In the poem “It was essential,” Ghalib is mourning the death of his nephew, Arif. He believed his nephew died too early for his age. Arif was very important to Ghalib, as he described him as “the full moon of [his] home”(Ghalib 598 Line 33). In this poem, Ghalib has a constantly reiterates “for a few more days,” essentially he is begging to spend a few more days with Arif. In the last line, Ghalib shows how important Arif really was to him, stating “It’s my destiny to wish for death for a few more days” (Ghalib 598 Line 58). Here, it seems as if Ghalib is begging to die to be with Arif, which shows his significance in Ghalib’s life.

In “Couplets,” Ghalib expresses deep anger towards his wife for being unfaithful: “I have hopes of faithfulness from her – she who doesn’t have a clue what faithfulness might be” (Ghalib 594 Line 7). He continues throughout the poem expressing that she “drove [him] mad,” with her infidelity.

In the text “Now go and live in a place,” Ghalib expresses sincere hatred for someone. Ghalib states “Now go live in a place where no one lives – no one who fathoms your verse, no one who shares your speech”(Ghalib 591 Line 1). Ghalib wants this person to be alone and to be isolated from the world. “Build yourself a house, as if without a wall or gate – no neighbor to keep you company, no watchman to keep you safe,” here, Ghalib wants this person to suffer without any company. In his last line Ghalib states “If you fall ill, no one to nurse you there – and if you die, no one to mourn you there” (Ghalib 591 Line 5). Ghalib makes it perfectly clear that he wants the person to be separated from humanity and to die alone without anyone by their side. The interesting part about this poem, is that Ghalib never gives a reason as to why he wants this person to suffer – nor, does Ghalib mention who is talking about. Throughtout the poem Ghalib addresses “you,” which is why it is unclear of who Ghalib is adressing in these poems and why Ghalib hates this person so much he wants this person to be disconnected from the world. After reading all of Ghalib’s poems included in this section, I realized a growing trend. In each poem Ghalib expressed his emotions towards problems that he was facing, which led me to believe that the poem “Now go live in a place,” was Ghalib’s solution to escaping from his problems – he was speaking about himself in this poem. By being severed from human contact, Ghalib wouldn’t have to worry about his wife’s infidelity or mourning the death of his nephew. Ghalib also states in this poem, “no watchmen to keep you safe,” here we see he wants to achieve his wish for death; which he wished for in the last line of the poem: “It is essential.” It’s applarent to me, that “Now go live in a place,” may have been written last in this collection of poems as a result of Ghalibs problems.