Class 12 English Lesson 12: Poem: Soft Storm by Abhi Subedi Literature Section

 

Lesson 5 The Poem: Soft Storm by Abhi Subedi

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About the Poet

 

A prolific poet, playwright, and critic, Abhi Subedi (1945) is one of the eminent personalities in the field of literature in Nepal. Born in Sabla village of Terhathum district, Subedi has written several plays including dreams of peach blossoms (2001) and fire in the monastery (2003). Abhi Subedi's soft storm' is depicted in free verse with a beautiful blend of natural and social description. On the surface level, it depicts the journey of the speaker through narrow lanes and the lightening of Kathmandu city at night but in its deeper sense, it projects people's indifferent feelings towards miserable conditions and sufferings of the people, male practices, tumult atmosphere, and chaos in the Nepali society.

Theme of the Poem

Soft Storm is a popular poem written by Abhi Subedi which expresses the situational kindness of the human being. In this poem, the speaker is presented as a rebel in society against societal misleading. The speaker represented himself as supportive of the bad situation. "Soft storm" is used to describe the society's lawlessness and disordered environment. In the context of today's society, a storm is a metaphor for the turmoil and uncertainty that the poet sees in the contemporary society.

Summary of the Poem

In the opening stanza, the poet first portrays  environmental disorder in Nepalese society through words like tumult, eerie etc. And then he moves to a hopeful situation with the phrase "sky grew like crocuses' indicating the blooming of Irish flowering family plants over stones. These plants grow five inches taller. When the moon is about to pass away, he speaks the language of posters and politics and about several social activities. It means to state people's discussion about social activities as they present in front of each other. By combining both the natural and social atmosphere, he becomes soft again as he sees the softness of the rose like a wind from his roof.  Through this simile, he combines two opposite ideas like the softness of a rose and strong wind and attacks over the several social malpractices of the people in the society. Then, he presents the singing of the moon and lightning with the whole city which means a city with an easy and comfortable atmosphere for some people. 

In the second stanza, he presents homeless and parentless children in grim poverty and crying for food and shelter in Thamel. Through this, he attacks the corrupted political leaders who just think of themselves and their families, not of their poor citizens and orphans. These future pillars are at risk and in miserable conditions. Social evils prevailed in the country and are one of the major causes of all this. On the other hand, as he returns from such a melee (confusing place) where people were dancing with mad steps, parties and ceremonies in skyscrapers, and big hotels, he recollects his past days when people were free to enjoy the real spirit of freedom. In the third stanza, he becomes soft-hearted again as he visualizes a forlorn (sad and hopeless) child carrying a transistor around his neck who is wailing and searching for his mother here and there. The child is in a panic. A man is beaten mercilessly before his family members for no specific reason. It states that in this modern era, people are indifferent to each other and dominance is  prevalent everywhere. These lawless activities make the speaker rebellious against the system. 

In the fourth stanza, the poet talks about a man with a blood-stained shirt and bruised human lips who is unable to speak anything as his voice is locked by the powerful inhabitants in the nighttime. The game of hiding and seeking is associated with the landowners and the workers. In the fifth stanza, he states about the words, not listening and storms but not waiting for its Leela or a divine play. In the sixth stanza, the poet states an optimistic feeling for the inhabitants through grown-up Irish flowering plants over the stone, storms moving to the public places and the sun shining with its different colours like a rainbow. The other references like a soft storm, silent pages, forlorn shirts, celebrations for the gods etc. are chaotic situations as they are under the control of disturbing rulers of the nation. 

In the seventh stanza, he presents several causes of his soft heart such as invaluable things, indifference and selfish activities of modern men, lawless activities, disturbed and spoiled mother earth due to human misbehaviours, and the painful life of other poor creatures. In the last stanza, the speaker concludes the poem by stating that he needs freedom not only for himself but also for all the creatures of this mother earth. He favours the beautiful and calm sky and wants to dance freely without any social restrictions with the natural sweet music of soft storms and the melodious singing of the birds making a circle round and round.

Understanding the text: Answer the following questions.

a.      When does the speaker grow soft? Enlist the occasions when he grows soft.

The speaker grows soft on several occasions such as when he hears the tumult, the sky grows like crocuses, the moon skids down, homeless children cry due to hunger, a forlorn child cries and searches for his mother, a man beaten mercilessly and so on.

b.     What do you understand by ‘this seamless city’?

This seamless city' means a city where inhabitants can walk freely without any social interruptions or problems and realize the real fruits of freedom and happiness beyond partiality.

c.      Describe the poor children portrayed in the poem.

Poor homeless and parentless children cry due to hunger and poverty under the bat-bearing trees of Kesharmahal in Thamel. They are deprived of their fundamental rights mentioned in the constitution.

d.     What do you understand by ‘the unwedded gardens of history’?

By 'unwedded gardens of history' means the past unflourished incidences of the society which means lawless disturbed chaos situation created by social and political hegemony in the Nepalese society.

e.      Why was the forlorn child wailing?

A forlorn child was wailing because he found his mother and other kin and dear ones missing in contemporary society.

f.       What do you understand by ‘soft storm’?

The two opposite words 'soft storm' combined by Abhi Subedi's title to his poem, means inner disturbed feelings of the poet du lawless society and chaos environment. A storm simply means bad weather but connecting soft with it means wild which the poet sees in contemporary society.

g.     Why does the speaker call our time ‘mad time’?

The speaker calls our time 'mad time' in the sense it is not under the control of the constitution or the law of the nation. He finds corruption, partiality, political and social injustice among the people, animal laws in practice and degradation of nature everywhere in society.

h.     What does the speaker want to do in “hard times”?

The speaker wants to melt like a rainbow in 'hard times' because he is soft-hearted by nature.

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Click for Reference to Context:  https://limbuchandrabahadur.blogspot.com/2025/06/class-12-english-lesson-12-poem-soft_10.html