Much more than love

KOCHI: William Wordsworth once said, poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings and it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity. For 22-year-old Sidharth P K, his fascination with reading poems of English romantic poets like P B Shelly, John Keats and Lord Byron had a deep influence on him as a writer. It inspired him to learn old English and read more poetry.

“My interest in poetry began when I was in Class VII. Initially, it was hard for me to understand the themes and the language used. But my parents and teachers helped me decode the Old English usages using dictionaries,” said Sidharth. Eventually, he learnt to grasp these poems and their themes in depth, which motivated him to write.

He mentioned Keats’ love sonnet ‘Bright star, would I be as fast as thou art’ and Shelly’s ‘Ode to the West Wind’ to be his favourites. Sidharth’s recent works — ‘Beneath Those Thousand Stars’, a compilation of 28 poems, ‘Souls For Sale’ (22 poems) and ‘The Soulful Melodies’ (30 poems) travel very closely to the extremities of human emotions.

The theme of his poems, however, revolve around the concept of true love, one that is beyond human comprehension sometimes. The urge to find love, and the anguish in having to wait for such a love is the epicentre of his narrative. “People often ask me why I write only about romance. I am deeply influenced by romantic poets. I can relate the woman in my poems to be similar to Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady’,” he quips.

“My uncle Biju Manarakkad, who is also a writer, has also encouraged me to write and sharpen my skills,” he added. The Palakkad-native is now doing his post-graduation in History at MG University. His works are available on Amazon.