Unfettered

Introduction to 'Unfettered' 

This is an anthology of blank verses - my first.

A large part of poetic beauty often comes from its rhyme, rhythm and the mellifluous flow of syllables – growing up reading the works of Wordsworth, Milton and Shakespeare, any child immediately attaches poetry to the singsong nature with which it flows, ebbing and rising like a wave of words, a tide of temperaments neatly tied in clean neat sentences with matching syllables, iambs and trochees.

Such has been my style as well – the composition of matching words, syllables, contained within mathematical stanzaic precision renders a heightened sense of creativity – half the satisfaction of composing a Shakespearean or Spenserian sonnet lies in the ability to match the complex rhyme scheme, leave alone choice of words or inner core emotional prompt. Indeed, poetry invokes a high sense of craftsmanship and creatorship.

But the moment you choose to write a blank verse, all the complex, centuries-old perfected scaffolding falls apart in no time. The only order is that there is no need for order – all at once is let loose the chaos in your creativity, the pandemonium in your pen. There are doubts on defying what the greatest poets had stuck to: yet on the other side, there is liberty – unadulterated, unfettered, uncared liberty. To choose emotion as the seed of the universe, the rest of creation becoming limitless. It was with this liberty that I crafted the poems in this anthology focusing no longer on the form but the feeling with which the universe of emotions was born each time.

In the process, I realised that there is also a lot of richness in blank verse. With form losing its place, the emotion-laden content becomes so much more important – there is in fact nothing more. All other distractions lost, both writer and reader dive deep in the abyss of words and thoughts, their conjugation the strongest salvation in blank verse.

I have crafted the poems in this anthology with great care and satisfaction. Each time, the emphasis lied on the deeper perplexing emotion that raised the poem to be born – melancholy, realisation, euphoria, all distilled to near- perfection to create poems that are perhaps the most honest renditions of my thoughts. The freedom in turn, helped me decide the title of this publication.

As with every form of art, I hope you are able to indulge in these words, and muse for yourself on the emotions that surfaced as you read the verses. And just like the writer, I hope the reader is able to lift himself above the convolution of words to focus instead on the resonance in the heart and mind – once again, with no constraints but rather with absolute freedom to read, reflect and realise the unfettered essence of poetry.

23rd January, 2025