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NyanyiSunyi
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

NjanjiSoenji(RepublicanSpelling:NjanjiSunji
PerfectedSpelling:NyanyiSunyiIndonesianfor
"SongsofSolitude"or"SongsofSilence")isa1937
poetrycollectionbyAmirHamzah.Writtensome
timeafterthepoetwasforcedtomarrythedaughter
oftheSultanofLangkatinsteadofhischosenlovein
Java,thiscollectionconsistsof24titledpoemsand
piecesoflyricalprose,noneofwhicharedated.First
publishedinthemagazinePoedjanggaBaroe,the
collectionhasbeenrepublishedasastandalonebook
severaltimes.
AnalysisofNyanyiSunyihasfocusedonthethemeof
GodandHisrelationshiptohumanity,aswellasof
aspectsofhumanexistence:fate,dissatisfaction,and
escape.LiterarycriticsH.B.JassinandZuberUsman
viewthecollectionasanattempttoaddressAmirs
worldlyproblems.Thecollectionhasbeennotedas
difficulttoreadowingtoitsusageofrarelyused
MalayandJavanesetermsandbasisinIslamicculture
andMalayhistory.Despitethis,NyanyiSunyihas
beendescribedasfreerinitsformthantraditional
Malaypoetry,withwhatpoetChairilAnwartermed
"compactlyviolent,sharp,andyetshort"[1]sentences
whichbroughtanewstyletotheIndonesianlanguage.

Contents
1 Background
2 Contents

NyanyiSunyi

Cover,thirdprinting
Author

AmirHamzah

Country

DutchEastIndies

Language

Malay

Genre

Poetrycollection

Publisher

PoedjanggaBaroe

Publicationdate

November1937

Mediatype

Print(softcover)

Pages

31(thirdedition)

3 Form
4 Themes
5 Publication
6 References
6.1 Explanatorynotes
6.2 Footnotes
6.3 Workscited

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6.3 Workscited
7 Furtherreading

Background
AmirHamzah(19111946)wasaDutcheducatedMalaywriter
ofnobledescentanddevoutMuslim.Hewaswellorientedin
traditionalMalayliterature,withfavouritesincludinghistorical
textssuchasHikayatHangTuah,SyairSitiZubaidah,and
HikayatPancaTanderan.AmirlikewisereadworksofArabic,
Persian,andHinduliterature.[2]Asaresult,hehadanextensive
vocabulary.[3]
PoetLaurensKosterBohangconsidersthepoemsincludedin
NyanyiSunyiashavingbeenwrittenbetween1933and1937,[4]
whileDutchscholarofIndonesianliteratureA.Teeuwdatesthe
poemsto1936and1937.[5]Thetimewasoneofgreatemotional
turmoilforHamzah,whowasrequiredtomarrythedaughterof
theSultanofLangkat,whohadfundedhisstudiesinJava.Atthe
timeAmirhadreportedlyfalleninlovewithaJavanesewoman
whilestudying,andwasforcedtoleaveher.[6]

Contents

Amirsarrangedmarriageisthought
tohaveheavilyinfluencedNyanyi
Sunyi.

NjanjiSunjiconsistsoftwentyfourtitledpiecesandanuntitled
quatrain.[7]IndonesianliterarydocumentarianH.B.Jassin
classifieseightoftheworksaslyricalprose,withtheremainingthirteenaspoems.[8]Noneoftheworks
inNyanyiSunyi(andindeednoneofAmir'sotherworks)aredated.[9]Attheendofthebookisa
couplet,reading"Suntingsanggulmelayahrendah/sekakisajaksenisedih",[10]whichAmericanpoet
andtranslatorBurtonRaffeltranslatesas"Aflowerfloatinginalooseknotofhair/Gavebirthtomy
sorrowfulpoems".[11]
Thepoemswithinthecollectionare:[7]
Untitledpoems
1.Untitledquatrain("SunyiItuDuka""SilenceisSorrow")
Titledpoems
1."PadamuJua"("ForYouToo")
2."Barangkali"("Perhaps")
3."HanyaSatu"("OnlyOne")
4."Permainanmu"("YourGames")
5."TetapiAku"("ButI")
6."KarenaKasihmu"("BecauseofYourLove")
7."SebabDikau"("BecauseofYou")
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8."Doa"("Prayer")
9."HanyutAku"("IFloat")
10."TamanDunia"("WorldPark")
11."TerbukaBunga"("OpenFlowers")
12."Mengawan"("ClimbtotheSky")
13."PanjiDihadapanku"("BannersinMySight")
14."MemujiDikau"("PraisingYou")
15."Kurnia"("Gift")
16."DoaPoyangku"("PrayerofMyAncestors")
17."TurunKembali"("DescendAgain")
18."BatuBelah"("SplitStone")
19."DidalamKelam"("InDarkness")
20."IbukuDehulu"("MyMother,Before")
21."Insyaf"("Aware")
22."Subuh"("MorningPrayers")
23."HariMenuai"("HarvestDay")
24."AstanaRela"("PalaceofResignation")

