Aku Ini Binatang Jalang

Title : Aku Ini Binatang Jalang

Writer : Chairil Anwar

Year : 2004 (the last publishing)

Language : Indonesian

For those of you who are the fanatics of Indonesian literature, especially poetry, you must know Chairil Anwar. He was the pioneer of the modern Indonesian poetry who was and is well-known as the pioneer of the ’45 generation. He was not only a poet, he was also one of many people who struggled over the Holland’s colonization back in the 1940s. Therefore, some of his poems concerned with the struggle for independency. Some others heavily dealt with his love life as a playboy having many relationships with many women.

Chairil Anwar barely wrote his poems in order. He allegedly wrote them in pieces. So, the publisher that put a lot of attention to his works of art considered gathering all of his poems into one book, and here it is: the book of Chairil Anwar’s poems collection entitled “Aku Ini Binatang Jalang”, taken from one of his famous quotes.

Many of you may be familiar with the poem entitled Aku, or Diponegoro, but personally, I’d rather have Pemberian Tahu as my favorite one. I really love the first two lines of the first stanza:

“Bukan maksudku mau berbagi nasib,

nasib adalah kesunyian masing-masing.”

or, in English, it can be translated:

“It’s not that I want to share my destiny,

since destiny is anyone’s own loneliness.”

Among many beautiful words and sentences produced by Anwar, I like this one most:

“Cinta adalah bahaya yang lekas jadi pudar.”

in English, it would be:

“Love is a danger easy to disappear.”

Well, all those translation were made by me myself, with some considerations in translating text. However, I still consider, whether it is in English or in Indonesian, Anwar’s poems are and will be the best in Indonesian poetry history. This book really has inspired me in some ways that sometimes I really want to make my own poems. Overall, I love this book, love these poems.

Rating : 3