Critical Analysis of the Poem

'Circumcision'
by 'Taufiq Rafat'

Introduction of the Poet

Taufiq Rafat (1927-1998) was an English language Pakistani poet born in Sialkot, India
in 1927. Educated in Dehra Dun, Aligarh and Lahore, Rafat and his family returned to Sialkot (now in Pakistan)
following Partition in 1947. After graduating from the Hailey College of Commerce, Lahore, Rafat became a
company executive and married his wife Rehana, who was a social worker and women's rights activist from the
local Kashmiri community. Hailed as one the finest poets writing in English in Pakistan Rafat wrote some of his
finest poems in the 1970s including "The Boy with the Bashed in Skull" and "Gangrene" from Wordfall, both of
which provide vivid images of poverty and social division. Rafat's major work Arrival of the Monsoon: Collected
Poems 1947-1978, which contains 150 poems, was published in Lahore in 1985. Rafat died on 2nd August, 1998.

Text: Circumcition
Having hauled down my pyjamas
they dragged me, all legs and teeth,
that fateful afternoon, to a stool
before which the barber hunkered
with an open cut-throat. He stropped it
on his palm with obvious relish.
I did not like his musthachios, nor
his conciliatory smile. Somehow
they made me sit, and two cousins
held a leg apiece. The barber
looked at me; I stared right back,
defying him to start something.
He just turned aside to whisper
to my cousin who suddenly cried
'Oh look at that golden bird,'
and being only six I looked up;
which was all the time he needed
to separate me from my prepuce.
'Bastard, sonofapig,' I roared,
'sister-ravisher, you pimp
and catalmite,' while he applied
salve and bandaged the organ.
Beside myself with indignation
and pain, I forgot the presence
of elders, and cursed and cursed
in the graphic vocabulary
of the lanes, acquired at leap-frog,
marbles, and blindman's buff.
Still frothing at the mouth they fetched
me to bed, where an anxious mother
kissed and consoled me. It was not
till I was alone that I dared
to look down at my naked middle.
When I saw it so foreshortened,
raw, and swathed in lint, I burst
into fresh tears. Dismally
I wondered if I would ever
be able to pee again.

This
was many many years ago.
I have since learnt it was more
than a ritual, for by the act
of a pull and downward slash,
they prepare us for the disappointments
at the absence of golden birds
life will ask us to look at
between our circumcision and death.

Central Idea of the Poem

The poem is a detailed portrayal of the whole ceremony of performing male circumcision in which a boy is
deceived by asking to look at an absent golden bird , in the mean time, he is circumcised. The philosophical
conclusion that Rafat draws towards the end is that such rites prepare us for the disappointments at the absence of
golden bird life asks us to look at between our birth and death. In spite of a humorous touch, Rafat has drawn a
highly philosophical moral from the whole process.

Critical Analysis
Rafat has shown a purely typical Pakistani rural Cultural Setting of celebrating the event of circumcision
of a six years old boy in a patriarchal society. The poet presents a typical rural situation of a six years old boy who is
about to circumcised. He knows quite well what is going to be done with him. That is why, he is reluctant to go
anywhere and shows his anger openly and in turn, his pyjamas is put off forcefully by his cousins and he is dragged
to a stool before a long moustached barber squatting down on his heels stropping a straight razor on his palm with
an appeasing smile on his face. The boy doesn't like him. He is made to sit on the stool forcefully by his cousins and
his legs are drawn apart by them. the barber looks at him and the boy stares back at him in a defensive posture. The
barber turns aside to whisper to his cousin who suddenly cries to disract the boy to look at some absent golden bird
and being innocent, the boy looks upward which is all the time the barber needs to seperate him from his prepuce.
Being deceived, the boy boiling with indignation and pain, becomes unconscious of all the elders around him, starts
abusing the barber with all graphic vocabulary he has learnt in lanes while the barber balms and bandages the organ.
Still frothing at the mouth, the boy is taken to the bed where his anxious mother kisses and consoles him. When the
boy gets alone, he dares to look at his naked bandaged middle and bursts into fresh tears wondering disappointedly
if he would ever be able to pee again.

Taufiq Rafat was exalted as the mentor of aspiring poets of Lahore in the seventies and was esteemed as
the crown of all contemporaries for many reasons. Rahman recounts that poets—KhaledAhmed, Tariq Yazdani,
Kaleem Umar, Shuja Nawaz, Alamgir Hashmi and AtharTahir frequently visited him at his office. Rahman,
Kark and Hussain agreeably label him to be the originator of Pakistani Idiom in English.Reported by Hussain:
 "Eminent writers and intellectuals [say that] Taufiq Rafat has
introduced creative writing in English besides making his utmost
efforts for celebrating pure Pakistani idioms in English poetry"

He has used a pure 'Pakistani Idiom' in this poem:'Oh look at that golden bird'. In order to understand the
meaning, one has to look for the geographical dictionary meaning of this expression to iterpret it according to the
context in which it is used. It is a famous Pakistani idiom which is used to distract the kids while circumcising, and
being innocent, most of the kids are entrapped by the use of this idiom. The same idiom has been recently used in a
Pakistani Movie "Wrong Number".