Form
ThepoemsinNyanyiSunyi,unlikemuchofAmir'searlierwork,generallydidnotfollowthetraditional
pantunandsyairformatoffourlinesoffourwords.[12]Teeuwnotesthatsome,such"BatuBelah",
followedtraditionalEuropeanformssuchastheballad.[13]Othersweremorefreeform,leaningtowards
prosepoetry.[14]
Amir'sdictiondependsheavilyonoldMalaytermswhichsawlittlecontemporaryuse.Healsoborrows
heavilyfromotherIndonesianlanguages,particularlyJavaneseandSundanes.[15]Thechoiceofwords
wasinfluencedbytheneedforrhythmandmetre,aswellassymbolismrelatedtoparticularterms.[16]
Ultimately,however,Amirisfreerinhislanguageusethantraditionalpoets.[17]IndonesiancriticBakri
Siregarwritesthattheresultis"abeautifulwordplay".[a][14]
TranslatorJohnM.Echolswritesthatthepoemsare"difficultreadingevenforIndonesians",[3]while
poetChairilAnwardescribedtheworksas"obscurepoetry"whichcouldnotbeunderstoodbypersons
withoutanunderstandingofIslamandMalayhistory.[1]IndonesianliteraryscholarMuhammadBalfas
notesthattheworkalsohasmanyallusionstoreligioustexts,bothIslamicandChristian.[17]
AnwaropinedthatAmir,throughNyanyiSunyi,broughtanewstyletotheIndonesianlanguage,withits
"compactlyviolent,sharp,andyetshort"sentences.[1]Ina1945articlehewrote(translationbyRaffel),
"BeforeAmir(Hamzah)onecouldcalltheoldpoetryadestructiveforcebutwhatabrightlighthe
shoneonthenewlanguage".[1]

Themes
ReligionandGodareomnipresentthroughoutthecollection,asevidencedfromthefirstpoem,"Padamu
Jua".[17]Amiroftenusestheword"Tuhan"("God").However,unlikehisearlierpoemswhichuseditin
asimilarmannerto"Dewa"("Deity"),inNyanyiSunyithewordisusedasunderstoodinAbrahamic
religions,suchasAmir'sownIslam[6]AmirshowsinfluencesfromSufism.[18]Insomecases,writes
Teeuw,AmirtreatsGodalmostasalover,usingfamiliartermssuchas"engkau"("you")toaddress
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Him.[19]However,AmirrecognisesthathecannotbeonewithGod.[19]JassinwritesthatAmirseems
awareofhisownsmallnessbeforeGod,actingasapuppetforGod'swill[20]TeeuwnotesthatAmir
recognisesthathewouldnotexistifGoddidnot.[19]
ThisisnottosaythatAmiracceptshislowerpositioninrelationtoGodinseveralcases,Jassinwrites,
AmirshowsafeelingofdissatisfactionoverhisownlackofpowerandprotestsGod'sabsoluteness.[21]
Teeuwlikewisenotesasenseofdissatisfactionthroughoutthepoems,writingthatAmirseemstotreat
Godasanentitythat"onlytoyswithhumans,allowingthemtobepushedasideanderased".[b][13]
ElsewhereTeeuwwritesthatAmirquestionsfateandtheneedforhimtoseparatefromhislove.[22]
AsidefromthemesofGodandreligion,Amiralsoshowsanawarenessofhisownhumanity,
recognisinghisowninstinctsanddrives.[23]Jassinwritesthat"Amir'ssongisthesongofaman's
soul",[c]showingsadnessandjoywhichdonotacknowledgeclassorcreed.[23]Teeuwnotesasenseof
distrust,afeelingthathavingoncelosthislovethereisnoreasonAmirwillnotlosehisnext
lover.[13]IndonesiancriticZuberUsman,meanwhile,discussesthethemeoflovelostinrelationto
religion,writingthatthelossofhisJavaneseloverledAmirclosertoGod.[24]
JassinwritesthatAmiruses"sunyi"("silence")asawaytoaddresshisworldlyproblems:regarding
time,hisownidentity,God,andlove.AccordingtoJassin,bytheendofthecompilationphysicallove
hasdriftedtowardsaspiritualone,withtheanswerssuppliedoriginatingfromthesupernatural.[6]
Ultimately,however,JassinconcludesthatAmir'ssoulhasnotreachedmaturityheconsidersthe
collection'slastpoem,"AstanaRela",asbutatemporaryescape.[25]Jassinfindsthatthethemeof
religionislikewisemeantasanescapefromAmir'sworldlysorrows,[26]anopinionechoedby
Usman.[24]

