Summary and Analysis of the Enterprise by Nissim Ezekiel

Nissim Ezekiel is one of the prolific Indian writers in English of the 20th century. He was
playwright, editor, critic and poet. He was awarded the Sahitya kademi ward for his !oetry
collection, "#atter$%ay !salms. He was also awarded the !adma Shree &y the 'o(ernment
of India in )*++. He is often called the ,-ather of .odern Indian English !oetry./ Ezekiel0s
poetry has different themes and styles. His poems are a depiction of his craftsmanship,
restraint and intellectual approach to e(eryday life.
How many of you ha(e read 1.S Eliot0s "1he 2ourney of the .agi30 4hile reading Enterprise,
one may think of Eliot0s "1he 2ourney of the .agi.0 1hough that poem is different in approach
&ut it is also a&out a (ery cold and tiring 5ourney &y three wise men in search of spiritual
pacification. Enterprise is one of those wonderful poems pu&lished in Ezekiel0s collection of
poems named "1he 6nfinished .an.0 It re(ol(es around a metaphorical 5ourney of man on
this earth followed &y hardships and failures which man is su&5ected to &y the (ery nature of
the earthly life that he leads.
Summarization7
Stanza7)
1he poem, Enterprise, &egins with a group of people which includes the poet himself 8as it is
clear from the use of "we0 in the si9th line: 5ourneys to a holy place. t that time, their minds
were full of ideas to reach their destination. 1herefore, they started their 5ourney with a lot of
(igour and e9citement, sure enough that they can easily o(ercome all the difficulties that
they face. Incon(eniences seemed insignificant to them. Howe(er, our real strength emerges
when we face a crisis, isn0t it3 Similarly, the tra(ellers were full of enthusiasm and reached
the second stage of their 5ourney. %uring this second stage, they confronted the ad(erse
natural difficulties, sym&olizing the &lazing Sun. ;ut nothing could detain them from reaching
their destination or take away their enthusiasm. 1heir passion to reach their destination was
as hot as the &lazing Sun a&o(e their heads. 1he heat of the sun is sym&olic of .other
Nature &eing hostile towards human am&itions. 1he more the human &eings aspire, the
more the nature tries to put up a hindrance to &eat them down.
Stanza 27
1he group of the tra(ellers continues their 5ourney, e9periencing the difficulties put in their
way. <arried away &y the unrestrained e9citement, the pilgrims kept a record of the e(ents
that they witnessed$ goods &eing &ought and sold &y the peasants and the ways of serpents
and goats. 1he tra(ellers passed through three cities where a sage has taught. ;ut they
were unconcerned a&out what e taught or what his message was.
Stanza =7
1he third stanza talks a&out the differences that cropped up among the mem&ers which
made a hole in their unity as they continued their 5ourney. s they reached a desert,
differences arose among on the >uestion of how to cross the challenging landscape. ?ne of
the mem&ers, an e9cellent prose writer, left the enterprise. He was considered the most
intelligent among the lot. 1herefore, a shadow of discord fell onto their enterprise and
continued to grow as one of the mem&ers parted from the group.
Stanza @7
1he poet descri&es the hindrances that follow the enterprise. In the ne9t stage of their
5ourney, the tra(ellers are attacked twice and while sa(ing themsel(es they lose their ways
and forget the no&le am&itions which had moti(ated them to come so far. 1he enterprise
slowly &reaks into two. Some of the mem&ers, claiming their freedom, >uit the 5ourney and
went their own ways. 1he poet feels helpless and upset at the &reaking of the enterprise,
looking at the disorganized lot of pilgrims, the only thing he could do was to pray. nd why
do you think we pray3 1he answer is that the act of praying implies seeking the help of a
di(ine personality when human efforts go in (ain.
Stanza A7
1here is still an assurance from the leader of the group. He assures them that the sea or the
destination was at hand. It seems that they mem&ers ha(e lost their enthusiasm and hope
as they see nothing noticea&le as they mo(e forward. 1he pilgrims ha(e now turned into a
crowd of aimless wanderers instead of &eing &ounded &y a well$focused goal like &efore.
1hey were not &othered a&out the roar of the thunderB some of them were too e9hausted to
stand erect.
Stanza C7
1he final stanza of Enterprise is a relief to the readers, as the poet tells us that they did
reach their destination in total disorder$ e9hausted and frustrated$ and without any sense of
satisfaction. Instead of &ringing a sense of fulfilment and achie(ement, the 5ourney had only
&rought them frustration. 1hey now started to dou&t the importance of their 5ourneyB they
&egan to find it futile and meaningless. 1hey found nothing heroic in their achie(ements.
