The Interrelationship of Love, Separation, and Existential Consciousness in the Selected Poems of Sudhindranath Datta: A Critical Re-reading in a Modernist Context

Abstract

In the poetry of Sudhindranath Dutta, the interrelationship between love, separation, and existential consciousness holds a distinctive significance within the framework of Bengali modernist literature. This paper examines these three interconnected experiences through a modernist lens, with particular focus on the poems Shashwati and Orchestra. The primary objective of the study is to explore how personal experiences of love transform through separation into a deeper sense of existential awareness, thereby reflecting the psychological crises of modern individuals. In Shashwati, love emerges as an eternal and elusive experience, articulated not through direct expression but through memory, symbolism, and suggestion. Here, separation does not diminish love; rather, it renders it more enduring and aesthetically profound. Through the reconstruction of memory, love transforms into an absent yet powerful presence, leading the poet into deeper layers of existential realization. Thus, love and separation function as sources of existential consciousness in this poem.In contrast, Orchestra presents this relationship in a more complex and multi-dimensional manner. Love here transcends personal emotion and becomes part of a broader philosophical understanding of life. The experience of separation evolves beyond individual suffering into a symbol of universal emptiness and alienation. The uncertainties, despair, and sense of meaninglessness characteristic of modern life are strongly reflected in the poem. Consequently, love is not portrayed as a promise of fulfillment but as a persistent sense of incompleteness, intensifying the crisis of existence. A comparative reading of the two poems reveals that Sudhindranath Dutta conceives love as a dialectical experience, where union and separation, presence and absence, hope and despair operate simultaneously. This inherent tension gives rise to existential consciousness in his poetry. Within the modernist context, such an experience is particularly significant, as it reflects the fragmentation and self-searching tendencies of the individual psyche. Therefore, through an analysis of Shashwati and Orchestra, this paper demonstrates that love, separation, and existential consciousness form an inseparable triadic relationship in Sudhindranath Dutta’s poetry, enriching both the philosophical depth and aesthetic dimension of Bengali modernist verse.