“Interlude”: A Mesmerizing Bouquet of Poetry
Dr Farida Aziz is a professor of Paediatrics and is presently working in a Hospital in Abbottabad. She is from a Kashmiri family. Her parents migrated from Srinagar to Pakistan. Her father Professor M. A. Aziz was minister in the government of Azad Kashmir. He was a very learned person. He was a great stalwart of the accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.
She has mailed me her book of English poetry titled “ Interlude”. I am touched by her poetry and enthusiastically felt to write a few lines on her book. It is just inspirational writing. These poems reflect her natural talent for writing poetry. The topics of these poems are very simple and deal with daily life and her impressions and experiences. The poems are short and written in a simple diction.
I feel it incumbent to mention that “Interlude”, is the title of some famous poems of some English writers most notably Amy Towel, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Edith Sitwell. I would like to cite a few lines from the poem of Edith Sitwell from her poem titled “ Interlude”.
“My feet are feathered like a bird,
Among the shadows scarcely heard.
I bring you branches green with dew;
And fruits that you may crown anew”.
About her poetry in the Preface Dr Farida Aziz writes:
“Expression of thoughts, mind, and emotions, when most true are usually spontaneous. Maybe it is a lot simpler that these expressions come in short rhythm or rhythm form rather than essay form. If it is called poetry, that is what it is”.
About spontaneous overflow of feelings, William Wordsworth had written in the Preface to “Lyrical Ballads” published in 1800. He wrote:
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotions recollected in tranquillity”.
John Keats viewed poetic inspiration as something organic and natural, famously stating in his Letters to John Taylor that: “if poetry comes not as naturally as the leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all”. At another place John Keats regarded poetry as an intermittent inspiration.
The purpose of quoting these two great English poets is that Dr Farida Aziz is a physician and very busy with her medical practice, but her writing such a marvellous poetry signifies her being a born poet with the intensity of powerful feelings reflected in intermittent inspiration and in the moments of tranquillity and solitude. Her poems reflect her inner voice about her personal experiences and her intent to unveil the social evils in a mild manner. Her poetry swings around three factors. She writes:
“The expression of these impressions just comes when triggered by happenings, which spark them. What we feel most deeply, affects us most. Nature in all its glory is all around us and within us. Relationships, a need of every being and of course, Environment, an integral part of our life”.
Her book titled “Interlude” contains 26 poems. Some are romantic while some others are social and reflective. The following poems are heart breaking: “It is Hard to To Think”, “A Sigh”, “ Heaven on Earth”, “College Photographer”, and “My dear friend”. The poem “Self-Control” is quite reflective and ethical. “I wish I was a Lark”, “The First Snow in Winter”, “I See You in Every Rainbow”, and “As I Lay in My Garden” have intense romantic streaks with deep melancholic feelings. The other poems such as “If only We Cared”, “If There were no Jealousies”, and “Current Affairs” deal with social and reformatory issues.
In a way, this book is like a bouquet of different flowers. All flowers with charming colours and odours.
Though, her all verses are beautiful, inspiring and insightful, I think just to cite a few lines from her some poems for the lovers of English poetry.
In a poem titled “Poet in Making”, she writes:
There is no such wish,
As to
Reach to the Moon
But let there be
No despair
Before it is noon”.
In a poem titled “Child is an Angel”, she writes:
Children are little angels
Wherever they may be.
They are God’s blessings
For us to see”.
A poem titled “I Wish I Was A Lark”, she writes:
“I wish I wish
I was a lark
So I Could
Fly high in an arc
And my sweet songs
Could kindle a spark
In the sad and
Lonely dismal heart
Could come home
To my nest
When it was dark”.
In a poem titled “The Heavy Rains in Monsoon ”, she writes:
“Hailstorms and strong winds
The awe that it gives you,
The thrill that it brings
Are just passing moments
If you are with your
Loved ones
With whom your heart sings
It is true that
Love and friendship
Is what keeps you
Ever going
Is what makes you
Ever sing”.
In another very romantic poem, she says:
“I see you in every rainbow
I see you in every star
I hear you in every song
You are never that afar.
So many things of beauty
So touching to the heart
The soft falling snow flakes
The glory of a morning flower
You are ever there with me
Sharing it all”.
There are many sublime couplets that can be quoted and they are really mesmerizing, fabulous, fascinating and inspiring.
I wish the lovers of English poetry read this book and embed and saturate their hearts and minds with fragrances of these heart touching ditties.
I congratulate her for publishing her poetry to enlighten the searchers of love, truth, peace and humanity.
Discover more from Voice of East
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Book Review, Literature, Poetry
Leave a Reply