Manazar Hussain Qureshi

M.A English,Tesol(U.K)
City Postgraduate College
For Women Jhelum.

20. Say this City has Ten “Million

Souls.

Q.No.1.What is the theme of the poem?

Ans.In this poem the poet has described the agonized and
miserable plight of those immigrants who have been forced to
leave their native country because of the political upheavals and
stresses the need of having international human society. If we look
around the globe, such atrocities are taking place in many parts of
the world and millions of refugees are leading a miserable life in
many parts of the world. The poet has satirized the behavior of the
people and the government of those countries where these refugees
take shelter. They take the refugees burden. The poet satires the
modern man whose life is so complex with tall and grand
buildings, rules and laws of social life. It is quite ironical that
facilities enjoyed even by cats and dogs are denied refuges. The
basic theme of the poem is that all human beings should be
allowed their basic rights and no one should be forced to leave the
country. Refugees should not be hated but they should be allowed
to settle down (at least temporarily) and passport or entrance rules
should be relaxed in some cases. The theme of the poem is also the
imposition of cheeks and restraints on the free life of man in
developed human societies. Barriers have been erected between
countries and societies stopping the people from one country to
visit another country. The poem is also a satire on the politicians

who create diverse social problems through wrong and selfish

polices.

Q.No.2. The poet has used several numerical images as will as

some urban images. What effect do there create?

Ans. The poet has used several numerical as well as urban images.
At the start we are presented with a city with ten million should.
Then there is another urban imagery that some are living in
mansion and some are living in holes. There is no doubt due to
huge number of people, most of the them live in small dark houses
which may be called “Atlas” can also be an urban image because
in an Atlas, most of the countries and big cities are given. Then we
have “one year tree” in “one” village Church yard. Old passport
without new numbers might also be a numerical image. The
committee and the public meeting are also the image of “a few
persons, and large number of persons respectively. The bombers or
fighters in the sky must be a few. The birds must be many.
Similarly, fish swimming freely just “ten feet” away is another
mage. The big buildings with a thousand floors, a thousand doors
are also numerical images. Similarly, ten thousand soldiers
marching to and fro to seek the Jews to deport them is another
interesting image. These images serve the purpose of definite stress
on certain ideas and make the poem forceful. Then, we also
observe urban images such as huge population, passport offices,
consuls, committee’s public meetings, multi storied buildings
which are usually situated in the big cities.