This document provides a comparative analysis of Nissim Ezekiel's 'The Patriot' and Robert Browning's 'The Patriot,' highlighting thematic elements such as irony, satire, and the poets' differing perspectives on patriotism and identity. It discusses the historical context of both poets, their unique styles, and how each poem critiques public sentiment and national identity. The analysis concludes with a reflection on the contrasting approaches of Ezekiel's humor versus Browning's tragedy.

1. Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.
Paper no.: 202 Indian English Literature (Post- Independence)
Comparison: Nissim
Ezekiel’s ‘The
Patriot’ and Robert
Browning’s ‘The
Patriot’
Prepared by- Jheel Barad

2. I am Jheel Barad
Roll No.: 12
Enrollment no.: 4069206420210003
Sem.: 3 (M.A.)
Paper no.: 202 Paper code: 22407
Paper name: Indian English Literature (Post -Independence)
Topic: Comparison: Nissim Ezekiel’s ‘The Patriot’ and Robert
Browning’s ‘The Patriot’
Submitted to: Smt S.B. Gardi, Department of English,
M.K.B.U
E-mail: jheelbarad@gmail.com

3. Table of Contents
05 06
03
04
01 02
Comparison References
Nissim Ezekiel’s
The Patriot
Robert
Browning’s The
Patriot
About Poets Definition of
patriot

4. Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English
poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high
among the Victorian poets.
He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social
commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and
syntax. (Chesterton)
Nissim Ezekiel (16 December 1924 – 9 January 2004) was an Indian Jewish poet,
actor, playwright, editor and art critic. (Joffe)
He was a foundational figure in postcolonial India's literary history, specifically for
Indian Poetry in English. (Lal)
applauded for his subtle, restrained and well crafted diction, dealing with common
and mundane (simple) themes
Nissim Ezekiel is often considered the father of Modern Indian English poetry by
many critics. (Dulai)
He was honoured with the Padmashri award by the President of India in 1988 and
the Sahitya Akademi cultural award in 1983. (“Poets who took Indian poetry to the next level”)

5. Definition of Patriot-
: one who loves and supports his or her country (Stamper)
: a person who loves their country and who is ready to defend it against an enemy. (“patriot
noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at
OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com”)
Traditional Patriotic Poems
● Rupert Brooke- The Soldier (Brooke)
● Wilfred Owen- Dulce et Decorum Est (it is sweet and fitting to die for one's
country)(Owen et al.)

6. “I am standing for peace and non-violence.”(Ezekiel)
Published in 1977; Commentary on post- independence India; Indians adapting the foriegn habits
first person present tense; monologue
Exaggerated Indian- English; overuse of present
continuous tense(Rekha and Rafee)
‘Why world is fighting fighting’(Ezekiel)
Simple language and diction
Strong Indian patriotism, Rejection of non- Indian influences
‘Ancient Indian Wisdom is 100% correct,
I should say even 200% correct,’(Ezekiel)
‘But modern generation is neglecting -
Too much going for fashion and foreign thing.’(Ezekiel)
‘Other day I'm reading newspaper (Every day I'm reading Times of India
To improve my English Language)’(Ezekiel)
Nissim Ezekiel’s ‘The Patriot’

7. Humor, satire, irony and hypocrisy
‘How one goonda fellow
Threw stone at Indirabehn.’
‘Regeneration, Remuneration, Contraception’(Ezekiel)
refers to the ’20 point program’ for regeneration and the forced sterilization of people to control the
population. (Rekha and Rafee)
Comparing Wine and Lassi
‘I'm the total teetotaller, completely total,’(Ezekiel)
Criticising or acclaiming India?
What you think of prospects of world peace?
Pakistan behaving like this,
China behaving like that,
It is making me really sad, I am telling you.
All men are brothers, no?
In India also
Gujaratis, Maharashtrians, Hindiwallahs
All brothers -
One day Ram Rajya is surely coming.(Ezekiel)

8. Published In 1855. Tragic Tale, Dramatic Monologue; irony
6 stanzas; rhyme scheme of ababa
Change in fortune in single year; recollects memory of exact day a year ago.
Victorious countrymen to criminal
metaphorically alludes to mythical Icarus
Hopeful end
Ambiguity of life and fortune
projects a philosophical truth of existence that Shakespeare has mentioned in his play As You Like It.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances… (Shakespeare Act 2 Scene 7)
“Thus I entered, and thus I go!”(Browning)
The Patriot’ is a harsh critique on public sentiment and morality. (Rehman)
Robert Browning's ‘The Patriot’

9. SIMILARITIES
● Irony, Satire, Hypocrisy
● Monologue
● Titles fail to give gist of poem
● Critic of nation/ public
● Different from traditional
Patriotic poems/ war poem
● Hopeful ends
● Brings out new type of Patriot
Comparison
CONTRATS
● Ezekiel’s Humorous; Browning’s
Tragic
● Rhyming skill
● Use of language
● Ezekiel talks about post-
independence India &
● Browning talks about philosophy
of existence.
● Reference to historical events
(Indian)
● Use of Myth (Greek- Icarus)

10. Works Cited
Brooke, Rupert. “The Soldier by Rupert Brooke | Poetry Magazine.” Poetry Foundation, 1915,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/13076/the-soldier. Accessed 3 October 2022.
Browning, Robert. “The Patriot.” The British Library,
https://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/poetryperformance/browning/poem3/browning5.html. Accessed 3 October 2022.
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith. Robert Browning. Macmillan, 1951. Accessed 3 October 2022.
Dulai, Surjit S. “NISSIM EZEKIEL : The Father of Contemporary Indian English Poetry.” Journal of South Asian Literature, vol.
35, no. 1/2, 2000, pp. 123–77. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40873766. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.
Ezekiel, Nissim. “The Patriot by Nissim Ezekiel - Famous poems, famous poets.” All Poetry, 1977,
https://allpoetry.com/poem/8592073-The-Patriot-by-Nissim-Ezekiel. Accessed 3 October 2022.
Joffe, Lawrence. “Nissim Ezekiel | India.” The Guardian, 9 March 2004,
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/mar/09/guardianobituaries.india. Accessed 3 October 2022.
Lal, P. “Poetic injustice - Society & The Arts News - Issue Date: May 15, 2000.” India Today, 28 December 2012,
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/books/story/20000515-book-review-nissim-ezekiel-by-r.-raj-rao-777553-
2000-05-15. Accessed 3 October 2022.

11. Owen, Wilfred, et al. “Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen.” Poetry Foundation, 1920,
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est. Accessed 3 October 2022.
“patriot noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at
OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com.” Oxford Learner's Dictionaries,
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/patriot. Accessed 3 October 2022.
“Poets who took Indian poetry to the next level.” India Times, 21 March 2017, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-
style/books/photo-stories/poets-who-took-indian-poetry-to-the-next-level/photostory/57747660.cms?picid=57747700. Accessed
03 10 2022.
Rehman, Maha. “The Patriot by Robert Browning.” Poem Analysis, https://poemanalysis.com/robert-browning/the-patriot/.
Accessed 3 October 2022.
Rekha, K., and A.S. Mohamed Rafee. “INDIANNESS USED IN, “THE PATRIOT” BY NISSIM EZEKIEL.” International Research
Journal of Multidisciplinary Science & Technology, 2017,
https://nebula.wsimg.com/7bd7df08abb86f74f81be22ef249245f?AccessKeyId=94ED799FB69CB80A1EB7&disposition=0&allowor
igin=1. Accessed 3 October 2022.
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Maple Press, 2014.
Stamper, Joshua. “Patriot Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patriot.
Accessed 3 October 2022.