SUBLIMITY OF PATHOS IN THE SELECTED POETRY OF KEATS AND GHALIB: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Keywords:
Aestheticism, Bhavas (Emotions), Ghalib, Keats, Rasa of Pathos (Karuna Rasa), Rasa, SublimityAbstract
This research article is derived from my Ph.D. dissertation. Rasa of Pathos or Karuna Rasa promotes compassion and empathy for others’ suffering in classical Indian aesthetics and philosophy. Understanding universal human pain demands empathy beyond sympathy. The significance of bhavas (emotions) in evaluating and valuing artistic works is emphasized by this association. This analysis is done using Edmund Burke’s view of The Sublime and Beautiful and Kapil Kapoor’s perspective of Rasa in the area of aestheticism. The methodology of comparative study of literature developed by Kapil Kapoor (2007) has been used, offering a thematic strategy to support the perspective of Rasa of Pathos. In order to narrow down the scope of my study, I have specifically examined the chosen poetic works of Keats and Yusuf Hussain’s English translation of Ghalib’s poetry, which is titled “Urdu Ghazals of Ghalib”. Comparative literature and cross-cultural studies compare and contrast themes and concepts in literature since the birth of civilization. Leaving linguistic argument aside, aestheticism is universal a universal phenomenon. The Rasa of Pathos was employed by English Romantic poet Keats (1795-1821) and Urdu and Persian writer Ghalib (1797-1869). Both poets employed the Rasa of Pathos to compose timeless works that reach readers worldwide and urge them to enjoy the universal feelings that bind mankind throughout history, despite their cultural differences. Through Rasa of Pathos or Karuna Rasa, Keats and Ghalib’s poetry expresses a transcultural, transnational universalism across ethnic, linguistic, and historical boundaries.
Downloads
References
___________(2009). How to Read World Literature. UK: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
“Comparative Critical Studies” 3.1-2. pp 99-112.
Arnold, M. (1857). On the modern element in literature. In M. Arnold (Ed.), Essays in criticism: First series (pp. 270-291): Macmillan and Co.
Bharata Muni. (2002). The Natyashastra. (M. Ghosh, Trans.). India: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.
Bose, B. (1965). Comparative literature in India: An overview of its history. In B. Bose (Ed.), Comparative literature (pp. 1-26). Germany: Papyrus.
Burke, E. (1757) A philosophical enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful. London: R. and J. Dodsley. Print.
Chaudhuri, R. (2021). Viśvasāhitya: Rabindranath Tagore’s Idea of World Literature. In D. Ganguly (Ed.), The Cambridge History of World Literature (pp. 261-278). England: Cambridge University Press.
Colvin, S. (1917). John Keats: His life and poetry, his friends, critics, and after-fame. Newyork: Macmillan and Co.
Damrosch, D. (2006). Rebirth of a discipline: The global origin of comparative literature.
Hassan, Z. (2018). John Keats & Mirza Ghalib: A Comparative Study as Poets. New Dehli: ABD Publishers. Print.
Hussain, Y. (1977). Trans.; Urdu Ghazals of Ghalib. New Dehli: Ghalib Institute, pp-168-169.
Kapoor, K. (1998). Literary Theory: Indian Conceptual Framework. New Delhi: EWP.Print.
Keats, J. (1946). Selection from Keats: Sonnets, odes and narrative poems. (L.C. Martin, Ed.). Ginn and Company Ltd. Publishers.
Raza, G.K. (1988). Ed.,Diwane-e-Ghalib Kail: Tarikhitartib se.Bombay: Sakar Publishers.
Retrieved from: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-wordsworth [Accessed 28 July 2023].
Roy, V. K. (2010). Aesthetics of John Keats: An Indian Approach. New Delhi: Adhyayan
Watroba, K. (2018). World literature and literary value: Is global the new lowbrow?:Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry, 5(1), 53-68.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Mehwish Aslam, Dr. Kaneez Fatima Syeda, Prof. Dr. Mubashar Nadeem, Dr. Nida Masroor (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
