mab, Shelley represents
a king sitting secure in his place, and rejoicing a luxurious life, while
the starving masses endure the kings misrule only because of the
Unconquered powers of precedents and customs;
One reason has waked the nation,
Absolute monarchy is doomed,
Power like desolating pestilence,
Pollutes whatever it touches and obedience
Ban of all genius, virtue, freedom, truth
Makes slaves of men and of the human frame.
Queen Mab (74-80)
Shelley in the poem Queen Mab refers to the same phenomena.
He yearns to bring hope to the poor and downtrodden people. He gives
them hope for the future. He says that dictatorship days are numbered
50

and it will meet its natural death. For Shelley The misuse of power is
like a pestilence, those who practice power must exercise it carefully
lest they themselves got affected by it and lead them to misuse their
authority. They misuse their power and attempt to stop truth from
being flourish. They choke truth in every form and will strive to
strangle virtue as well. Shelley, as we notice, despises the use of
illegitimate power, he deems it to be contaminating each sphere of
society. It is direct indication to the misuse of power, be it either from
priests or dictators, it is loathsome in every form. Power corrupts each
mind, and leads it to detestable acts which no sensible man will ever
ponder to commit. If we let the dictator use his power unchecked, it
will definitely lead to place restraints on genius, creativity, freedom
and truth. If one is kept away from truth, it is easy to persuade him
through myths and legends to accept and agree with the most
despicable acts.
Shelley pleads with the common people not to give away their
freedom. Shelley considers obedience some kind of disease which will
ultimately deprive mankind of their creative genius, and will enslave
them for unknown reason for interminable time. in the following lines
Shelley scathingly discloses the that how the poor ignorant people are
forced by priests and kings;
From kings and priests and statesman, war arose,
51

Whose safety is mans deep unbetterd woe.
Shelley holds the kings, statesmen and priests accountable for
war. The common people are used by them to serve their own interests.
Shelley indicates the role of these respected people in the war. The
poor people die in the name of the so called religion which just serves
the priests interest, and the kings also follow the same line in
persuading the poor people.
The poor people without realizing the fact that they are
becoming fodder of war just to serve the purpose of the rich people,
plunge into the blazing fire of war and die. He further says;
Kings priest and statesman, blast,
Even in its tender bud, their influence darts,
Shelley was obsessed with the freedom of human being. He
expresses his feelings in the following lines.
Shall drag thee, the cruel king to kiss the blood.
From these pale feet, which then might trample thee.
If they disdained not such a prostrate slaved.

Shelley presents the same idea of revolution in his poem
Queen-Mab in which he depicts the exploitation of the poor traders by
capitalists and the feudalists of the society:
52

War is the statesmans game ,the priestss delight.
The lawyers gist, the hired assasins trade.
At another place in Queen Mab, he says;
Next on the black list is commence,
That venal interchange
Of all human-art or nature yield
Faiz protests against the ruling and the corrupt classes of the
society. but they differ in their approach, Shelley specifies the classes
and mentions them in the poem cited but Faiz does not refers to any
class particularly . Faiz has not classified the people whom he criticizes
but his criticism is disguised, but Faiz never let his spirits dissipate and
he remains firm and resolute to his determination. As he infuses his
seething anger against the dictator in his poem Soherasha-e-Berbat. O
Naiya, faiz says;
You and I will teach these iron collars and chains the clamour
of lyre and flute,
That clamour before which the tumult of Ceasor and Kai is
feeble
(Dast.e. sab poem soharosh-e-Barbat O Naiy;ii 1-3)

53

As we know that Pakistans history is replete with the instances
of overthrow of democracy by the hands of army, Faiz profoundly
resented the army intervention in politics. Faiz was repeatedly
prosecuted the army-run governments because of his protests against
the army dictatorship. Faiz will never support the army government
because of his progressive ideas. Here too, he resents the overthrow of
a democratic government and the subsequent ban on of expression of
thought. He considers word more effective way to win favor than
sword. Here Faiz makes a historical illusion to Caesar and kai. He
firmly believes that through his verses and poem he will inspire the
poor people and their clamor will be more powerful and effective than
that of the Caesar and Kai swords.
Faizs poem We shall see possesses the same note of
optimism and determination for revolution which marks the whole
revolutionary poetry of him. This poem is based on a verse from the
holy Quran which means everything will die and only the person of
your God will remain, who is powerful and great.
We shall see
We will see
It is true, we too shall see
That day this has been promised
This is written with Gods ink
We shall see
54