1hey had a &elief that their 5ourney would &e unparalleled and that its success would gi(e
them a place in history. So was it disillusionment3 1hey later realized that such a 5ourney
was already undertaken &y others &efore them and would &e repeated in the near futile. 1his
ga(e them a sense of disillusionment and they felt the 5ourney was futile. In the end, they
feel that staying &ack home would ha(e &een &etter than (enturing out on such a dangerous
5ourney with disastrous conse>uences.
1here might &e a >uestion that may come to our minds. 1hat was the 5ourney really a fruitful
one or was it as the mem&ers think, meaningless3 4hat are your (iews3
-or a &etter understanding of the poem, the critical appreciation is discussed &elow.
<ritical ppreciation of the Enterprise7D
-orm and Structure7
1he poem "Enterprise0 is written in a con(entional form. 1he poem consists of si9 stanzas,
each ha(ing fi(e lines. 1he pattern is iam&ic tetrameter, with rhyming scheme a&a&a that is
the first line rhymes with the third and fifth, while the second rhymes with the fourth.
6se of Eer&al ntithesis7
1he poem has used (er&al antithesis to achie(e a &alance. ntithesis is a contrast or
opposition in the meanings of contiguous phrases, lines or stanzas. In this poem, (er&al
antithesis is not only found in the entire poem &ut in the same stanza and in the same lines.
Some of the e9amples are listed &elow7
F1he initial acti(ities of the pilgrims are 5u9taposed with those in the final stage as the
pilgrims turn into "a straggling crowd of little hope.0
F1he "e9alted minds0 of the pilgrims are turned into "darkened faces.0
Fin the &eginning the pilgrims found themsel(es as the "&urdens light0 &ut at the end of the
poem they are &roken in spirit and &ent down physically.
Sym&olism7
"Enterprise0 is a sym&olic poem. Sym&olism refers to the use of sym&ols to represent ideas
or facts. 1he (arious sym&ols used in Enterprise are listed &elow7
F!ilgrimage in the poem sym&olizes life.
F1he "crowd of pilgrims0 sym&olizes a group of men, who undertake to achie(e common goal
which &egins with e9citement and hope &ut ends with disillusionment and frustration.
F1he "Sun0 is the sym&ol of hostility of nature towards human aspirations and am&itions.
F "desert patch0 is sym&olic of the challenges and hardships which the group faces or the
differences that rise among them.
F " shadow falls on us and grows0 is sym&olic of the differences in opinion that leads to a
discord in the enterprise and conse>uently, a mem&er lea(es the group and the disharmony
grows.
F " straggling crowd of little hope0 sym&olizes a group of people who had a well focused
goal and during the course of their 5ourney loses their zeal and &ecomes a crowd of aimless
and frustrated wanderers.
F "1hunder0 is sym&olic of man0s inner (oice.
F "Home0 sym&olizes remaining rooted to the soil or remaining true to oneself.
llegory7
llegory can &e interpreted to re(eal a hidden meaning. 1he poem "Enterprise0 is allegorical
in nature. 1he group of men all set for the 5ourney, enthusiastic and full of (igour set out for
the spiritual >uest. 1hey face hardships, difficulties yet they do not lose their aspirations. ;ut
during the second stage of their 5ourney, disharmony and differences in opinions among the
mem&ers arises and soon a conflict &reaks out which results in disunity. 1he final stanza
raises a >uestion, "4as the 5ourney worth all the struggles30 1he 5ourney here is a metaphor
of life. 1he poem is a stark depiction of the condition of men on this earth who are su&5ected
to such failures, hardships and disillusionment during their course of 5ourney of life.
Epigrammatic7
n epigram is a &rief, sharp, witty and polished saying gi(ing e9pression to a striking
thought. It is used to con(ey the poet0s message in the poem.
"Home is where we ha(e to gather grace0 is epigrammatic. Here, the poet wants to con(ey
the message that in the 5ourney of life, home is sym&olic of one0s inner self which must &e
accepted and faced and not shirked away. 1his is the only sane and &alanced way of life that
man should accept
<GI1I<# !!GE<I1I?N
"Enterprise0 is an allegory of human condition on this planet and of the fre>uent efforts,
failure and frustrations to which man is su&5ect &y the (ery nature of earthly life. 1he poet
descri&es a spiritual pilgrimage where each pilgrim faces difficulties and disillusionment
along the way. 1hus, in the "Enterprise0 a group of people undertake a 5ourney mo(ed &y
no&le aspirations, &ut it all ends in failures and frustrations as is usually the case with human
attempts at some no&le achie(ement. 1he pilgrimage &ecomes a weary trek, &y the time the
goal is reached. 1he goal is alluring &ut the process of reaching it empties the (ictory of its
glamour and glory. num&er of people, including the poet decide to go on a pilgrimage.
