Taufiq Rafat

Taufiq Rafat (25 October 1927 – 2 August 1998), was a Pakistani author and poet. His work influenced other Pakistani poets and he is credited with the introduction of the concept of a "Pakistani idiom" in English literature.

Rafat conducted poetry workshops, which influenced many younger poets.

After surviving a stroke in 1984, he wrote no more.He died fourteen years later in 1998 at the age of 71 in Lahore.

Examples of Poems written by him

''Children Understand Him''

Here the poet realizes the life of Old Man. A young grandfather of three grandchildren(2 sons, 1 daughter) of his son. The metaphor here is used 'Otherwise he is a Dry Stream Bed' which means once his(old man/grandfather) life ran like a river or stream and now it is dry. It means when he was young, he used to live like other young man. Further is written 'Living on Memories' which means He is now living on memories. And further it is written that 'And the hospitality Now given, revoked Of his sons and daughters' which means when the guest arrive, he(old man/grandfather) sent to his room because of many causes such as because he may bore new guests on stories of his life and wherever he will go, children will follow him. Further, here is 'From man-roar, and friendly' which means They(grandchildren) give friendly punches on his(grandfather)'s chest. 'And damp kisses on scrubbed cheeks, They sail to the harbour of his knees' which means that he(old man) gives damp kisses to their grandchildren, ever that are dirty. And grandchildren feel safe on his(old man) knees.

Works

In 2016, his translation of the classical Punjabi poet Bulleh Shah was published by Oxford University Press.

References

Poems

Arrival of the Monsoon only s

External links

Taufiq Rafat was perhaps greatest and most ignored English language poet of Pakistan

An unsung poet remembered – thenews.com.pk

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafat, Taufiq
1927 births
1998 deaths
Pakistani male poets
English-language poets from Pakistan
20th-century Pakistani poets
20th-century male writers