When the mountains of oppression and cruelty
Will float like carded cotton
Under the feet of us, the oppressed
This earth will quake
And over the head of the ruler
Lightening will thunder
We shall see
When from the Kaba on Gods Earth
All the idols will be removed
We the truthful ones but out of favour
Will be raised to the stage
All the crowns will be thrown away
All the thrones will be turned over
Then only God's name will remain
Who is Unseen but present
We shall see
It is true we too shall see
We shall see
In the poem Faiz gives hope to the downtrodden that they will
ultimately get rid of the tyrant rulers. From one aspect, actually the
whole poem apparently conveys the concept of the day of the
judgment. On the other hand it can be seen a consolation and solace for
the poor and outcasts .it comforts them with the idea of the day of
judgment and gives them hope that a life has yet to come that will
bring happiness to the poor people and it will bring equality among the
mankind. The oppressors will be annihilated and the seats of
oppression and tyranny will be demolished.
55

But apart from the surface meaning, the poet points out the
impending and imminent uprising of the poor people against tyrant
rules, against the inequality and injustice. He believes that the
Mountains of oppression will be demolished and it will lead the
people to enjoy freedom .there will be no place for the oppressor to
hide because by their contemptuous treatment of the poor creatures of
God, they have already enraged God.
The poets believes the earth will be wiped out of the
tyrants in the same way as the house of God was cleansed form
the idols with the advent of Islam. It states that the tyrants have
assumed so high a place in the world by the subjugating the
poor but they will meet the same like the idols in Kaba.
Faiz believes that these earthly gods will be destroyed
and the common people will be living a respectful life and
peaceful life on the face of the earth. He expresses his hope for
this revolution and says that these crowns with which all these
earthly gods adorn themselves will be crashed and the thrones
will be turned upside down.
There will only remain the rule of God for whom all
mankind are equal. Here the poet makes a historical allusion to
a renowned mystic Islamic figure, Mansur- al- Hallaj, a Persian
/Iranian Sufi master (858-922 AD) who is said to have declared
56

that he witnessed himself as one with the rest of the creation
and God. What the poet here wants to imply by the allusion is
that these earthly gods will be destroyed and everyone will be
free to give vent to his emotions, there will be no hanging like
that of Mansur .
Here in these lines the God creation means that Faiz
addresses the common people who will be free to practice their
will and wishes without any fear of reprisal from the tyrant
rulers. He repeats the word both you and me several times in
the poem to make us realize that once human beings have
accomplished their freedom, they do not need fear anybody
resentments or reprisal because equality will be the prevailing
principle of that day.
Faiz attempts to instigate the poor to revolts against
their oppressors and to cease adoring them, because they are
the one who causes all our sufferings and in fact they are the
root cause of the common people deprivation and desolation.
They are they exploiters of our energy as well as of our rights.
It is evident from poems of both poets this both wanted
to change the prevalent social conditions. As far as Shelley
approach regarding change is concerned, he advised his people
not to adopt a violent way to accomplish a revolution. Instead
57

he prescribed that a massive number should gather and make a
solemn declaration of its rights. If the oppressors interfered as
they did in Manchester, the course of the people would be
clear. In Mask of Anarchy, he expresses his feelings in this
manner;

With folded arms and steady eyes.
And little fear and less surprise
Look upon them as they slay,
Till their rage has died away
Then they will return with shame,
To the place from which they come.
And the blood they shed will speak
In hot blushes on their cheeks.

