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Pakistani Literature Notes
Pakistani Literature Notes
Wedding in the Flood by Taufiq Rafat is a poem based on a cultural aspect of Pakistani rural life. Rafat
receives high acclaim for depicting indigenous life and characters in his poetry. The poem is a depiction
of a marriage ceremony that takes place on a rainy day. Rafat describes not only the scene of the marriage
but also the thoughts of different characters. The characters he depicts in this poem are stereotypes that
we may encounter in our everyday life. The poem shows his deep insight into the mindset of the
characters he depicts. This article, Wedding in the Flood by Taufiq Rafat – Summary & Analysis, looks
into different aspects of this poem. It will prove of good use to the students of teachers. Moreover, it will
be of interest to readers with an interest in Pakistani literature in English.
A Brief Biography of Taufiq Rafat
In 1927 was born Taufiq Rafat, a true representative of Pakistani culture and tradition in English poetry.
Born in Sialkot and educated in Dera Dun and Government College, Lahore, Rafat gave Pakistani poetry
in English new dimensions. Rafat wrote about life in his immediate surroundings. Therefore, his poems
carry a realistic outlook. It is also the reason for their being strikingly appealing to native readers. One
thing Rafat is most acknowledged for is his use of local speech style in his English poetry. It inspired and
encouraged Pakistani writers in the English language to use localized expressions in their works. Oxford
University Press published three collections of Pakistani poetry in English during the 1960s and 1970s.
Their titles were: First Voices (1964), Pieces of Eight (1970), and Wordfall (1976). All three of them had
Rafat’s poems. He also translated Punjabi poems of the great Sufi poet, Bullah Shah.