Speak Up

By

Faiz Ahmad Faiz

About the Poet:

Faiz Ahmad Faiz was born on 13 February 1911 in Kala Qader (Faiz Nagar), Sialkot. He is regarded as one of the most influential Urdu poets of the twentieth century. Faiz Ahmad Faiz added a new strain of loging in poems written during long imprisonment as a political dissident.

Modern Urdu poetry is incomplete without him. Faiz outside literature, has been described as "a man of wide experience" having been a teacher, an army officer, a journalist, a trade unionist and a broadcaster. He fought all his life for the rights of the poor. He was associated with literary movement 'Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'. His notable poetic works include Dast-e-Saba and Zindan Nama. His Nikkah was performed in one of the liberary rooms of Government College for Women, M.A. Road, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The present poem reveals his ideas of a classless siciety. Faiz was nominated twice for the Nobel Prize. He won the Lenin Peace Prize in 1962. Faiz left for heavenly abode in 20 November 1984.

About the poem:

The poem is the part of Faiz's poetry collection Naqsh-e-Faryadi, published in 1941. The poem is evocative of the final phase of the British Rule. 

Speak Up

Speak, your lips are not sealed

And your words are still your own

This upright body is yours:

Speak, while your soul is still your own.

Look there, in that smithy;

Its red oven, fierce flames,

The padlocks are already opening their mouths

And each fetter is skirting around

Speak up now, for time's running out.

Before your body and mind fade away,

Tell us, for truth is not yet dead.

Speak

Whatever you have to say!

Summary: 

The poem Speak up is an English translation of an Urdu poem “Bol” written by an eminent Urdu poet and a Noble nominee, “Faiz Ahmad Faiz” and translated from Urdu by Shiv K. Kumar. This poem has been taken from Faiz”s collection of poems “Naqsh-E- Faryadi”, published in 1941. In this poem, the poet intends to give voice to the oppressed and voiceless people. He addresses to his countrymen that they should stand against the tyranny and brutality of the Britishers. Actually, this poem is an evocation of the patriotic feelings of the countrymen of the poet. He wants to free his motherland from the clutches of the white oppressors and thus is using very emotional and zealous slogans to free themselves. So, the poet says to his countrymen to speak up because they have been bestowed with lips and the power of communication by Almighty God.

He wants them to speak because they possess a well-built body and a soul surviving in it, so they should utilize their energy to defy oppression. In the next stanza, the poet uses metaphors i.e. he compares the national struggle with smithy of a blacksmith. This smithy or forge is bearing such a high temperature that it can melt any metal. He feels that the rebels of this struggle have already ignited the revolution like the fierce flames of the smithy. It is because of this intense agitation and revolution of the rebels that chains and shackles of slavery are about to break or surrender before them. The only thing which is needed is the encouragement by joining the struggle. So, he requests his countrymen to join the struggle and raise their voice against the harassment because the time is limited. He wants them to be awakened before their death occurs. So he pleas to them to speak the truth before it is too late.

Stanza wise explanition of poem:

The poem is divided into three stanzas, of four lines each.

Speak, your lips are not sealed

And your words are still your own

This upright body is yours:

Speak, while your soul is still your own.

In this stanza the poet tries to motivate fellow counterymen speak as they are bestowed with the power expression supplemented by the muscluar body and the soul urging to speak for the sake of  humanity.

Look there, in that smithy;
Its red oven, fierce flames,
The padlocks are already opening their mouths
And each fetter is skirting around

In this stanza the poet used metaphors to express the situation of freedom struggle of the country. The smithy represents the freedom struggle going on. The red oven represents the heat generated by the freedom fighters and martyers by their sacrifices and the flames represent freedom slogans  arasing high from everywhere in the country. The padlocks and fettees symbolize the slavery soon going to end. The poet tries to encourage people to continue their struggle.

Speak up now, for time's running out.
Before your body and mind fade away,
Tell us, for truth is not yet dead.
Speak
Whatever you have to say!

The poet urges again his countrymen to speak up aganist injustice so as to become partners in freedom fight because time is running out. It is right time to act as they are getting old and loosing power of body and mind. The poet urges his countrymen to speak whatever they have to say as truth never dies.

(EXERCISE)

Glossary:

Word	Meaning
Sealed	Locked; closed
Upright	Straight; honest
Smithy	Aplace where things are made out of metal, especially iron or steel, by heating and hammering
Padlock	A small metal lock with a U- shaped bar
Fetter	A chain or shackle for the feet
Skirting	Avoidance; dodging; escaping

Thinking about the Poem

1. The poet provokes the readers to speak up. Why does he do so?
Answer: Because it is the high time that all the people join freedom struggle. It is time to speak aganist injustice because at this time they have power to speak.

2. The poet addresses the reader to come up with the truth. How does he do so?
Answer: The poet urges the readers (countrymen) to speak aganist injustice right now because truth always trumphs. He reminds countrymen about the reality of life therefor they must act before it is too late. 

3. How will the chains break?
Answer: The chains will break by speaking the truth.

4. Why does the poet urge the readers to speak up now?
Answer: The poet urges reader to speak up now because freedom struggle is at its peak and reader is still alive and free to speak.

5. Q. Do you think “Speak up” is an effort of the poet to give voice to the voiceless? How?
Answer: Yes, the poem speaks against the suppression. The poet says that the common man is too oppressed to speak up. The poet wants these people to hear the voice of their soul and speak up. They should realize that God has bestowed them with lips to speak.

Learning about the Literary Devices

Q. What are the metaphors used in the poem?
Ans. The metaphor is a figure of speech in which comparison is made between unlike things indirectly, categorizing them as identical. Various metaphors used in this poem are the oven, the flames, the padlock, and the fetter. These metaphors have been used to describe the struggle for India’s freedom in a symbolical manner and metaphors describe some aspects of our struggle for freedom in an imaginative manner. The oven and fierce flames are the metaphors that stand for the courage against the harsh oppression while padlocks and fetters are also used metaphorically to mean the chains in which Indian people had been shackled.

Q. What images does the poet draw from the blacksmith’s shop?
Ans. The Blacksmith’s shop stands for the situation the freedom- fighters have created for the liberty of their motherland. ‘The oven’ and ‘fierce flames’ stand for their courage. ‘The chains’ and ‘fetters’ are the epitomes of slavery which the poet is determined to break

Q. Read the original poem in Urdu and explain the paradox - ' Bol Ye Thoda Waqt Bahut Hai'.
Ans. The original poem is as under:

Paradox means a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded or true.

The line 'Bol Ye Thoda Waqt Bahut Hai' is translated as 'Speak up now, for time's running out'. In urdu the line reads as 'Ye Thoda Waqt Bahut Hai' that actually means this little time is enough to take action, whereas in translation we found the meaning that time is running out, we have to take action right now. Thus we have seen that the both lines have actually the same meaning yet are contradictory.