| Mohan
Koirala was born in 1934 in Kathmandu, Nepal. His early poems show clear anger
against the Rana oligarchy system, witnessed in "The staute." As he
and his poetry matured, he addressed social issues ("The Nepali violin"
and "The roots of the pumpkin"), male-female relationships ("Like
seeds") and, later, moral fraility of himself and other human beings
(the finest examples of which may be "I have not become a god", "Wounded
years", and "The worship"). Today most students of Nepalese literature
believe that Mohan Koirala is hard to understand, that his poems require extra
attention, and provide richer emotional rewards. Mohan
Koirala has been publishing regularly in Nepalese literature journals and is now
the Vice-Chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy. He is appreciated not only for
his excellent poems but for his strong influence on Nepalese poetry. "While
he may not be the first to introduce the new poetic thought in Nepal, he has made
great contributions to the preservation of this tradition," comments critic
Iswar Baral in an essay of 1973. "While noted poets were following the romantic
tradition, Mohan Koirala gave voice to life's struggles. Therefore among the new
generation of poets he is the sharpest, the most experienced, and has the greatest
clarity." [Baral also states that Koirala was always influenced by the romantic
poets and this attraction permeates his poetry and enriches it. In
his own words, Mohan Koirala says "The love for the fresh and respect for
the old are the demands of the modern writing style. Selecting and representing
these properly are at the center of my poetic efforts and give life to my poems.
Life is a goal. How it is spent, what its shades must be like, and what has not
happened are not conclusive [there are disagreements]. Searching for yourself
by cutting yourself, pinching yourself, laughing, searching for yourself in laughter,
and if there are new facts there, then the richness that flows from them and their
stories dye the paint brush. This is my modernity. "Easy
poems are not modern if their style is not able to demand. In the same way poems
that are difficult for difficulty's sake cannot be modern either. Yes, they can
have a different importance, the poet can think in verse, she or he can be a great
poet. I wish to say that modern poetry presents new thoughts and new awareness
in its flow. The point I am trying to make is that even if they are written today,
poems may not be modern. Modern poetry is a struggle for subject matter, struggle
for craftmanship, and struggle for new thoughts, new poems." |