Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd - Announcements

Sentiments and Sensitivity of Love in the
Resplendence of the Malay Language
Syair surat kirim kepada perempuan
– Genre of Poetic Romanticism in Malay Love Letters
Syair surat kirim
kepada perempuan.
1796
One of the numerous Malay syair and pantun stanzas in the form of
love letters was a manuscript copy by Ibrahim, a scribe who was
employed by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Unfortunately,
samples of surviving Malay personal love letters between two ordinary
people remains difficult to be studied and were rarely recorded on
original manuscripts.
The contents of a Malay love letter were purely sentiments, expressed
in glorious poetry. For example, in the printed manual of letter
writing of its time, praises in love letters would start in poems that began with:
Al-Hamd li-‘llah Rabb al-‘Alamin
cahayanya terang laksana cermin
seperti pohon kayu beringin
lemah lembut ditiup angin
As the essence of the Malay love letter was normally structured in this
form, the dividing line between love letters as poetry and poetry in its form
as love letters remains faint and distant.
The manuscript’s execution reflects meticulous detail, combining ornamental
geometrical and organic floral motifs. Its poem superfluous and sensuous, the
inks and colours on English paper permeating a moment in time, captured
in the zeal and flamboyance of romance.