THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: V enus is the goddess of beauty and crepuscle the twilight zone preceding nightfall. If the first stands for everything aesthetic, the second conjures an air of melancholia and together they make a unique concoction.
Nithin Purple says his poetry is a blend of artistry and pathos, and the 40 odd poems in his anthology Venus and Crepuscule are inspired by the bygone Romantic era.
“The poems chronicle the struggles of an author who is not accepted by society. For him penning his thoughts and visions are more like a revenge,” he says.
A small note on the cover explains the basic premise of the collection- a rejected author and his inner turmoil.
“Silently the poet revenges a prideful society as he puts his rhyme one after one onto the paper, blood drips from his pen, when he writes with an extremely agitated mind. Nothing makes him happy except his solitary state,” reads the text.
The anthology deals with an array of subjects like love, nature, nostalgia, fear, sleep and loneliness.
“Basically it’s a lyrical work with proper rhyme and metre. The poet’s mind keep wandering and the images and that pique his interest get translated to words. He is a very curious and observant person,” he says.
When the society ignored the poet he gets caught in a sad and dark world. He combines the state of his mind with the beauteous nature around or some pleasant memories of the past. “My Mother’s Emerald Land is a poem about Kerala.
There is another one titled When the Sullen Evening Arrived, where the writer is watching a setting sun and contemplating about the short spell of happiness,” he says.
The opening poem of the collection is titled Inside a Green Forest, which is all about beauty, wilderness and observation.
‘Ha! Spring arrived on her sweet scented palanquin/ Carried by the spirited Zephyrus and his choir/ With their murmuring music undulated in/ Its own softness and fondled the leaves to astir’, reads the poem.
Nithin says he was deeply influenced by the Romantic Movement and has tried to reinvent the lyrical style through Venus and Crepuscule. “My favourite poets are Shelly, Keats, Byron and Thomas Chatterton. But my poetry is not a blind imitation of Romantic poets. I have tried to retain the essence of romanticism while leaving the author’s mark,” he adds.