Publication
NyanyiSunyiwasfirstpublishedintheNovember1937issueofPoedjanggaBaroe,aliterarymagazine
whichAmirhadhelpedestablish.[8]Itwaslaterpublishedasastandalonebook,andby1949ithadseen
itsthirdprinting.[27]
In1941Amirpublishedanothercollectionofpoems,entitledBuahRindu("FruitsofLonging"),which
consistedmostlyofhisearlierworks.JassinnotesthattheworksinNyanyiSunyiappearmoredeveloped
andmaturethanthoseinthelatercollection.[25]Teeuwnotesthatthelatercollectionwasmoreexplicitly
aboutromanticlove,ratherthanthereligiousloveofNyanyiSunyi.[28]

References
Explanatorynotes
a.Original:"...permainankatajangindah."
b.Original:"...hanyamempermain2kanmanusia,jangdibiarkanjatertunggu2danterhapus."
c.Original:"NjanjianAmiradalahnjanjiandjiwamanusia."

Footnotes
1.Raffel1970,p.175.
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2.JakartaCityGovernment,AmirHamzah.
3.Echols1956,p.14.
4.Jassin1962,p.8.
5.Teeuw1980,p.126.
6.Jassin1962,p.13.
7.Hamzah1949,p.530.
8.Jassin1962,p.212.
9.Jassin1962,p.9.
10.Hamzah1949,p.31.
11.Raffel1968,p.15.
12.Jassin1962,p.12.
13.Teeuw1955,p.117.
14.Siregar1964,p.116.
15.Rosidi1976,p.45.
16.Rosidi1976,p.46.
17.Balfas1976,p.64.
18.Jassin1962,p.30.
19.Teeuw1955,p.116.
20.Jassin1962,p.26.
21.Jassin1962,p.29.
22.Teeuw1980,pp.140.
23.Jassin1962,p.32.
24.Usman1959,pp.23150.
25.Jassin1962,p.14.
26.Jassin1962,p.31.
27.Hamzah1949,p.1.
28.Teeuw1955,p.115.

Workscited
"AmirHamzah".EncyclopediaofJakarta(inIndonesian).JakartaCityGovernment.Archivedfromthe
originalon26December2011.Retrieved26December2011.
Balfas,Muhammad(1976)."ModernIndonesianLiteratureinBrief".InL.F.,Brakel.Handbuchder
Orientalistik[HandbookofOrientalistics]1.Leiden,Netherlands:E.J.Brill.ISBN9789004043312.
Retrieved13August2011.
Echols,John(1956).IndonesianWritinginTranslation.Ithaca:CornellUniversityPress.OCLC4844111.
Hamzah,Amir(1949).NjanjiSunji[SongofSilence](inIndonesian).Jakarta:PustakaRakjat.
OCLC65112881.
Jassin,H.B.(1962).AmirHamzah:RadjaPenjairPudjanggaBaru[AmirHamzah:KingofthePudjangga
BaruPoets](inIndonesian).Jakarta:GunungAgung.OCLC7138547.
Raffel,Burton(1968)[1967].DevelopmentofModernIndonesianPoetry(2nded.).Albany,NY:State
UniversityofNewYorkPress.ISBN9780873950244.
Raffel,Burton(1970).CompleteProseandPoetryofChairilAnwar.Albany:StateUniversityofNewYork
Press.ISBN9780873950619.
Rosidi,Ajip(1976).IkhtisarSejarahSastraIndonesia[OverviewoftheHistoryofIndonesianLiterature](in
Indonesian).Bandung:Binacipta.OCLC609510126.
Siregar,Bakri(1964).SedjarahSasteraIndonesia[HistoryofIndonesianLiterature]1.Jakarta:Akademi
SasteradanBahasa"Multatuli".OCLC63841626.
Teeuw,A.(1955).PokokdanTokoh[TenetsandFigures](inIndonesian)1.Jakarta:Pembangunan.
OCLC428077105.
Teeuw,A.(1980).SastraBaruIndonesia[NewIndonesianLiterature](inIndonesian)1.Ende:NusaIndah.
OCLC222168801.
Usman,Zuber(1959).KesusasteraanBaruIndonesiadariAbdullahBinAlbdalkadirMunshisampaikepada
ChairilAnwar[ModernIndonesianLiteraturefromAbdullahBinAlbalkadirMunshitoChairilAnwar](in
Indonesian).Jakarta:GunungMas.OCLC19655561.

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Furtherreading
UmarJunus(1968).NyanyiSunyi(AmirHamzah):UlasandanKajian[NyanyiSunyi(Amir
Hamzah):DescriptionandAnalysis](inMalay).KualaLumpur:PustakaMelayuBaru.
OCLC63260744.
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nyanyi_Sunyi&oldid=695427971"
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