Towards an Eco-Poetic Vision of the Poetic Works of Agha Shahid Ali and Sylvia Plath: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The environmental problems became of supreme importance with the dawn of twenty first century. These issues which are faced by both biosphere and human life are flourishing at an alarming speed and are posing a threat to the life proportions upon the earth. There was a time when man was considered as having a close relationship with his surroundings and was nurtured and nourished by it, but with the passage of time man came under the influences of many newly introduced experiences and philosophies that altogether changed the vision of the civilisations towards anthropocentrism. Human being began to develop egotism which ultimately paved way for him to think himself as superior to the entire visible world and hence exploit it to meet his own ends. This new idea replaced man’s earlier thinking of being sentimental towards his survival without the presence of the nature. Nature by no means can be treated as a pleasure giving property to the human being rather it is the precondition for his very survival and prosperity. With the gradual growth of human civilisations on the earth the plundering and exploitation of the natural resources significantly increased by man’s selfglorification and self-indulgence by destroying the trees for his shelter and for iv industry, devastating the beautiful landscapes replacing them with the setting up of industrial establishments, roads, buildings etc. Ecocrticism is an approach to spread awareness and play a role to save the planet earth as it can be seen concerned with the relationships which show how the physical environment is dealt with in literature. It is a unique study which seems to project a natural science and a discipline based on humanistic approach. The present research work focuses on the theoretical framework of Ecocriticism considering its concepts like Ecopoetics and Ecopsychology and their application upon the poems of Agha Shahid Ali and Sylvia Plath. It further focuses on the narratives which explores the elements of nature and environment and the aspects of man nature relationship in the poetry of the selected poets. There can be seen an oriented quest where the ways emotions and feelings get an impact from the nature and vice-versa, the impact of culture on the nature which is seen proving helpful in creating the poetic stance.