Pak English language poet acknowledged

LAHORE

It is not very often that English poets from this part of the world are acknowledged by European and American intellectuals.

However, its not surprising that Ejaz Rahim, who has 21 books of English poetry on his credit, has been acknowledged by an American scholar, Anwar Dil.

Acknowledging Ejaz Rahim’s poetry in his illustrated book, ‘Ejaz Rahim and His Poems’, published in 2013, Anwar Dil, a professor of Language Science and Communication Studies United States Alliant International University in San Diego, California, Prof Dil tells in the prologue of his book that how he was persuaded to write this book which he had divided into two parts.

In the first part, Dil discusses Ejaz Rahim’s diction and theme under the light of environment which affected his life and thoughts. Prof Dil writes that Ejaz Rahim had looked at life from a point where the man of the world was confronted by what was eternal and haunting in the scheme of human existence.

It is pertinent to have a brief introduction of Ejaz Rahim, the poet being discussed. Ejaz, born in 1946, is a son of Abdur Rahim, a judge of the Jammu & Kashmir State.

Ejaz earned his master’s degree in English from Government College, Lahore in 1966 and he stood first in the CSP exam in 1968, joined the Civil Service and served the country on many high posts. He has received many honours and awards over the years, including three awards from the Academy of Letters and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2007.

In 2009, he received Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the Metropolitan University of Dublin, Ireland. ’With a Pinch of levity’, is Ejaz Rahim’s latest book published in 2016.

About his poetry, Prof Anwar Dil writes ”Under the romantic discussion of romantic element in Ejaz’s poems, his poetic experience is cathartic, abortive, releasing and relieving.

Like the English Romantic poets, the throes of creativity are found substantially in poems like ‘Freedom’, ‘Free the Words’, ‘One Single Flame’. The Romantic Death-Wish has been well-depicted in ‘Tryst With Death’.  The language of the book is very simple and charmingly fluid.