Attipat Krishnaswami Ramanujan (1929-1993) was an eminent scholar of Indian literature who enriched literature in English and Kannada languages. Ramanujan performed multiple roles as an Indian poet, scholar and author, philologist, folklorist, and even playwright. This paper is on cohesive and compressive use of symbols in the poems of A K Ramanujan. His works are a blend of numerous literary articulations. Symbolism was one of them, in which he was a master. His poems are apposite symbolic representation of numerous themes. The works of Ramanujan are extensive, and this paper focuses on a few of his poems—“Obituary”, “A River”, “Epitaph on a Street Dog”, “Love Poem for a Wife”, “Of Mothers Among Other Things”, “Still Another View of Grace” and “Take Care”.

The perfect application of symbols in Ramanujan’s poetry invariably results in a forceful, meaningful, utterance. His poems symbolically reveal the detailed physiognomy of an object or situation. This literary device helps him to communicate his expressions effectively—the sole end of all good poetry. In my presentation, I wish to present all this in detail in the poems mentioned. The word symbol derives from the Greek verb symballein, which means to ‘mark’, or ‘sign’. The purpose of this literary device is to animate the concept that the poet wants to put forward. The cross, for example, is a symbol of suffering. A sunrise is a symbol of new beginning; winter represents aging, decay, and death; spring is often used to represent energy, birth, and hope; summer is symbolic of childhood, fun, and laughter; autumn stands for maturity, wisdom, and fulfillment.

English Studies Journal, Attipat, Krishnaswami Ramanujan, eminent, scholar, Indian literature, enriched, literature, en English, Kannada languages.