Here Shelley talks about the cruelty and hideousness of
the Peterlo massacre, where a large number of people were
killed without any justification. He consoles the people and
conveys them the message to remain steadfast because a day
will come when these tyrants will become ashamed of their
action. The blood of the murdered people will speak, and the
58

murderers will blushes upon their cruelty. Shelley at the same
time encourages the people by saying that a day of change has
come. It fills the heart of the poor people that someday their
struggle will achieve their objectives, and Shelley prophecies of
the day .it shares a common theme with that of the Faiz,s poem
We will see. Faiz too is encouraging his country man to remain
resolute in the face of tyranny and never let them overwhelm
you will. All these earthly gods will be demolished it is
inevitable; therefore all these troubles are going to end soon.
Eventually, both this renowned poets infused their
revolutionary zeal into their poetry which in inspired their
readers. Their poetry instigates the common people to demolish
the existing social order which is perpetuating exploitation and
injustice. It is absolutely evident from Shelleys poem Ode to
the West wind in which it is evident from his resolution to do
away with the elements that impede human progress.
O wild West wind, thou breath of autumns being.
Thou, from whose unseen presence,
The leaves dead,
Are driven like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing

59

The very beginning lines of the poem establish the West
wind as an agent of the seasoned change and brings in human
metaphor which accounts for its presence. Apparently, the
West wind is the agent of decay, downfall and death but the
wind having the power of moving objects and burying the seeds
becomes the source of life for the dead leaves and seeds.
Therefore it serves two purposes at once and at the same time it
is both preserver and destroyer.
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!
The wild wind is the sign of autumn which symbolizes
death, but it also performs another task to awake the dreaming
seeds lying in the wintry grave. To put another way, Shelley
depicts the West wind as both reformer and destroyer.
Therefore Shelley conveys the message to the masses to avoid
the threadbare conservative traditions and dogmas and to
unshackle themselves of the constraints of the old customs and
rise up to cause an actual socio-economic and political
revolution. The tone of the poem is deeply melancholic but the
images crowd into proposed satisfying end.
Shelley in his poem Ode to west wind preaches the
same message, he is hopeful that the existing corrupted order of
60

the world will be replaced by a new one. The institutions will
be demolished; the threadbare customs will be buried in the
prevailing darkness of the night. Shelley has chosen west wind
for this mammoth task. Shelley wants the west wind to spread
his message all over the world that will stir the conscience of
the mankind. The message will cause a revolution in the world.
It will bring happiness and prosperity and in fact revitalize the
world.
Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is:
What if my leaves are falling like its own!
The tumult of thy mighty harmonies
Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone,
Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce,
My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one!
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe,
Like wither'd leaves, to quicken a new birth!
And, by the incantation of this verse,
Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind!
Be through my lips to unawakened Earth

Shelley passionately expresses his inner feelings and
wants the West wind to scatter his thoughts all over the world.
Here Shelley uses the world dead thoughts, it is because that for
a long time his mind is teeming with this kind of thoughts but
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he either lack of courage or potential could not express it.
Another interpretation of the withered word can be that nobody
is ready to accept new ideas and this unreasonable attitude
towards the new ideas has prolonged mankind miseries. He
calls his mind hearth in his thoughts spark. He pleads with the
west wind to scatter the spark(thoughts) from the hearth(mind)
these thoughts may have enough to cause fire (revolution ) in
the world . Further he says:
The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind,
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

It clearly indicates his zeal for revolution. It reveals his
latent wishful thinking of the revolution, which he describes the
Golden era for human beings. He believes in the freedom of
human beings from sufferings of the world, it miseries, and of
course the oppression of the human by the tyrants. He tries to
relieve the mankind that they must not worry because spring is
coming. Spring here means the change, the revolution that will
end human beings sufferings and miseries.
To Faiz Ahmad Faiz the idea of revolution means to
revive the principles of social- justice in democratic country in
accordance with the principles of Islam, while on the other
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hand his socio-economic ideas were very closely related to
socialism against imperialism, feudalism and capitalist
monopoly. The holy Quran is deadly against them because they
promote concentration of wealth, usury and black marketing. It
is also against feudalism in all its ugly manifestations because it
proclaims that the land and man can use it only as a trust to
obtain his means of sustenance.
Faizs anti-feudalistic views have been expressed in his
poem Song for the Punjabi farmer;
Wake up,
Why do you long to die,
You fool?
You are the king of the world
This land is your slave
You are the one who feeds the world.
Why do you want to die?
Wake up! Why do you want to die?
Generals, colonels, governors,
Deputy ,D.c, policemen
All eat what you grow, and
If you do not sow the seeds
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And harvest the land,
Theyll starve to death.
Theyre your servants, you are their master.
Wake up! Why do you want to die?
Here Faiz attempts to console the most deprived class of
our society. Indeed, it is needless to say that the farmer is the
most deprived class of our society. Like Faiz has mentioned in
the poem it are they who feed the world, who provide food to
the rich. And what they find as result is the contempt from the
rich, rebuking from their landlords. They toil from dawn to
dusk no matter how much fierce the sun shines, no matter how
much cold it is. Faiz wants them to realize their value in the
world. They are not beggars but generous to produce food for
the world. There is no denial that they are maltreated by the
authority, but irrespective of it the provide food for all the
sections of the society.
Faiz wants to consol the poor deprived class of the
society and also make the exploiters realize of their injustice
towards them. Faiz like a loving mother attempts to wipe the
tear of the farmer, who some time threats and sometimes
implore not to be grieved and to realize his status also. It
scathingly remarks on the behavior elite towards them. It
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underlying theme is the exploitation of the farmer. Faiz
message is disguised in the poem; his actual addresser is not the
farmer but the oppressor. It warns them not to disdain the one
who feeds them.
Shelley too despised the feudalistic system which the
mother of all suffering of the poor people. In his poem The
Revolt of Islam represents the chaos created by hoarding and
the meanest way in applied in commerce.
there was no food, the corn was trampled down,
The flocks and herds perished on the store,
The dead and putrid fish were ever thrown

In the next stanza, he represents the heart wrenching
conditions;
there was no corn in the market place,
All the loathlist things, even the human flesh was sols

The next scene is even more horrible and depicts the
miserable conditions and the abject situations of the human
beings.
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then fell the blue-plague upon the race of man,
O, for the sheathed steel, so late which gave.
Oblivion to the dead, when the streets run with brothers
bloods! That the earthquakes grave,
Would gape, or ocean lifts its shifting wane

On seeing this condition the poets expresses profound
sorrow in these lines.
it was not thirst but wordness, many saw.
Their own bean image everywhere it went.

The aforementioned verses have been extracted from
the poem, which consists of about 5000 lines, written during
the war between France and England.
However, it is not known for certain whether the poem
was written under the influence of the tragic war or it was
produced in the perspective of great Islamic revolution because
Shelley has given it the title The Revolt of Islam. However, it
is obvious that there is a very close similarity between the
poems context and the prevailing situation of poverty in
England at that time.
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As a result the people of England were moved by the
passionate pleading of revolution, and the realized that the
condition represented in the poem was the actual condition of
them. Consequently they started s movement to overthrow the
tyrannical government.
Faiz expresses the same concerns over the situation of
the poor in his country. He witnesses the anguish and the
torture of the poor by poverty. Faiz comes forth to consol and
comfort them. He describes their abject poverty and the
miserable condition of his fellow country man. He particularly
addresses each person of the society from the low strata. This
poem Dedication addresses the poor and the trampled class
of the society in this manner;
In the name of this day
And
In the name of this days sorrow;
Sorrow that stands, disdaining the blossoming garden of
life
Like a forest of dying leaves
A forest of dying leaves that is my country
An assembly of pain that is my country
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In the name of the sad lives of clerks,
I
In the name of the worm-eaten hearts and the worm
eaten tongues
In the name of the postmen
In the name of the coachmen
In the name of the workers
In the name of the workers in the factories
In the name of him who is the Emperor of the universe,
lord of all things,
Representatives of God on earth,
The farmer
Whose livestock has been stolen by tyrants,
Whose daughter has been abducted by bandits
Who has lost, from his hands breadth of land
One finger to the record keeper
And another to the government as tax,
And whose very turban has been trampled to shreds
under the footsteps of the powerful.
In the above lines Faiz expresses his sorrow on the prevailing
and the gloom of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression and how it has
68

clung to every poor being and it is chocking them to death.

He metaphorically calls his country a forest where there is the
rule of autumn. As autumn deprives the trees of its leaves, similarly the
country of Faiz represents the same scene. These lines indicate that
how oppression has led the people to misery and they are dying as
leaves do in autumn. He addresses each grief-stricken class
individually. Faiz is the poet of the common men; therefore he
advocates he seeks justice for them. The miseries which these people
suffer are very grave as Faiz indicates that some of them are deprived
of their livestock like the poor farmer and the clerks who spend their
whole life leaning over the large heaps of files receive neither reward
nor respectful living.
He also points out the abject poverty of the farmer and their
humiliation and exploitation as well. They remain surrounded by all
kind of woes throughout their lives. One the one hand they are
terrorized by the tyrants regarding their land, and on the other hand
their honor is in danger from the ruffians and the pampered feudal
lords. Actually it reveals the evils practices of the feudal system, the
use of the unchecked power, and the insecurity of the poor farmers.
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There is no consolation and solace for the poor people. They
are exploited and deprived of their living .they are insecure and the
criminals commit offence against them with impunity, because there is
no justice and the rule of might is right is exercised. The farmers are
humiliated and disdained by the powerful and inhumane rich
authorities. Their turbans which are the symbol of honor is torn to
pieces and trampled upon by the authorities until it is reduced to
shreds. Actually it represents the shameful attitude of those in power
against the poor farmer or speaking generally, the common people.
In the next lines of the poem Faiz describes the starving
children
To depicts the plight of the poor people.
In the name of those sad mothers
Whose children cry out in the night
And would not be silent by the defeated arms of sleep,
Who will not say what sadden them
Or be consoled by tears or entreaties.

Faiz indicates the miseries of the poor that how they yearn and
cry just for a loaf of bread. The mother who has resigned herself of her
70

fate tries to cajole her sons to become silent but they still continue to
weep.
Faiz goes forth to depict the condition of the girls who have
unfortunately born into the lowly section of the society.
In the name of those beauties
The flowers of whose eyes
Blossomed from every curtain and balcony
And withered away in waiting,
In the name of those wives
Whose unloved bodies
Have grown tired of the treachery of beds
In the name of the widows
In the name of neighborhoods
Who scattered garbage in the moon
Bless every night,
And from whose shadow cries out
The fragrance of veils
The tinkling of bangles
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The scent of loosened hair
The smell of passionate bodies burning in their own sweat.
These lines present the miseries of the poor girls who have lost
their youth in the hope that someone will come to marry them, but
none will accept them because of their poverty. Their faces peek from
behind the curtains to search whether someone will come to marry
them, but their eyes become withered because their hope will never be
materialized.
Fiaz expresses the pathetic conditions of the exploitation of the
educated class of the society in the following lines and also addresses
the passionate revolutionaries who are shackled by the savages;
In the name of students
Who went to the masters of drums and banners
Prostrating themselves on doorsteps
With their books and pens
Paying, with open arms, to be heard,
But never returned.
Those innocents, who, in their naivete
Took their tiny lamps,
72

Their candle flames of hope, to where
The shadow of endless nights were being given out,
In the name of those prisoners
In whose breast the shinig germs of the future
Burns, polished by the noise of the jailers night
To a star like radiance.

In these lines Faiz describes the cruel disregard of the
government towards the educated people. He represents the students as
a symbol of progressive thought, these people implore the authority for
freedom but their wailing and supplications go unchecked.
The following lines contain Faiz optimism and his hope for
freedom from the slavery of despots.
In the name of those harbingers of the day to come
Who like the flower with its scent,
Have become enamored of their own message.

Faiz considers the gloom and the suffering to be temporary, and
pines his hopes on the revolutionaries who will eventually drive away
73

their gloom. He greets and praises those who will come forth to
struggle to restore balance in the different sections of the society. This
poem represents the sufferings and the desolating conditions of the
common people, but it also gives them hope that the despots will be
eventually overthrown and the will be set free from the shackles of
slavery.
Shelley in his poem the ode to the west wind uses The West
wind as a symbol of resistance and struggle for an instance in the
following lines ;
Drive my dead thoughts over the universe
Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth!
And by the incantation of this verse
Scatter as from an unextinguished hear
Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind

Faiz just like Shelley made hands the symbol of resistance and
struggle for freedom. Hands have been determined by him as the
steeping-stone for the freedom and liberation in Pakistan against
Martial law. The poem To the political leader is inspired from
Mahatma Gandhi but in disguised manner:
74


It is only hands, which are your hope and last report.
You have nothing but these hands
You dont want darkness to overwhelm you
Then do you want these hands to be chapped off
(To a political leader, II.9-12, P-25)

In an undeveloped, unarmed country facing the might a well-
armed imperial power, it seems appropriate that Faiz should make
hands the symbol of resistance. Indeed, it is these very hands, which
rendered man the force to fight against the hostile environment and
mans hands still serve as a major factor in his progress in the later
history. When hands co-ordinate with the brain in any struggle, it will
eventually accomplish its objectives but without the co-ordination of
brain and hands any kind of struggle will be idiotic.
It is important to note that that in the second volume of Dat-e-
Seba, Faiz makes hands the symbol of freedom struggle. In his poem,
Shorashe Barbat onai in the first two lines, Faiz again says:
So long as the hands are alive,
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So long as there is warmth in the blood,
You and I will teach these iron collars and chains,
The clamour of lyre and flute
Shorashe Barbat Onai (II 1-4)












76













Chapter No 04
CONCLUSION
77

Both Faiz and Shelley were intellectuals and geniuses of their
respective ages. Despite the fact that they were not contemporaries,
their ideas infused in their poetry sound similar.
There are many dimensions and characteristics which they
shared in common. It is needless to say that there is a large scope to
dwell on their poetry, but owing to the requirements and the nature of
the opted topic, I am obliged to concentrate on only one aspect of their
poetry, it is namely the revolutionary aspect.
There poetry profoundly influenced the people who were
suffering due to the existing socio-political conditions, which were the
result of the protracted war in England and an era of oppression in
Pakistan; it inspired them to raise their voice against the tyranny.
Their poetry had widespread appeal for the downtrodden in society.
Although these tow poets belonged to different classes of their
respective societies. Shelley was born to a wealthy, feudal family. His
father was a parliamentarian and had great sway in politics. They were
Whigs. Therefore Shelley was also traditionally a Whig but in actual
life Shelley stood for the cause of the Radicals who wanted to
accomplish their basic rights from the government. The miserable
conditions of the people led him to become a revolutionary rather than
a parliamentarian. Shelley being a revolutionary worked for his fellow
revolutionaries wrote for them and fought for them.
78

Idealism is the base of Shelleys philosophy of life, as he has
expressed it in all his shorter and as well as longer poems. His heart
and foul was teeming with revolutionary ideas. Being an iconoclast ,he
devoted his whole life to the demolition of the old, usurping
institutions ,he was than pedagogue and believed in salvaging
humanity from the cruel clutches of the despots. For Shelley the only
way to get rid of the tyrannical rulers and the oppression was rebellion
and outright revolution.
Faiz witnessed the oppression of the people of the sub-
continent by the hand of British Raj. The colonial masters were
wrangling the poor people of India. They looked at them disdainfully
and would never let go any occasion out of hand to humiliate the poor
people of the sub-continent.
The same idealism we encounter in Faiz poetry. After
Englands withdraw Faiz presumed that now they would be able to
exercise their own will. But his hope turned out into a horrible
nightmare. Faiz was imprisoned several times for his poetry. Faiz
poetry captures the horrible scene in a most natural way. Both poets
have a full command over the manipulation of imagery. The people
they address are the same this is also a point which indicates there
convergence. Both of them mingle their revolutionary fervor with the
romantic notions.
79

Both of them were profoundly appalled by cruelty in every
form. They advocate the rights of the poor people and implores the
poor people to realize their condition of life, if once the realized their
power, it will be impossible for the despots to control them, as Faiz
expresses this feelings in following lines;
These downtrodden creatures, if they rebel,
Man will forget his over lordship,
If they want they can own the world,
And chew the bones of their masters.
Shelley seems to be addressing the same audience and he wants
them to unshackle themselves from the bondage of slavery;
Shake you chains to earth like dew,
This in sleep had fallen on you.
You are many, they are few.