The legendry Rafat is also termed as the Ezra Pound of Pakistani literature.He has been equalized with
Pound because of his belonging to Imagist Movement which:

“aimed to purge poetry of non-essentials, to render languag

precise,vision distinct, and thought concentrated into image”.

Rafat is at his best in presenting 'Cultural Imagery' in this poem. A cultural custom of performing circumcision is
presented in this poem. The boy is dressed as a villager kid, wearing only pyjamas. The barber has long moustaches.
The boy calls him names such as bastard, son of a pig, sister-ravisher, pimp and catalmite, all of which he has learnt
in streets: a typical Pakistani phenomenon i.e. children learn calling names outside of the house playing with other
kids. Cultural plays like 'leap-frog, marbles and blindman's buff ' are mentioned by the poet to highten the cultural
effect. Pakistani patriarchal cultural psychology is presented when the boy looks at his bandaged middle only when
he is alone, suggesting that men in Pakistan are taught to hide their emotions in public, to be brave before others by
saying another typical idiom 'be a man' and to weep in their lonliness thinking about the sufferings of the life.
Women are kept inside the four walls of house and observe veil in the presence of strangers, as we see mother waits
anxiously inside the bedroom:
"......................................they fetched
me to bed, where an anxious mother
kissed and consoled me...................."

Men in patriarchal society are commonly hot tempered:

'Bastard, sonofapig,' I roared,

'sister-ravisher, you pimp
and catalmite,'.......................

and are always ready to enter into a quarrel:

".................................The barber
looked at me; I stared right back,
defying him to start something."

All the images used by the poet add to the theme of the poem i.e. the celebertaion of a cultural ritual "Circumcision"
in a patriarchal society.

The poem has uncertain meter or rhyming scheme, pointing out its strong core content : the theme of the
poem i.e. uncertainity of the affairs of the world. Just like Robert Frost and Philip Larkin, he takes a daily life
situation, gives the brief descriptions of the situation, conveys his meaning clearly to the reader through cultural
images. Moving from particular to general, he philosophises the experience presented in the poem and gives a
universal truth out of it. In Circumcision, Rafat presents humourous situation and towards the end of the poem,
suggests that experience comes in the disguise of deception where we are provided to deal with the harsh realities of
life ,shown to us in the form of a golden bird. He burdens the poem with moral lesson of preparing for the worst
which the life is to present in the disguise of a promising future.
 The Golden Bird is the symbol of the unattainable dream. It is "Golden" to the one who wants it and a
"Bird" because it always can fly out of reach. World shows us a promosing future, an attractive dream, or a life full
of pleasure in the form of a golden bird as we see in "The Poison Tree" by William Blake, in which the victim is
attracted by a bright apple. As soon as the victim eats the apple, he dies because the apple was poisnous.

And it grew both day and night.

Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine.
..............................................
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstreatched beneath the tree
William Blake

The boy's looking up to find the golden bird symbolizes our running after desires which will never end until our
death. An anxious mother is the symbol of love, kindness, devotion and sympathy. The ritual symbolizes experience
and wisdom, which comes at a great cost.

We see at the poem through First person point of view, which relates us directly to the thoughts and
feelings of the protagonist without any filter, making it believable in observing the development of the character. At
first, the tone is childish and full of indignation which gives the idea of the common people being hot tempered
reinforced by the use of the words like 'hauled down', dragged', 'cut-throat', 'mustachios', and 'conciliatory
smile'. Suddenly, the tone becomes adventurous suggested by the exclaimation: 'oh! look at that golden bird' and
the boy looks upward in amazement and again abruptly changes as the boy, boils with indignation, starts calling
names. Finally, the tone changes from indignation to degradation to disappointment:

When I saw it so foreshortened,

raw, and swathed in lint, I burst
into fresh tears. Dismally
I wondered if I would ever
be able to pee again.

All such changes relate to the uncertain moods caused by uncertainities in the affairs of life. At first, we are amazed
at the wonders which are shown to us, suddenly, boil with indignation at the deception in the form of wonders and
finally get disappointed when we can't help our pathetic situations.Towards the end of the poem, the tone becomes
solemn which shows maturity and suggests to practically handle the affairs of life:

they prepare us for the disappointments

at the absence of golden birds
life will ask us to look at
between our circumcision and death.

The poem has three stanzas of varying lengths. Line break technique is used between first two stanzas
suggesting pause which conveys clearly the meaning of those lines i.e. the boy waits to be alone:
......................................................
.................................... It was not
till I was alone that I dared

to look down at my naked middle

......................................................
The last stanza contains the theme of the poem. The poem has no capitalization at the start of each line which shows
that the poem has no meter and rhyme scheme. The poem has a dramatic structure with a propper beginning, middle
and end which allows the theme to developed through the dramatic action.

Key-words: Pakistani Idiom, Patriarchal Society, Cultural Imagery, Symbolism