An Apology for Shakespeare: A Review

“When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses” (John F. Kennedy). This gives a perfect idea of what importance poetry is to life. S. A. Joseph in his newly published paperback ‘An Apology for Shakespeare’ makes an attempt to establish such important aspects of poetry in our life.

S.A. Joseph’s paperback consists of 52 chapters, each chapter trying to convey the message that life without poetry is just something which is not possible. Through his poems the poet voices the need of encouragement to read poetry for it always voices against the negative and indifferent attitude to virtues and good qualities. After going through the poems one thing is quite clear that through this book the poet wants to create a conscience among the people about the values and ideals those are vanishing from the majority of the human population on the earth with passage of time. After all it is the study of classics that provide much knowledge and wisdom and have grave and serious themes.

Most of the poems are written in very lucid language and the free verse employed by the poet enables the readers to connect with the poet with ease. It is somewhat analogous to the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘A Defence of Poetry’ which analyses the very inner essence of poetry and the reason of its existence, -its development from, and operation on, the mind of man. Mr. Joseph’s standard of poetry may not bear the dignity of Shelley but it tries to convey almost a similar kind of message to the readers. The most exciting part of the whole paperback comes when the poet is found to be meeting William Shakespeare in his dreams. The name Shakespeare refers to poetry as a whole in its wide sense. Also the poet personifies poetry with the aid of a pretty female figure which is quite incredible and very unusual.

In an age when technology is slowly taking over human life, this book of poetry by S. A. Joseph may well turn out to be the most sought after, for this kind of books are very rarely written. It is due to such human beings like Mr. Joseph that the upcoming generation will get to understand what poetry is to life.

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• About the Author

About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.