Enterprise Nissim Ezekiel

Enterprise

Nissim Ezekiel

READING

It started as a pilgrimage

Exalting minds and making all

The burdens light, The second stage

Explored but did not test the call.

The sun beat down to match our rage.

We stood it very well, I thought,

Observed and put down copious notes

On things the peasants sold and bought

The way of serpents and of goats.

Three cities where a sage had taught

But when the differences arose

On how to cross a desert patch,

We lost a friend whose stylish prose

Was quite the best of all our batch.

A shadow falls on us and grows.

Another phase was reached when we

Were twice attacked, and lost our way.

A section claimed its liberty

To leave the group. I tried to prey.

Our leader said he smelt the sea

We noticed nothing as we went,

A straggling crowd of little hope,

Ignoring what the thunder meant,

  

  

 

Deprived of common needs like soap.

Some were broken, some merely bent.

When, finally, we reached the place,

We hardly know why we were there.

The trip had darkened every face,

Our deeds were neither great nor rare.

Home is where we have to gather grace.

ABOUT THE POET: NISSIM EZEKIEL

Nissim Ezekiel (1924 – 2004) was a Mumbai based Indian Jewish poet, playwright, actor and critic. He is often regarded as the father of modern Indian English poetry. He studied in Mumbai and also in London. His best known books include ‘Time to Change’, ‘The Discovery of India’, ‘The Unfinished Man’, ‘Hymns in Darkness’ and ‘Later Day Psalms’. He received the Sahitya Akademy Award in 1983 (for Later-Day Psalms) and Padmashri in 1988.

INTRODUCTION

The poem Enterprise written by Nissim Ezekiel describes a metaphorical journey of some enthusiastic people of which the poet is also a part. This journey can also be compared to the human condition on earth which is full of difficulties and failures. This pilgrimage is set to achieve a specific goal. The poem consists of six stanzas having five lines each. The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABABA.

SUMMARY

SYNOPSIS

Nissim Ezekiel’s poem “Enterprise” describes a metaphorical journey toward a specific goal. The travelers on this journey begin in a real physical place, a desert, and argue about how to cross this challenging landscape. One of the members of the group, who writes the most stylish prose, goes his own way. The rest of the group is left on its own. Some quit the team.

The group is attacked by travelers, and over time become unmoved by anything they witness. Fatigue and the stresses of travel have settled in and many of the members of the group cannot go on.

By the fifth stanza, the picture ahead is grim. The enthusiasm has faded and their burdens are heavy. Their vision is clouded with the disintegration of the group and their exhaustion. The well-focused goal presented in the first stanza is lost. The travelers are a disorganized group of aimless wanderers unaware any longer of the original motivation for their expedition. Their observations at this point in the poem are about trivial things.

In the last stanza, the travelers reach their destination; however, it is not quite home. Ezekiel concludes that this type of expedition is not a worthy undertaking; living “at home” with inner satisfaction is the greatest achievement of all. The travelers’ consider their journey and have moments of introspection. They come to the conclusion that their expedition has been neither pioneering or notable for any reason. They had thought their journey would make a mark in history. The only problem is that others have made this journey before. It is nothing new.

The journey of “Enterprise” is a metaphor for life and our focus on the destination as the only means for our goals. Some critics have noted that Ezekiel’s “Enterprise” is also his attempt to bring together two “homes”: his place of birth and his journey to a European city. His exploration of the idea of “home” is sophisticated enough to be compared to the same themes in the poetry of Robert Frost, for example.