Powerless a poem by the Vietnamese poet Mai Van Phan explicated

A poem composed by

Mai Van Phan in Vietnamese

Translated into English

By Pompen Hantrakool

Explicated by Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

Text

Powerless

A Rain squall striking heavily

Pound not

A flower

All of a sudden the wind becomes very fast.Along with that the rains pour in. It is a rain squall.The wind and the rain conspire  together as it were to downraze the tall trees and empty vaunts of  skyscrapers.. They hit the object of their attack over and over again till it tumbles down and is shattered..The squall, often a hurricane, breaks out all of a sudden and lingers for a very short period . But in the meantime it destroys whatever comes in its way with lightning speed. The squall  apparently partakes of the wrath of the infinitude and brooks no resistance.But the poet observes that the squall pounds not a flower.Whether the Rain squall is powerless to destroy a flower or whether it does not will to destroy a flower is a moot point. Compassion for small and beautiful things on earth could make the mightiest ogres helpless and incapable of destroying those small and beautiful things. Though small and tender, the voice of the flowers are loud and their fragrance spreads with steady acceleration. The poem thus  teaches us that tenderness  love  humility  and small ness are stronger than strength itself. Even the elemental forces like wind cannot  ravish the flower. Such flowers like gladiolus is associated with gladiators. And the hidden face of the lotus must not be ignored. Because it is the lotus that is strong enough to rise above the waters of desire and excelsior in the realms of meditation.The Rain squall of passion cannot have any impact on the flower .