BALLAD OF THE LOST MAP

• Main Author: A. Samad Said 1935- (Author)
• Other Authors: Aveling, Harry (Translator)
• Format: Book
• Language: English; Malay
• Published: Kuala lumpur Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka 1992
• Subjects: Malay poetry
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 Each decade has its own particular cry of pain, because suffering is an inevitable part of life. And that cry can deeply disturb a poet. These poems record some of my responses to the agony of the eighties. The works in Ballad of the Lost Map are born of the spiritual turmoil experienced by individuals caught in the midst of a turbulent world. These anguished voices come from the ditches and hovels of the shanty towns; the mists and shadows of my memory; the cut and thrust of politics; the confusion of continual travel; the faith of weary humanity; and the compassion of natural conscience. It is right that a poet should not only want to record beaut things but also the sad voices of mankind and the wounds continually inflicted on the world. If that were not so, poetry would be an elegant lamp with no inner flame. Or worse, a splendid galleon, drifting at the mercy of the passing tides