Desk Report:
Today, June 29, is the death anniversary of the great poet of Bengali literature, Michael Madhusudan Dutta (January 25, 1824-June 29, 1873). He was born on January 25, 1824 in the village of Sagardari in Jessore and died on June 29, 1873.
Michael Madhusudan Dutta is one of the prominent writers whose contributions have blessed Bengali literature. Michael Madhusudan Dutta successfully reflected European thought and spirit in Bengali literature in the early nineteenth century. Michael Madhusudan Dutta is the first modern poet and playwright of Bengali literature.
This prominent Bengali poet and playwright of the nineteenth century and one of the figures of Bengali Renaissance literature, the great poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta, died on June 29, 1873 at Alipore General Hospital.
Madhusudan Dutta was born on 25 January 1824 in the famous Dutta family of Sagardari village on the banks of the Kapotaksha river in Keshabpur police station of Jessore district. He went to Kolkata at the age of seven. After studying at Khidirpur School for two years, he was admitted to Hindu College in 1833.
He was educated in Bengali, French and Sanskrit. From 1844 to 1847, he studied at the University College, Kolkata. There, Madhusudan learned Greek, Latin and Sanskrit.
He taught at the High School affiliated to the University of Madras. He served as the assistant editor of the Madras Spectator, a newspaper published from Madras.
On 9 June 1862, he went to England to study barristership. He passed the barristership in 1866. Michael Madhusudan is the pioneer of sonnet and amitrakshara rhyme in Bengali. He made an outstanding contribution to Bengali literature as well as English literature.
Although his first English poetry book, ‘The Captive Lady’, was not well received by the English at that time. Madhusudan, who was attracted to the West, converted to Christianity in 1843 and took the title ‘Michael’. When he wrote it to attract the attention of the English, the book instilled fear among the English writers of the time.
The doubt that their literary works would not find a place in Madhusudan’s presence began to grow strongly among them. He became disheartened as his achievements were not properly appreciated in English literature. It was then that he understood the essence of his homeland and roots.
After dropping out of English literature, Madhusudan, on the advice of his friends, focused on writing literature in Bengali. He gave Bengali literature famous literary works like Sharmistha, Padmavati, Tilottama Sambhavya, Krishnakumari, Meghnadabadha, Brajangana, Birangana, Chaturdashpadi Kabitabali, Hectorabadha.
Madhusudan Dutta first entered the arena of Bengali literature as a playwright. In 1859, he wrote the play ‘Sharmistha’. This is the first original play written in the Bengali language in the true sense and a mythological play.
This is the first Bengali play written in the modern Western style. The plot of the play is taken from the love triangle of King Yayati, Sharmistha and Devyani, described in the early part of the Mahabharata. However, although Michael wrote in the Western style of drama, he did not completely abandon the Sanskrit style in this play.
The long dialogues of this play, rich in poetry and ornamentation, the descriptive style of the events, the use of prefaces, natis, and buffoons, etc., are similar to the Sanskrit style. Again, the influence of the Romantic movement of English literature is also clear in this play. Although it has shortcomings as a first work, this play was very well received by the English-educated reading community of that era. The play was also successfully performed at the Belgachia Rangamcha.
In 1860, he composed two farces, “Ekei Ki Bol Sabyata” and “Buro Shaliker Ghare Ro” and the full-length play “Padmavati”. It was in the play Padmavati that he first used the amitrakshara rhyme. He composed one after the other, the epic poem ‘Meghnad Badha Kavya’ (1861), the poem ‘Brajangana’ (1861), the play ‘Krishnakumari’ (1861), the poem ‘Virangana’ (1862), the fourteen-line poem (1866).
The epic poem ‘Meghnad Badha Kavya’ is a unique creation of Michael Madhusudan. Madhusudan Dutta’s greatest achievement is the epic poem ‘Meghnad Badha’ written in the Amitrakshar rhyme based on the Ramayana anecdote. The characters are Ravana, Indrajit, Sita, Sarma, Pramila, etc.
He divided his poetry into more than eight heavens and according to Sanskrit rhetoric, he also gathered cities, forests, sub-forests, rocks, seas, dawn, dusk, war, mantras, etc. But he did not use a new rhythm in the beginning, nor did he foreshadow the next epic at the end.
Although he said – “Gaib Ma Veerase Bhasi Mahageet” still the tragic taste prevails in the poem. The Meghnadavadh poem is not a repetition of the Ramayana-based story – it is a wonderful lyric-poem in the form of a tragic epic poem of the new humanity, which is tormented by fate, from the perspective of the newly awakened Bengali. The Meghnadavadh poem is a unique creation in Bengali poetic literature in this respect.
Madhusudan’s last life was spent in extreme sorrow and poverty. He could not achieve much success in the legal profession. Apart from that, due to his extravagant nature, he fell into debt. He died on 29 June 1873 AD at Alipore General Hospital in a state of penury.
On the death anniversary of the great poet of Bengali literature, we remember with respect. May the literary works and thoughts of the great poet of Bengal, Michael Madhusudan, be cherished in the hearts of readers for ages. Today, on his death anniversary, we pay our deepest respect and love to his memory.