Poetry-the Spirit of Movement
Poetry inspires courage. In 1966, when students were shot dead, the verses of Tirani dan Benteng (Tyranny and the Fort) by Taufiq Ismail represented vigor. When in 1978 campuses throughout the country rose to action, the poems of Rendra inflamed the students' spirit. And the poetry of Wiji Thukul in the 1990s, became the rallying cry of protestors: Hanya satu kata: Lawan (There is only one word: Fight).
These were the poems that harked back to the revolutionary days of fighting for independence in 1945-as did the words of Chairil Anwar-and today can affect us in the same way.
May 20, 2008
Portrait of a Rebel
Rendra's poems inspired the student movements of the 1970s and 1980s.
THE students were mesmerized by the tall figure with a thick mane of hair, holding a sheaf of papers containing the poems he was reading. There stood Rendra, the hawk-eyed poet on the campus stage, discarding away page after page to the winds as he read his poetry.
...We are the stammering generationFathered by a cocky generationWe lack formal educationIn matter