Mongolian Poetry explicated

Poetry from Mongolia

THE NOMADS’ AUTUMN

Written by Gunaajavyn AYURZANA

Explicated by Dr. Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

The floating sun and

The fluttering leaves and

The mists at the top of the mountain

The birds’ return and the hoarfrost’s fall and

The rime on the head of the grass

The yellowing steps and      

The cattle in the distance and

The herder’s mind suddenly thrilled

The wind stirred and the flapping  tentflap and

The meager dust rising into the sky

The families moving out and

Lovers in the distance , and

Oh, such is the nomads’ autumn!

Mongolia is one of those countries where 40% people are herdsmen and nomads. The so called civilized world might look  askance  at this demographic distribution of this population. But ironically enough  Mongolia is the home of one of oldest civilizations in the world. And it is the civilization of Mongolia that brings the opposites together. Ulan Bator is one of the modern cities of the world and despite that one might espy gers in Ulan Batore also.and one might find radio sets and televisions in a ger.The so called civilized world might brag of their technology . Civilisation belongs to the surface of a people . But culture implies the inner spirit of a people. A people might be advanced in civilization but culturally backward. Mongolia strikes a balance between primordial culture of man with the change that takes place in the history of civilization. The hospitality that one finds in a ger is unique. It speaks of the Mongolian heart that stretches forth to receive any guest whatever with a warmth that is characteristically Mongolian. Since a large population of the Mongolian people are nomads or people having no permanent home , the poet belongs to them at heart and looks upon the season of autumn from their standpoint. But who is not a nomad? Man is also a migrating animal. Of course men donot have wings and hence they do not migrate as fast as Mongolian birds who traverse some 22,000 miles from Mongolia to South Africa and thence return to Mongolia . Man cannot emulate their skyey speed.But be that as it may man also is ever on the move . Besides  every moment every fraction of a second his mind moves from one idea to another and one field to another and one desire to another . And every second his body changes . The things that he imagines to be his permanent possessions are but possessions for a very short while. So when we look at the title The Nomads’ Autumn, it becomes symbolic with us. It reminds every reader that he is a nomad at the bottom of his being. That we have a permanent home is a myth. And the title of the poem shatters the myth. Consequently the readers of the poem are face to face with the stark reality. Autumn is a season juxtaposed between summer and winter. It is at the conjunction of the opposites. The summer in Mongolia is terribly hot where thirsting camels long for the cold. The winter is terribly cold. The autumn is a period of transition from summer to winter. The seasons are a recurrent motif in Mongolian poetry. This may be due to the exotic character of Mongolian climate.But again, the meditation on the change of seasons practically underline the fact that change is a category of existence. And the present poem The Nomads’ Autumn only dwells on how the people who are at heart nomad having no stay in the existence look upon the always changing nature.

The first line has the phrase –The floating Sun. We men are basically nomads and hence we perceive that the nature is ever changing . Nothing is permanent here . Not even the Sun is stable and fixed. It moves from the east to west . The Mongolian poet whose mind is always free from illusion depicts the Sun as floating in the firmament.In fact during the winter one could really find two or three Suns reflected in the snow and reflected on the countless crystals in the air . The Sun could be seen really floating in the air.The floating Sun is not the only motif that speaks of movement from one place to another. It is accompanied with the fluttering leaves . The leaves are swinging in the wind. The fluttering leaves appeal to our ears while the floating Sun appeals to our eyes. The movement is however being seen against the background of the mountains.The mountains as it were are the symbols of something perennial in a world of flux. But one cannot grasp the perennial although one might have intimations of the same. The mountains can be seen but they are not wholly visible to us. Their tops are mistlorn. This is a case of wonderful word painting  that reminds us of impressionist painting..Yonder  stand the mountains . Their crowns are half hidden from the eye. The Sun sails in all its glory across the azure . The leaves of the trees flutter in the wind. The use of the fricative f in the English translation of the poem fittingly suggests the sense. The third line is a stanza in its own right. The mountain tops behind the veil of mists only suggest that the perennial truth is not descried by the ordinary human ken. The third stanza opens with- the birds return and the hoarfrost’s fall . Well, the bird is not always the ordinary bird. Often Shamans take the shape of birds and fly to the worlds  beyond human knowledge. They often excelsior to the heaven and dive deep into the world below the earth. And it is during the autumn indeed where two extremes meet , the summer and the winter when perhaps the Shamans who are enlightened in the very depth of their being  might set out for sojourns in the worlds beyond. While the Shamans set out for voyage on the physical plane, there is the fall of the hoarfrost or white dew drops frozen. The poet now directs our eyes towards the ground. There are rimes on the head of the grass. They dazzle in the Sun. Autumn is the season of yellow and white hues. The grasses are yellowing . The vast steppe or the grassland is yellowing and of course the yellowscape shining in the bright white however distant seems to be very close at hand to the onlooker . The cattle are feeding on the grass at a distance . They are the only living things against the background of a skyscape and landscape and mountainscape plunged in a riot of colours. Maybe the poet is in the disguise of a herder and he describes the scene as a herdsman would . But the herder cannot remain the complacent observer for long. His mind is suddenly thrilled. In other words there is emotional excitement in him because the fifth stanza tells us that there is a sudden strong wind and we can hear the flapping tentflap . The felt that covers the roof of the ger quivers in the sudden wind. In other words a sudden wind or may be a sudden thought stirs the poet  and shakes his camp or stay. There is the unrest in the mind that excites the body itself. The ger could be the metaphor of the body where the poetic mind takes refuge. The poet is a Shaman and the Shaman is now stirred to excelsior in the blue deep of spiritual heights. The wind has raised  scanty dusts . the ger has to be dismantled now . The ger is such a temporary abode which can be dismantled in an hour or two. And the families must move out from the ger and they must move away from this place. Unlike the rest of the mankind , they are thrilled with this prospect of moving away from a place where  once they became settled for some time. These nomads are the type of the wise who are never attached to anything material and who always brave changes with a sporting spirit. It is so different from the outlook of the worldly men who cling to the transitory things of the world . Hence the poem ends with the line- Oh, such is the nomads’ autumn. The present reader feels if he were a nomad he would attain the ideal form of life.