Introduction to the Poem:
The poem entitled Virginal is an extraordinary poem based upon the conscious and subconscious feelings of a spinster. It has been extracted from a collection of poems entitled The Exact Name published in 1965. It is a psychological poem which depicts the predicament of a woman who has not married and has grown old. In the poem the poet observes that such a woman may feel happy enough but she deceives herself if she thinks that her happiness is perfect or that she had adopted the right course in having denied to herself the pleasures of a married life and the pleasures of motherhood. In the poem the poet brings to us the fashion of spinsterhood which is particularly rampant in western countries where spinsterhood has become almost an institution. But in India this kind of institution is rarely found because the destiny of an Indian girl is decided by her parents and her elders.
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| Nissim's Poem | Virginal | Summary and Critical Analysis | |
Summary of the Poem:
The speaker observes the predicament of a woman who has not got married throughout her life and has grown old. The speaker says that such a woman may feel happy enough but she is deceiving herself if she thinks that her happiness is perfect or that she has adopted the right course in having denied to herself the pleasures of the married life. The speaker, who frequently visits the spinster, finds that she pretends to be happy and contented with her present unmarried life, but inwardly she feels great sorrow in her loneliness. The speaker observes that she conceals her inner sorrow and outwardly bears the expressions of happiness at her face. The speaker says that the spinster can no longer remain under the false cloak. Internal signs of her sorrow are soon displayed. Although she has suppressed the desire of marriage and has been unmarried throughout her life, yet she fancies the married life. Sometimes she performs all the activities of a married woman. During evening, she is completely lost in thoughts of married life and feels the touch of warm kisses of her husband on her tender lips. In fancy of married life, she feels intoxicated. Like married woman, while waiting her husband, she changes her dress, adorns herself with cosmetics and ornaments, reads a book lying on her bed or writes a letter and eagerly waits for her husband's arriving. It means that the aspirations of married life are hidden in any corner of her heart. The speaker says that perhaps in her loneliness she takes a sigh of sorrow. During day time, her aspiration is extently buried but when night approaches her sorrow becomes unbearable and she becomes discomfortable.
Whenever the speaker observes the spinster's lonely life, he is greatly moved with pity for her. He feels sad to see her lonely life. He thinks that she ought to be a married woman to fulfil her womanly aspirations and desires. She ought to enjoy the pleasures of married life, but unfortunately, she was determined not to marry throughout her life. In this way she was deprived of the pleasures of married life. Outwardly she wore the expression of happiness and satisfaction, but inwardly she grieved at her life of loneliness. Her life of loneliness had crushed her natural liveliness. Seeing her faded face and colourless and monotonous life also made the speaker very sad. The speaker says that the spinster's subconscious desire to marry and give birth to a child had never really become extinct, although she consciously never seemed to cherish this desire.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
Introduction:
The poem entitled Virginal is an extraordinary poem. It appeared in The Exact Name, published in 1965. Its theme is unusual and the technique employed by Ezekiel to convey to us the sub - conscious feelings of a spinster is also unusual. It is a psychological poem which depicts the predicament of a woman who has not married and has grown old. In the present poem, the poet observes that such a woman may feel happy enough but she deceives herself if she thinks that her happiness is perfect or that she had adopted the right course in having denied to herself the pleasures of a married life and the pleasures of motherhood.
Thought - Content:
The spinster may pretend that she is quite happy in her life of loneliness and that she did the right thing in having remained a virgin and not having married. But in fact she feels sad without expressing any sign of sadness at her face. Outwardly she wears the expression of happiness and contentment, but inwardly she grieves at the loss of the pleasures of married life and at being deprived of giving birth to a child. During her loneliness, she greatly aspires for her life partner and child. In fact her sorrow is unendurable.
Psychological Insight:
The virginal is remarkable for the exposition of the human situation in poetical terms. Ezekiel possesses the rare gift of idealising and universalising the commonplace by the restrained and skilful treatment. Virginal has psychological insight and suggests how a virgin adjusts to unending loneliness in life:
“You were not made to live like this, although
Your face suggests that you are reconciled.
Its gentle sadness as it slowly grew
And crushed your liveliness, oppressed me too.
The universe is much too small to hold
Your longing for a lover and a child.”
Theme of the Poem:
The theme of the poem is unusual because in India, we do not have many spinsters. In India, girls are not the master of their own will. They, according to Indian culture and tradition, are not permitted to take any decision at their behalf. They completely depend upon their parents and elders. Indian girls are submissive to the will of their parents. Whatever they decide about their fate, they have to accept it, whole heartedly. They (the girls) cannot go against their parents. In India girls are forced into marriage at an early age by their parents, while in the West spinsterhood has become almost an institution, one reason for that being dearth of eligible bachelors or widowers.
Style and Language:
Ezekiel has a high conception of poetry which combines both inspiration and painstaking effort. To him poetry is the use of right words at the right moment. He chooses the words very carefully. His style has epigrammatic and proverbial force. He is economical in the use of language but he is never obscure. He is able to achieve conversational directness and ease without losing himself in discursiveness. He always maintains the balance between sound and sense. The present poem is remarkable for its compactness of structure and its condensation of the main idea. The last two lines have an aphoristic quality:
“The universe is much too small to hold
Your longing for a lover and a child.”
In the last two lines the speaker confronts the spinster with the stark reality of her situation.
