King Porus
by Michael Madhusudan
Dutt
(Summary
& Analysis)
Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a poet of the 19th
century. He was born in a Bengali family of Calcutta. He was influenced by
romantic poetry. The poem is based on Indian History. It sings the heroism of
King Porous.
The poem is divided into 6 stanzas of varying
lengths, narrating the different situation of the battle field. The first
stanza describes the atmosphere of the war field. In the second stanza he
describes the scene of the field, when Alexander attacked the brave sons of
India. He further describes how king Porus stood in the field fearlessly. In
the fourth stanza the poet describes how King Alexander is impressed by the
heroism of king Porus. In the fifth stanza poet describes the most memorable
event of the Indian history when Alexander was impressed by the straight
forward reply of king Porus and released him immediately. In the last part of
the poem the poet asks the whereabouts of king Porus and the brave sons of
India.
In the poem, Alexander is named as the immortal
Thunderer son and again as the Emathian conqueror. The poem throws a flood of
light on the character of brave king Porus. The description of king Porus as a
warrior is very appealing. M. M. Dutt has personified Death and Birth. He has
also used the imagery. He has compared the lightening with the women’s glance.
The title of the poem is apt and suggestive. The
poet narrates the battle between king Porus and Alexander and the heroism of
the brave sons of India. In this poem he highlights the character of king
Porus. The title gives us the clue to the whole poem that the poet is singing
about the heroic exploit of king Porus, who repulsed the further advancement of
Alexander. The poet does not deviate his poem from the history. He describes
the stormy night, when the river was in full flow. It was raining in full
torrents. It was in such night Alexander crossed the river.
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