Amir Hamzah

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Lore & Background

Amir Hamzah was born as Tengkoe Amir Hamzah Pangeran Indra Poetera in Tanjung Pura, Langkat, North Sumatra, the youngest son of Vice Sultan Tengku Muhammad Adil and his third wife Tengku Mahjiwa. Through his father, he was related to the Sultan of Langkat, Machmud. Sources disagree over his date of birth: the date officially recognised by the Indonesian government is 28 February 1911, a date Amir used throughout his life, but his elder brother Abdullah Hod states the poet was born on 11 February 1911. Amir later took the name of his grandfather, Teungku Hamzah, as a second name. Though a child of nobility, he would often associate with non-nobles. He was schooled in Islamic principles such as Qu'ran reading, fiqh, and tawhid, and studied at the Azizi Mosque in Tanjung Pura from a young age. He remained a devout Muslim throughout his life. In 1924 or 1925, Amir graduated from elementary school in Langkat and moved to Medan to study at the Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (MULO; middle school) there. After completing his studies some two years later, he entered a formal relationship with his cousin from his mother's side, Aja (also Aje) Bun. As his parents permitted him to finish his studies in Java, Amir moved to the colonial capital at Batavia (now Jakarta) to complete his studies. Alone aboard the Plancus, he made the three-day boat trip to Java. Upon arriving at Batavia, he enrolled at a Christian MULO there, where he completed his last year of junior high school. Also in Batavia, Amir became involved with the social organisation Jong Sumatera. During this period Amir wrote his first poems. After a brief return to Sumatra, Amir continued to a Boedi Oetomo-operated Algemene Middelbare School (AMS; senior high school) in Surakarta, Central Java, where he studied eastern literature and languages, including Javanese, Sanskrit, and Arabic. Preferring solitude to the bustle of the dormitories, Amir boarded at a privately owned home of a Surakartan resident. Later he met several future writers, including Armijn Pane and Achdiat Karta Mihardja; they soon found him to be a friendly and diligent student with complete notes and a spotless bedroom (sheets folded so well, Mihardja later recalled, that a 'lost fly could have easily slid over them'), but also a romantic, prone to thinking wistfully beneath the lamplight and isolating himself from his classmates. In Surakarta Amir joined the nationalist movement. He would meet with fellow Sumatrans and discuss the social plight of the Malay archipelago's populace under Dutch colonial rule. Though most educated youth at the time preferred speaking Dutch, he insisted on speaking Malay. In 1930 Amir became head of the Surakartan branch of the Indonesia Muda (Young Indonesians), delivering a speech at the 1930 Youth Congress and serving as an editor of the organisation's magazine Garuda Merapi. At school he also met Ilik Sundari, a Javanese woman nearly his age with whom he fell in love. Sundari, the daughter of Raden Mas Kusumodihardjo, was one of the few female students at the school, and her home was near one of those in which Amir boarded. According to Dini, the two grew closer, Amir teaching Sundari Arabic and Sundari teaching him Javanese. They were soon meeting every day, conversing on a variety of topics. Amir's mother died in 1931, and his father the year after, meaning that his education could no longer be funded. After his AMS studies concluded, he wanted to continue to study at a law school in Batavia. As such, he wrote to his brother, Jakfar, who arranged for the remainder of his studies to be paid for by the Sultan. In 1932 Amir was able to return to Batavia and begin his legal studies, taking up a part-time job as a teacher. At first, his relationship with Sundari was continued through letters, though she soon continued her studies in Lembang, a city much closer than Surakarta; this allowed the two to meet furtively – when Sundari's parents had discovered their relationship, Amir and Sundari had been forbidden from meeting. This year Amir's first two poems, 'Sunyi' ('Silent') and 'