DISCOVERING
DARING DEROZIO THE POET
Where would you
find the greatest Anglo-Indian poet
today? In the
old burying ground of Calcutta, on the
south side of
Park Street, amid obelisks, pyramids,
pillars and
tombs of various forms, at the western
extremity,”
next to the monument of Major Maling on
the south,”lies
the mortal remains of one of the highest
gifted and most
accomplished, Henry Louis Vivian
Derozio, a
poet, philosopher and thinker, who passed
away at the age
of 22. Derozio was an Anglo-Indian
(referred to as an Eurasian during his
lifetime) poet and
teacher who was
born in Calcutta on the 10th of
April,1809. He
was the son of Francis Derozio, a
Calcutta
merchant. Henry was educated at Drummond’s
Academy in
Dharmtala. He left school at 14 for
commercial
work, which he gave up after his father
died.
Derozio joined
his Uncle in Indigo planting at
Bhaugalpore. At
the age of sixteen in the varied work
and life of an
Indigo-planter at Bhaugulpore, under the
hospitable roof
of his Uncle Johnson and the kindly eye
of his mother’s
sister, the young Derozio for a time
found congenial
occupation.. From his Uncle’s
plantation at
Bhaugalpore, Derozio sent to Dr.John
Grant of the
Indian Gazette those poetical
contributions
which bear the signature of “Juvenis”.The
encouragement
given by Grant of “The India Gazette”
and his
appreciation of the poet’s merits,induced
Derozio to
collect his verses and publish them in a
separate
volume.Below is a stanza from the poem
“Happy
Meetings” written by Derozio with the
pseudonym of
“Juvenis”. This poem was published in
“The India
Gazette” of 15th March 1825.
“How keen the
pang, how sad the thought, How oft to
quiet
remembrance brought, When friend from friend is
forc’d to part
When distance separates the heart”….
In the year
1827, he came to Calcutta and the young
man of 17 saw
his first production through the press,
and almost
immediately found himself famous. Indigoplanting
and Bhaugalpore
became things of the past.
Henry Derozio
as Assistant editor of “The India
Gazette”,
Editor of “The Calcutta Magazine”,”The
Indian
Magazine”, “The Bengal Annual” and “The
Kaleidoscope”.
At the age of 18, Derozio published a
volume of poems
and obtained a teachership at the
Hindu College.
In March 1828,
Derozio was appointed
Master of
English Literature and History in the second
and third
classes of the Hindoo College. No teacher
ever taught
with greater zeal or enthusiasm, at the
Hindu College.
As Assistant-master in the senior
department of
the Hindoo College, Derozio adopted
teaching as a
profession and Literature as a sceptre, to
unleash his
creativity. He was very successful as a
teacher of
philosophy, but lost his appointment, though
the charges
against him, of propagating atheism and
encouraging
disobedience failed. Still he continued to
exercise great
influence over his former pupils, many of
whom became
distinguished men. Derozio contributed
to journalism
and he established a newspaper, The East
Indian”.
Dr.John Grant,David Hare,Meredith Parker
and
D.L.Richardson, all men of ability were the close
friends of
Derozio and admirers of his genius.
In 1827 Derozio
published several poems, below is a stanza
from the poem
“Ode-From the Persian of Half ‘Queez.
“Without thy
dreams, dear opium,
Without a
single hope I am,
Spicy scent,
delusive joy;
Chillum hither
lao, my boy!”
In 1828, Henry
Louis Vivian Derozio published his
second volume,
which was a reprint of the first, with
some additions,
notably “the Fakir of Jungheera”.
This book
raised the fame of Derozio as a poet to the
highest point
which his too brief life permitted him to
reach.
Below is a
stanza from the poem”Ode to the
Setting Moon”
published by Derozio in the Indian
Magazine,
Number 3, under the pseudonym of “East
Indian”.
”Flow sweet to
gaze,
how sweet to
think
That yonder
circle’s glowing rim,
Where souls are
flitting,
is the
brink
Of space-a sea
of twilight dim.”
On Saturday,
the 23rd of December 1831, at the age of
22, the great
scholar and thinker died of Cholera in
Calcutta. Henry
Derozio’s genius and high natural
abilities were
accompanied by that tenacity of purpose,
that steady
application to work and that determination
to make one’s
way, without which genius and ability are
merely marsh
lights to lure their possessors to
uselessness and
ruin. Derozio was diligent and active, he
was not a youth
who could sit down and eat the bread
of idleness;
nor had he any false fastidiousness, as to the
sphere in which
he could usefully exert his talents.
Henry Louis
Vivian Derozio is an immortal Anglo-
Indian poet, as
we still talk about him, write about him
and read his
brilliant poems, 170 years after his death.
All
Anglo-Indians worldwide should read Derozio’s
poems,
introduce them to their children, grand-children.
All Clubs
,Associations and organizations could
celebrate
Derozio’s Birth Anniversary on the 10th of
April 2002,
with poetry readings and discussions.. “To
India My Native
Land” by Henry L.V.Derozio is a
poem which is
imprinted in my memory for all time, as
it was part of
my syllabus at school.I had also recited the
poem at one of
the tributes organized for Derozio,
beside his
grave in the Park Street cemetary, a few years
ago.I do hope
that this article has done justice to the
memory of Henry
Louis Vivian Derozio, a poet and
teacher
extraordinary.
By
Warren Brown
(Editor’s note: This is an extract from Warren Brown’s book ‘The Secret Race’ which is available on Amazon.com)
Warren Brown is a British Author of Anglo-Indian origin, who grew up in Calcutta and now lives in London. He studied at St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta and completed his Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours in English. He is married and works as an Administrator. Warren is interested in Life Coaching, Copywriting, Affiliate Marketing, Internet Marketing, Advertising, Blogging, freelance creative writing, book publishing and ecommerce. He also publishes an e-newsletter, “Positive World”, to make life more positive and enriching in the 21st century.
Emails: warrenpeace21@yahoo.com
Website:< http://www.publishsuccess.com/>
Blog: http://warrenbrown.blogspot.com/