Soliloquy of a Sailor (A Long Poem)

Soliloquy is a literary device: a word
etymologically used to refer to a monologue
delivered by a character while being
alone.Per Se, soliloquy tends to let us have
access to a character and his/her true inner
state-an insight into character’s intimate
thoughts,hopes,intentions and motives.It
springs from Latin roots.Sophocles used
soliloquy to depict protagonist’s state of
mind applied to a range of emotions. The
opening Speech in Christopher Marlowe’s
“Doctor Faustus”{1} is an early
example.Later Elizabethan writers used this
literary figure in abundance to enrich their
dramatic /poetic proficiency. Thenceforth,
soliloquy-poetry got accepted and grew
gradually in conventional traits to denote
the solo utterance. Modern/Post modern era
counts countless soliloquies written in
poetic-verse.While meta-modernism
inescapably represents soliloquy as
veritable characteristic of the
age.Instragram and YouTubers have
unarguably won and reached to more
readers than ever before.Michael
Donaghy{2} who died in 2004 has written
greatest monologues such as-“Conjure” and
“Black Ice and Rain”.In India soliloquypoetry has been attempted with profound
impact by poets such as-Vandana
Khanna,Sunu Chandy, Shikha
Malaviya,Menka Shivdasani,Anindita
Sengupta and a host of others.Among
present- day writers Manas Bhakshi has
carved irreplaceable eminence by writing
13th collection of poems-Soliloquy Of A
Sailor.It’s a long poem that appeared from
Author’s Press : New Delhi in 2020.{3}