1hey are city dwellers and the 5ourney they undertake is to some romantic, primiti(e
hinterland. 1hey start with hope, courage and determination, with their minds full of no&le
ideas and ideals. 1hey are out to make some heroic effort, which will lead to some no&le
achie(ements. 1heir minds are e9alted and they are not afraid of any dangers and
difficulties. 1his stage of the 5ourney sym&olizes the stage of innocence that man en5oys in
his &oyhood and early youth, when he is entirely unconscious of the frustrations and failures
which life &rings at e(ery stage.
;ut this innocence is lost and in the ne9t stage of the 5ourney the pilgrims face dangers and
difficulties. 1hey continue on their onward 5ourney of e9ploration. 1he o&5ects and forces of
nature are out to frustrate human endea(our like the oppressi(e heat of the sun. 1he group
of tra(ellers is a&le to put up (ery well with the dangers and difficulties for sometime and
continue to 5ourney in hope. 1hey note down the goods &eing &ought and sold &y the
peasants and o&ser(e the ways of serpents and goats. 1hey pass through three cities where
a sage had taught, &ut does not care to find out what he had taught. ;ut soon there are
distractions and di(ersions. 1he difficulties and dangers posed &y man0s physical
en(ironment are not as damaging as those that result from his own insufficiency.
Soon there are differences of opinion among the tra(elers and they &egan to >uarrel o(er
petty matters. 1hey had to cross a piece of wasteland a "desert patch0, and they could not
agree as to the &est way of doing so. ?ne of their friends$rather proud of him stylish prose$
was so angry that he left their company. 1he shadow of discord fell on their enterprise, and it
has continued to grow. ;ickering o(er petty matters, needless >uarrels o(er trifles, hatred of,
and hostility to, those who hold different opinions, is ingrained in human nature, and thus
man carries the seeds of his failure and frustration within his own self. So do these pilgrims
who, despite their >uarrel, continue their onward 5ourney.
;ut none the less, they are di(ided into groups, each group attacking the other. Engrossed in
their >uarrel, they lose their ways and forget no&le aspirations which had moti(ated their
enterprise. 1heir goal and their purpose were forgotten and their idealism is all gone. Some
of them decide to lea(e the group. -rustration and difficulties o(erwhelm the human spirit
and many do not ha(e the courage to face the realities of life. 1hey seek relief in escape and
withdrawal. .any of us are such intro(erts. Some try to pray and seek %i(ine assistance and
&lessings, forgetting that 'od help those who help themsel(es. 1heir leader feels that he
smelt the sea and he feels that they ha(e reached a dead end, and must go &ack. 1heir
pilgrimage must end.
Still they persist, though their 5ourney has lost all its0 significance. 1hey are dirty and sha&&y
for they ha(e &een depri(ed of such common needs as soap, are &roken in spirit and &ent
down physically. Such is the ultimate end of all human enterprisesB this is the essential truth
of human life. &sor&ed in their pretty >uarrels and tried and e9hausted, frustrated and at
&ay, the tra(elers do not e(en hear the thunder and e(en if they do so, they ignore their
significance. 1he thunder is sym&olic of spiritual regeneration and fertility &ut they do not
care for it. 1he e9treme hopelessness of man at the end of life0s 5ourney is thus stressed.
1he pilgrims e(en come to dou&t the (ery worth and significance of the 5ourney. It seems to
them to ha(e &een meaningless and futile. ll their no&le aspirations are forgotten, there is
sorrow and suffering on e(ery face, and they are conscious of the fact that their actions ha(e
neither &een great nor e(en. Efforts to escape from the realities of human e9istence are
futile. 4e must accept the limitations of our lot and do our &est within those limitations.
Heroism means the acceptance of our lot in life and the doing of our &est in the ser(ice of
'od and humanity. 1herefore the poem concludes on a note of e9ultation and optimism
when the pilgrims realize that it is not &y undertaking long hazardous 5ourneys &ut &y doing
the right deeds that e(eryone can recei(e 'od0s grace.