ECOLOGIAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN JOHN KEATS AND RAGHUNATH CHOUDHARY: A COMPRATIVE STUDY

Abstract

Ecological crisis now needs a way to preserve nature and save it from the selfish purposes of human society. Since nature’s autonomous existence is denied, it leads to the bio-centric inequality in the world. For many years the earth has been facing so many ecological problems for the degradation of nature.  In Assamese poet Raghunath Choudhary’s nature poems, the ecological consciousness has been found. He is known as the “Bihogi Kobi” (The poet of birds) in Assamese literature. His noted works like Keteki, Xadori, Kaarbala are famous for nature poems. In Assamese literature, Choudhary brings a wave among the readers about eco-love and ecological consciousness through his poems. The same sense is found in famous English poet John Keats also. Like Raghunath Choudhary, John Keats also minutely observes the melodious music of birds, the divine scene and highlights the eco-centric beauty of nature. Through his famous works Ode to Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn Keats shows the personification of nature as well as identification with nature.  The romantic poets have explored the love of nature and glorified nature as opposed to materialistic and selfish approach of human civilization. Especially the nature poets seem to be worried about the ecological degradation and extinction of many creatures on the earth. Further, they find that natural beauty provides peace, harmony and spirit to human beings. This paper tries to explore inherent beauty and own identity of natural creatures as well as to show the ecological consciousness in poet John Keats and Raghunath Choudhary. The aim of this paper is also to seek an alternative of human anthropocentric approach.