For example, Lalon’s works have received some attention for their use of instrumentation. As one of Lalon’s more popular songs says,
“How does the strange bird
Fly in and out of the cage?”
Imagination associates the human soul with a strange bird and the body with a cage. Not the most experimental of metaphors, perhaps, but this sensibility is regularly present in Bengali poetry.
However, the most important use of the device is its fluent use in the poems of Jivanananda Das. In contrast to the often harsh comparisons of Western poetry, Das’s words make even the harshest conceit sound natural. His gift for the poetic turn of phrase hides his arresting comparisons. Take the following lines:
“When, like those dead deer, the love in my heart
lying covered in blood and dust”
In his native Bengali, the lines have such a strong flow and accent, the disparity in theme between a dead deer and a lost love goes unnoticed. It is this ease that makes his poetry a pleasure to read. In contrast Marvel’s use of such conceits feels more mechanical. The reader must pause and consider the relationship between love and vegetables to fully get the meaning and feeling. It comes naturally in Das’s poetry.
However, metaphysical conceit is not simply the juxtaposition of two unrelated objects for an unorthodox metaphor. Spiritual conceit also highlights a central concept or theme of the poem.
Consider “One Day, Eight Years Ago,” one of Das’s most popular poems. The 21st line reads:
“Silence, like a camel’s neck”.
The simile is quite unusual, which gives us an indication of its symbolic nature. The meaning of the phrase compliments the thematic idea of the poem. Popular opinion argues, as Sumita Chakraborty states in Kabitar Antaranga Path, that the camel’s neck represents the desolation of the desert. The desolation fits the theme of the poem – the silence of the dead.