In this slide, we'll give a brief overview of the central idea of the poem The Harp of India by Derozio

1. The Harp of India
English Summary
presents…
By Henry Derozio

2. 1. Summary and
Analysis

3. Introduction
Harp of India is written by Henry Derozio known as the first
modern English poet of India.
The Harp of India celebrates the glorious past of India and
mourns over its loss because of British Rule and ends with
the hope that she (India) will regain its glory.
The poet uses Harp as a symbol for the Indian poets who
were earlier famous but under the British Rule, they
suffered.

4. The poem is a sonnet. However, it is different from the
traditional sonnets and has rhyme scheme
ababbabcdcdcbb.
There are mainly two sections in the poem.
In the first section, the poet laments over the loss of the
glorious past of India. In the second part, the poet hopes
that the glory will be back.

5. Part 1
Harp here refers to the poets whose poetry and melodies were sweet and who have lost
their glory in the British Rule and thus they are “unstrung“.
Nobody listens to them now because of the development and the modernity due to the
intervention of the British. And even little hope and struggle (depicted by breeze) cannot
make them write again.
Silence here refers to the metaphorical death (of their poetry). According to the poet, by
restricting them from writing, the British has made them like the ruined monument in the
desert which is neglected, silenced and exiled.

6. Part 2
In the second part, hand refers to the poets who lived before the poet and
wrote marvellous poetry.
According to the poet, their immortal work has kept them alive even today
and thus they live in spite of being in the grave.
In the end, the poet says that now that they (elites) are dead, he desires to
revive that literature and thus bring the glory of Indian culture back which is
lost now.

7. 2. Figures of Speech

8. Neglected, mute, and desolate art thou,
Like ruined monument on desert plain
Simile

9. Why hang’st thou lonely.
must thou there remain
breeze sigh over thee
Silence hath bound thee with her fatal chain
Personification

10. Many a hand.
Those hands are cold.
Hands here refer to poets.
Synecdoche

11. English Summary
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