Intricacies of Human Existence
Sanjeev Sethi, Legato Without a Lisp, Classix, New Delhi, 2024
By Petar Penda
Sanjeev Sethi’s poetry collection Legato Without a Lisp represents a profound scrutiny of the human experience and condition through the lens of fresh and innovative poetic expression. His poetry depicts the complexities of the human mind and unravels many nuances of emotions, thoughts, and meanings of the self and otherness offering the reader a deep insight into the poetic worlds he has created.
This book of poetry has a wide range of themes that are both timeless and contemporary. From reflections on identity and memory to societal critiques and introspection on the human condition, each poem in Legato Without a Lisp offers a unique perspective on life’s complexities. Through vivid imagery and evocative language, Sethi paints pictures with exquisitely rich vocabulary, inviting readers to immerse themselves in his poetic mindscapes and landscapes.
At times, the poetic subject faces impossibilities of deeper knowledge of the world, while, at the same time, this inability is the awareness of one’s self:
To seek what one perceives isn’t for us
is a faulty premise or an astute step. My
blood and bones inform me of a denylist.
(“Tour”, p. 74)
This limitation of one’s perception leads to “distance from links, lineage, or locale” but at the same time gives the realization of his being “a denylist”. The contradiction, the opposition of our limitation and limitlessness, is generalized by the use of the pronoun ‘us’ and represents knowledge in itself. The comparison of the past and the present, seen in old and present photos, gives an advantage to former times, which implicitly question our ability to perceive things better with maturity.
On the other hand, some other poems have more precise certainty of self-knowledge. For instance, in his poem “Directive” (p. 28), Sanjeev Sethi depicts an epiphany, self-realization which is given through introspection:
In a moment of reckoning
as I was slicing parts of myself
on the laboratory of truth,
the penultimate syllable
held significance.
The trees close-by sneezed.
My momentary earless state
fortified me, and I pegged it
to a dispatch from divinity.
This epiphany is momentous, related to divinity and makes the poetic subject stronger.
Besides its thematic depth and richness, Sethi’s poetry sticks out for its peculiar form and style. His use of enjambment, uncustomary line breaks, and rhythmic patterns create a melodiousness that is innate to the collection’s title, Legato Without a Lisp. This musical quality enriches the reading experience, allowing the poems to flow flawlessly from one line to the next, as well as from one poem to the next, resembling a melodic composition to which his poetry collection’s title refers.
Legato Without a Lisp captivates readers with its beauty and also challenges them to reflect on their own lives and the world around them. Sethi’s poems also reflect the intricacy of human existence, generating self-observation and empathy. Through his work, Sethi entices us to question, contemplate, and engage with the profound themes of self-knowledge and knowledge of others.
Legato Without a Lisp tells of the power of language to convey strong emotions and stir readers to introspection. This collection also invites readers on a journey of self-discovery and meditation, encouraging them to see the world through new, philosophical lenses. As we go through the complex tapestry of themes, imagery, and form, we come to appreciate the profound beauty and complexity of the human experience in general. The variety of themes and emotions resonate across cultures and boundaries which makes Sanjeev Sethi’s poetry universal and timeless.
Professor Petar Penda is a translator, critic, novelist, and poet. He teaches at the University of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His prose, poetry, and translations of contemporary poets from Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as various contemporary British and American poets, have been published in several high-profile regional journals and in the US and UK.
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