Poetry (Nazm): Appreciation, Theme and Poetic Devices
Nazm: appreciation, theme, devices
A nazm is a poem with a single controlling mazmoon (theme), even when it uses dialogue or description. BSEB questions ask you to state the markazi khayal, show how stanzas develop it, and identify sanaat (poetic devices). Learn the difference between behr (metre), rukn (foot), radif (repeated end-word) and qafiya (rhyme). In nazm, radif and qafiya may be absent; in ghazal they are structural.
Devices to name accurately
- Tashbeeh: explicit simile, e.g. 'moon-like face'.
- Istiara: metaphor; the comparison is implied.
- Majaz: figurative extension; kinaya: indirect allusion.
- Tajnees: wordplay with similar forms.
- Mubaligha: hyperbole; tazad: contrast.
- Husn-e-taalluq: apt connection between ideas.
Worked example
Line: 'Watan ki mitti se mohabbat hai, / Jise apna kaha, usi ki ulfat hai.' Question: identify the device and theme. Answer: the poem uses 'mitti' as a concrete symbol for watan; the theme is rooted patriotism, not abstract praise. Reasoning: 'mitti' is not a simile because there is no 'like'; it is a symbol/istiara. The second line defines love through belonging ('apna'), so the argument moves from object to obligation.
Traps
Do not label every comparison tashbeeh; check for 'like/as'. Do not treat a nazm as a ghazal with independent shers. Do not ignore the poet's address - 'tum' may be a lover, a nation, or God. If asked for behr, do not guess from the first line; scan the whole stanza.