Critically analyse the poem ‘Enterprise’. What are the religious implications in the poem?
The poem is also a rewriting of the ancient Biblical story of the Exodus. In this poem, too, the journey is to a promised land across deserts, but after all the travails and hardships, isn’t all that fulfilling at the end. Indeed, a question mark is placed on the very value of such ventures. The poet concludes: “Home is where we have to earn our grace.” This longer line has a lot of narrative weight in it, coming as it does at the very conclusion of the poem. The attitude that the poet encourages, then, may be called “stay at home “-remain where you are and all things will come to you. No need to embark upon ambitious enterprises. So the poem also criticises all those who, like the great imperialists and colonialists, sought their fortunes upon distant shores. Or else, this is an interrogation of all grand narratives with their false promises.
Like other modem poems, there is a certain lack of clarity regarding the “plot” of the poem. Who are these people? Where are they going? What is their goal? Such questions are not answered precisely but enough information is provided to give us a sense of what they are about. It would be a good idea to make a careful inventory of all the information that is offered in the poem. How is this information continued? What sort of gaps exist? How do these gaps enhance the richness of the text? As a modem poem, “Enterprise” offers rich dividends to the sort of close reading that New Critics recommend.
