Tan Kheng Yeang

Poems: Sun and Rain / the Flowery Country / Grains of Sand Tan Kheng Yeang

By the author of Diverse Modes and Reduced Reflections, this volume consists of three anthologies spanning a range of poetic styles. Sun and Rain follows the style and philosophy of the great Romantic poets, extolling the wonders and terrors of nature and the exploring the depths of human emotion. The author paints vivid and moving pictures that are swept along by the lyrical meter and rhyme of traditional verse. The Flowery Country is an exploration of the currents of history that shaped the venerable Chinese culture. However, unlike traditional history, which is dry and dispassionate, this work resonates with emotion, ideas and imagination. Written in a new literary style developed by the author called "amorphous verse", which does not differ from prose in terms of style but retains the lyricism of poetry in terms of language, the Flowery Country propels the reader through the colourful sweep of emperors, dynasties, love and war, leaving him to ponder the vicissitude of human nature. Grains of Sand is a study of human nature and the creations of humankind expressed in verse. The horrors of war, the tenderness of love, the joy of cherished memories are juxtaposed with small, keenly observed gems of everyday life and objects, which, like a photograph, are forever caught in time by the pen of the poet.