Recreating Alphabets
K.B.S. Krishna
WILD VERSES OF WIT AND WHIMSY: FROM ALPHA TO ZETA IN 26 MOVEMENTS by Alok Bhalla Tulika Publishers, Chennai, 2015, 67 pp., 200
May 2015, volume 39, No 5

What is poetry? Is it as Wordsworth says a spontaneous overflow of emotions recollected in tranquil¬ity? If so, is it possible for language to reflect these emotions? Which leads us to the more troubling question as to what language is. Is it an adequate vehicle to carry our thoughts? Nay, even a necessary vehicle? If it is, what about animals—which apparently do not have a language? Does that mean they are mute spectators in this world? Or do they have a role in this universe?

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