Intertwined Relation between Poetry and Music: A Case of Subcontinent's Musical Saga and Oral History

Author(s) : Muhammad Umair Shahid Dogar, Dr. Khizar Jawad

Abstract:

Poetry and music have been in a togetherness not just historically but also artistically integrated through the profound establishment of meter and rhythm. Both genres complement each other to such an extent that there occurs the process of ‘artistic transmutation’, which apparently seems to be radically divergent, but this association empowers and praises both, the beautiful poetic form and the field of musical production. This masterly eluded interrelation becomes even more discernible in the case of Hindustani classical music which is structurally distinguished by its elegant, electrifying, and traditional outlook. This research aims to recontextualize the interconnected relation between poetry and music; reaffirming the propinquity among diction, meter, rhythm, and sonority. Considering this propensity as a source of ‘contextual relatability’, music and poetry both provide aid for one another’s social acquiescence and lastingness. Due to this intersection of music and poetry, Urdu ghazal in the twentieth century reimagined the subcontinental paradox, proliferated the socio-political landscape, and challenged the existing limitations of ghazal as a literary genre. Hence, the works of prominent poets got popularized among the middle class as self-contained musical enactments distinguishing between an ordinary poet and a ‘people’s poet’. While raag and ghazal may seem like opposites in terms of their nature, they actually share a fascinating and enigmatic connection. This connection stems from the interplay between rhythm and meter in raag, and the mode and tone of ghazal.