a summary of ‘subh-e-azadi’ and ‘yahan se sheher ko dekho’ by Faiz

A summary I did of Faiz’s poems , ‘Subh-e- Azadi’ and ‘Yahan se shehar ko dekho’

The poet writes this work on the eve of Indian independence, with a sense of melancholy about the fruits of labour, he verifies that this is not the independence that was sought after. The poem begins on a dark note with disillusionment, the bittersweet nature of the triumph. It goes on to describe the single mindedness with which the voyages of this journey resisted the temptations of fancy., and when dawn finally appeared, when the storm clouds cleared then came a sense of clarity between the struggle and the goal. The poet then goes on to describe that the comrades are changing, how in which gratification is sought more than angst, and the pain of partition does not weigh on their apparent disposition. The fine breeze of dawn has just passed by and the wayside lamp barely noticed. The gravity of night has not lightened, and the time for redemption has not yet arrived, so the poet urges his comrades and compatriots to keep walking, for that destination is not in sight.

Yahan se shehar ko dekho

In this poem the poet is writing as a response to the 1965 roits in Karachi. In the dismal picture that he paints , the city looks like a maze with exit, like a prison , with no freedom and where repression reigns. The city he describes is one with a faceless crowd where no one is allowed to grow, where every man is a potential victim and every women a slave. He describes the lazy anarchy of the morning as a thankless hopeless circular prison walk.