Reviewed by: Dr. Maqsood Jafri
The Decoder is one of the chosen and representative poem of eminent poetess Ms. Olfa Philo of Tunisia. She writes poetry in Arabic and English. Her bilingual poetry is fascinating and fabulous. Her moony face and sparkling eyes depict her meditative and pensive soul. Great English poet William Wordsworth says that poet is hyper sensitive like barometer.
She also surges and swims on the tumultuous ripples of sensivity. It seems interesting to mention that she is a great swimmer as well. She is a fellow poet on Facebook. I appreciate her exuberant and superb imaginative and intuitive lyres. Her poetry is very powerful, inspiring and insightful. She has asked me to comment on her poem titled “ The Decoder”. This poem is an excellent emblem of powerful and wonderful word craft, embedded with sublime imagination. The poetess enjoys the moments of tranquility, solitude and seclusion and like a hermit loves to refrain from social gatherings and seeks resort in Nature and solitude. This poem has been translated into Italian and turned into a song by Mario Rigli and Fabio Martoglio. Very briefly, I would delve deep into the spirit of this excellent piece of poetry. First of all , I cite two initial couplets out of eleven couplets of the poem. She writes:
“ You are the one who visited me in my sleep,
Then daily in my dreams started to creep.
You are the one who decoded the language of my eyes,
And with my past pains, you broke all ties.”
This poem consists of eleven couplets. In the ten couplets, she addresses the lover and says “ you are the one” who mesmerized and maddened me by the magic wand of love. You are the healer of my heart wounds and my savior from the pangs of life.
Then, in the last couplet, she in a wailing and moaning tone writes that it was all a mirage and a deception. It breaks and wrenches her heart. So, her dream of love is a farce and is no more than a day dream. According to great English poet John Keats, poetry is the outcome of intermittent moments and grows like fresh leaves on branches in spring. In my opinion, as new branches sprout of a plant and fresh leaves grow on birches in spring season, the munificent Muse visits the poets in their pensive moments. As the thick fleshy leaves are succulent, the sighs of the grieved souls produce hot and crimson tears from the eyes of suitors. This is the story of pain of Olfa Philo depicted in this poem.
In Scientific terminology, “ Code” is a system of letters, symbols, or prearranged signals by which messages can be communicated. “ Decode” means conversion from code”. This poem deals with psychological and spiritual codification and de- codification. Hallucinations, dreams, reveries, meditations, day dreaming and telepathy are different kinds of psychological and spiritual experiences. The true spiritual experience is a fact while sham mystical trances are fake.
In this poem we find the desire of the poetess deeply engrained upon her subconscious mind to greet a person who loves her and cares for her. Each and every line is impassioned, dreaming for a world of love. She writes:
“ You are the one who healed all my past grief,
And restored laughter to my face in brief.”
She envisions the charm of the life of romance and the peace of mind by clasping the hand of a lover who succors her in the odd times and climes. By the flight of imagination, she acts like a day dreamer. Eventually, her dreams are shattered and she screams:
“ Is this a predestined subtle alchemy?
Or you are a mere infant of my fantasy?” This line shows that what she aspired and desired was a dream. She is grieved and shocked on the plight of practical reality of life that is bitter.
To decode others is a hectic and arduous psychological phase. Some treacherous imposters use decoding devious devices which are deceitful and dreadful. They enter into the hearts of people and make their place just to hoodwink them. One must not trust people blindly. Things should not be taken on face value. The honest and sincere people are mostly cheated.
The personality code must be like a solid and safe fort. Everyone should not be allowed to enter into its vicinity. The philosophers call it the strong Fort of Selfhood. The wounds of body are curable but the wounds of soul are incurable. Olfa Philo is deeply hurt on the disloyalty of the people she trusted. Her poem depicts her deep melancholic mood and plaintive heart. Her soul is bruised. The moral of this poem is that one should be vigilant and protect his/ her Personality Code and let not permit people to swindle them by de- coding their Code.