Both of them despised exploitation of the poor people and the
prevailing abject miseries and sufferings in their respective countries.
By representing the pathetic condition to the people , they intended to
cause a revolution, as we see in these lines of Faizs poem :
Dark savagery and curses of countless ages,
80

Women in silk and satin and gold,
Human-bodies sold in street and market place,
Besmeared in dust and bathed in blood
Shelley depicts exactly the same picture to aspire the people to
bring change and to stand up for their rights.
there was no corn in the market place,
All the loathliest things, even the human flesh was sold.
We therefore can safely conclude that despite of the huge
differences of their respective eras, Faiz and Shelley share the same
revolutionary ideas in their poetry.








81



WORKS CITED
Gay, L.R. & E. Mills, Geoffrey. Educational Research Ninth
Edition. Roohani Art Press Islamabad.
ONeil, Michael: Percy Bysshe Selley, Aliterary life,London
O.U.P 1989,p-53
Huger, A.M.D: Shelley and Nature p-16
Hussain, Imdad: An introduction to the poetry of Faiz,
Karachi 1989, p- 130
Ibid,p-126
Agha, Ali shaded Ali: Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the Rebels
silhouette of, Dehli O.U.P. 1992, P 78
Kamal, Daud: unicorn and the Dancing Girl, student service
Lahore, p 138
Malik, Fateh Muhammad: Faiz shairy Aur siasat, Sane-e-
meel publications
Patricia, Hodgart: A preface to Shelley, A literary life
London.u.p 1998 p- 25
82

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_ahmed
http://www.brittanica.com/EBchecked
Comparative Study of the Revolutionary Works
of Shelley and Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Supervisor: Mrs. Ayesha Waqar



RESEARCHER: MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM
Roll No. 4025
MA ENGLISH
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH (GS)
Jan 2014


83

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES
Islamabad, Pakistan

Comparative Study of the Revolutionary Works
of Shelley and Faiz Ahmed Faiz
BY
MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM
The Thesis Submitted to the NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF
MODERN LANGUAGES Islamabad, Pakistan
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of MA English




84


NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES
Islamabad, Pakistan
Jan, 2014
RESEARCHERS DECLARATION
I, Muhammad Ibrahim, solemnly do hereby declare that the
work presented in this thesis is my own and was carried out
under the supervision of Mrs. Ayesha Waqar. I have never
presented it to any other university or institution for the
award of degree.


____________________
Muhammad Ibrahim

(Researcher)

CERTIFIED



____________________

Dr. Nighat Ahmed

Head of Department
85

Faculty of English Language,
Literature and Applied
Linguistics



__________________
____________________
Mrs. Ayesha Waqar
Mr. Zawar Hussain Hashmi
(Supervisor)
(Subject teacher)



DEDICATION
This research work is dedicated to my beloved parents, who
guide and assist me throughout my life. I am nothing without
them.






86











ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Allah, almighty, is the only one deserving of all praises and glory, we
as His humble creatures bow to Him as He is the only one who can set
our paths straight. Muhammad (P.B.U.H), our beloved prophet of
Allah Almighty is the one who show mankind the path of
enlightenment and brightening way of Hidayah.
Research is of course a tedious and painstaking task which cannot be
completed in isolation. So we need support and help of our friends and
the guidance of teachers which is of utmost importance in the process,
i express my deepest gratitude to those who helped me in the journey.
87

I would like to thank Syed Muhammad Ali Ghazanfar for his special
consideration my elder brother Fahim khan whose support was at ready
at any given moment, and I also extend thanks to Arif Hussin who,
during my thesis, used to prepare for me soul-refreshing coffee .
I am also profoundly thankful to my research supervisor Madam
Aysha Waqar who crystallized and widened my thoughts. Thanks to
my Baba Jan Hamid ullah khan whose paternal, pedagogic; and
spiritual gaudiness heightened my spirit in studies.






TABLE OF CONTENTS
S/No Title Page No.
1. Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.6 INTRODUCTION

01
01
88

1.7 RESEARCH STATEMENT
1.8 DELIMITATION
1.9 OBJECTIVES
1.10 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

14
14
15
16

2. Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

17
3. Chapter 3
CONTENT ANALYSIS

33
4. Chapter 4
CONCLUSION

71
5. WORKS CITED 76