Poetry
Nyanyi Sunyi
Not translated into English
Amir Hamzah · 1937
Synopsis
Twenty-four titled pieces and a quatrain, undated poems and lyrical prose, from "Padamu Jua", which opens the collection, to "Astana Rela", which closes it. The poet seeks God, knows himself small before him and yet protests against his omnipotence; silence becomes his answer to time, identity and love, and carnal love gradually turns into spiritual love, in a language nourished by old Malay, Javanese and Sufi mysticism.
Context
The collection appeared in November 1937 in Poedjangga Baroe, then in book form in 1938 from Poestaka Rakjat, and has often been reprinted since, notably by Dian Rakyat. It was born of a period of distress: the poet had just been forced to marry the daughter of the sultan who paid for his studies, while he loved a Javanese woman. Breaking for the most part with the traditional forms of the pantun and the syair, it sometimes borrows the European ballad. Together with Buah Rindu, it makes its author a forerunner of Indonesian Sufi poetry. No complete French or English translation has appeared.
Who it is for
For readers of mystical poetry, ready to enter a dense language in which human love turns towards God.
Prizes and reception
Chairil Anwar found it obscure, but also saw in it the emergence of a new style in the Indonesian language, with compact, sharp sentences.