The Marriage of Dynamic Thought and Aesthetic Sensibility: A Study of Urdu’s Shakespeare, Mirza Ghalib

Abstract

The present paper is an attempt to give credit to Ghalib as the one who not only popularised the genre of Ghazal but also increased it canvas tremendously. This paper also delineates Ghalib as the last representative of Mughal’s cultural and aesthetic accomplishments. Further  it has been shown how Ghalib though being a genius, always showed thirst for knowledge in all forms. As a result his poetry warrants a full and elaborate appreciation by our modern generation. This paper aspires to show how his poetry appeals to the modern man via his peculiar symbols and imagery. Attempt is made to show how his poetry uniquely integrates ideas and expression in a subtle manner, fusing sensation and emotion resulting in a  poetry where ideas become feeling. The paper strives to show how uniquely Ghalib penetrates the depths of the objects of beauty as well as the depths of his own conscious, thus triggering the spiritual sense which is the greatest of poetic credits.