Stammer By K. Satchidanandan Summary and Analysis

Stammer is a short poem written by Koyamparambath Satchidanandan. This Poem says that Stammer is not an imperfection; it is natural and can occur for various reasons. You can also view other aspects of the Poem where the poet does not use any rhyme scheme in writing paragraphs. From this, this Poem is written in freestyle and simple language. Also, we can see that the Poem's statements are not regular. This means some statements are ending in between the line, and some are starting from the beginning of the line. This literary device used here is called Enjambment. Enjambment is used where the continuation of a phrase or clause takes place between the line. The Poem containing Enjambment does not necessarily have all lines starting from the beginning.

Summary

STAMMER
A stammer is no handicap.
It is a mode of speech.

A stammer is the silence that falls
between the word and its meaning,
just as lameness is the
silence that falls between
the word and the deed.

Explanation: In the first stanza, the poet starts the Poem by explaining the meaning of Stammer. He defined the Stammer as a non-Handicap. He says some people feel it is a disability, but Stammer is not an imperfection. It is just a way of speaking. The poet defines Stammer as silence between the word and its meaning. Here you can understand that somebody speaking stops speaking, and the other person who understands will have various other understandings. You cannot judge a person as handicapped if he is stammering; the stammering can be due to nervousness or not grasping his language well. The poet compares the Stammer with the lameness between talking and working.

Did the Stammer precede language
or succeed it?
Is it only a dialect or a
language itself? These questions
make linguists stammer.

Explanation: In the second stanza, the poet has several doubts. Firstly, he asks whether the Stammer comes first of the language or it comes after it. This means he asks if a person will stammer first and then speak his language or first speak his language and then Stammer. Secondly, he asks if Stammer is a dialect (derived from the original language) or if it is a language. Whether Stammer is a deviation from the language, a part of it, or a complete language, all these questions asked by the poet made the linguist stammer as it cannot comprehend their answer.

Each time we stammer
we are offering a sacrifice
to the God of Meanings.

Explanation: The poet has an imaginary god here. He says that each time we stammer or do not speak a single word, we are doing a favor and offering a sacrifice to the God of meanings. The meaning that is the words, the language is being described here as the God as it is like a blessing for all of us. Without language, we cannot communicate or share our emotions or feelings with someone we like. In this way, the language (meaning) is described as God. And we respect God whenever we do not speak; a true prayer can be done in silence without speaking. We make a sacrifice each time we do not speak a word.

When a whole people stammer
stammer becomes their mother tongue:
as it is with us now.

Explanation: In this stanza, the poet says that very few people stammer. Compared to the people who speak very well, there are always fewer people who stammer. He is talking about an imaginary scenario where most people stammer. In this scenario, Stammer can be their mother tongue. Because most follow the trend, people think it is right and start following it. The word Stammer has been repeated in different lines. The literary device used here is Anaphora. And if the word is repeated in the same line, then the literacy device would be repetition only. Repetition is also used here as the word stammer is repeated several times in the Poem.

God, too, must have stammered
when He created Man.
That is why all the words of man
carry different meanings.
That is why everything he utters
from his prayers to his commands
stammers,
like poetry.

Explanation: The poet compares human life with God's in this stanza. He says that God also must have stammered while creating his beautiful creature - man. He says this because different words spoken by humans have different meanings. The meaning of a word alters by altering the place. It depends on the place it is being used. For example, no dictionary says that dog is a bad word and it means something negative. Despite this, people used the word "dog" as abusive. The same case is with several other words. In the following line, the poet talks about what man does. Whatever a man does, from prayers to commands. This means prayers, he is asking for something, and he commands he is giving orders or commands to somebody. So, even when he is praying and even when he is commanding, everything has different meanings. When God created man, he stammered; that is why each word of man has a different meaning. Like poetry, when a person reads this Poem, he stammers in between means he must stop at various points and lines to go deeper into what is written and find its meaning.

Literary Devices Used in the Poem

1. Simile: "Just a lameness is the silence," "whole people stammer becomes their mother tongue: as it is with us now," "he utters from his prayers to his commands stammers like poetry." The words "as" and "like" signify that the literary device used is a simile. A simile is nothing but comparison.
2. Repetition: The word stammer is repeated several times in the Poem.
3. Metaphor: The word stammer is a metaphor that refers to the imperfection we have on the earth, and it is this imperfection that makes us exist. Metaphor is also comparison. But simile represents the comparison of two unlike things, and metaphor compares one thing with something that points out another.

The Theme of the Poem

In this Poem, the poet tries to enlighten the reader about how imperfections can affect their life and their relation with different phases of life from birth to old age. He also talked about how the literature is affected by this Stammer. The Stammer is confined to any other language or facet of life and is concerned with the mother tongue. So, this is what he talks about in this Poem. Through this Poem, the poet has explained several meanings of Stammer. He has used every example to prove that Stammer is not an imperfection.

About the Poet

Koyamparambath Satchidanandan was an Indian poet who used to write in Malayalam and English. He is the pioneer of modern poetry in Malayalam. He has played many societal roles, including a bilingual literacy critic, playwriter, editor, columnist, and translator. He has been honored with many Sahitya Akademi and several other awards.

Conclusion

This Poem presents an interesting perspective on stammering, suggesting that it is not a handicap but a mode of speech with importance and significance. It is the void of the silence that exists between words and their meanings, as well as the silence that exists between words and actions in the case of lameness. Through this Poem, the poet has explained several meanings of Stammer.

He has used many examples to prove that Stammer is not an imperfection. The Poem asks questions about the nature of stammering. It asks whether stammering preceded or succeeded language and whether it is merely a dialect or a language. These questions are said to perplex linguists highlighting the complexity of understanding stammering. Also, the passage suggests that each time someone stammers, it is like offering a sacrifice to the "God of Meanings." This implies that stammering adds depth and richness to communication, as if it has a deep connection to the essence of language. The Poem proposes that when an entire population stammers, it becomes their mother tongue, suggesting that stammering can shape and define a culture's expression. The majority rules the country. The passage concludes by suggesting that even God may have stammered when creating humans, leading to the variations of meanings in human language. It says that everything uttered by humans, from prayers to commands, carries a sense of stammering akin to the artistry found in poetry. This passage presents an artistic and philosophical perspective on stammering, emphasizing its significance and questioning its relationship to language and communication.