This essay analyzes Mohan Singh's Punjabi poem "Evening" (translated by Balwant Gargi), focusing on how the poet employs symbolism, diction, and imagery to convey the mystery of erotic love. The paper examines the two central figures — the masculine horse and the feminine Evening — and traces how sexual symbolism, color imagery, and carefully chosen diction work together to portray erotic union as a reconciliation of opposites: wildness and tameness, day and night, light and darkness. The essay also explores the gender binary Singh constructs and the irony embedded in it, noting that while the poem reflects patriarchal social structures, it ultimately empowers the female figure as the sole force capable of taming unbridled masculine energy.
In "Evening," Mohan Singh celebrates the mystery of erotic love. Singh communicates the themes of life and love using symbolism, diction, and imagery. There are two central figures in "Evening": Evening and the horse. Evening carries a female connotation, while the horse carries a male connotation — the horse is described with masculine pronouns such as "his," whereas Evening is described with feminine pronouns such as "her."
Singh uses sexual symbolism to explore the mysteries of erotic love as the union of male and female. Sexual imagery pervades the poem. The first line introduces the horse as "panting" as he "reaches the shores of evening." This imagery suggests the heavy breathing that occurs during sex, while the "shores of evening" symbolize the woman's moist sexuality. Imagery related to moistness continues as the horse "throws red foam from his mouth" and "his vermillion mane" is "wet with perspiration."
The color red, which also symbolizes eroticism, permeates the first stanza of "Evening" and is especially associated with the horse's virility and wild masculinity — qualities that Evening ultimately tames. This color symbolism reinforces the poem's central erotic theme from its opening lines.
Diction plays an important role in conveying the theme of erotic love. In the second stanza, the word "pricked" alludes to the male sexual organ. The word "comes" opens the second stanza: "The mellow-colored Evening comes / And places her hand between his pricked ears." Evening's act of placing "her hand between his pricked ears" is a sensual display of love and affection, followed by further phallic imagery: "her long fingers" that "feel the hot breath from his nostrils / And take the bridle from his mouth."
Imagery suggests that erotic union is a process whereby wild, untamed sexual energy is subdued and perfected. Singh further suggests a gender binary in which the male is associated with unbridled sexual passion, whereas the female is associated with gentleness and civilization. Evening's gentle touch tames "the restive animal," and she is able to ride the wild horse into the "stable of darkness." Her touch is essential for taming the animal.
"Explores male wildness versus female gentleness"
"Unpacks irony in social versus erotic power"
The sound and sense of Mohan Singh's poem demonstrate that symbolism and imagery effectively convey the theme of erotic love. Rhythm and repetition are also literary devices that might allow Singh to convey the central themes of the poem. However, the original poem was written in Punjabi and translated by Balwant Gargi, and it is not possible to detect the original rhythm of the poem in translation. In its translated form, the poem is written in free verse with no rhyme scheme. Singh relies on deft diction, powerful imagery, and sexual symbolism to convey the central theme that erotic union is a glorious mystery of life.
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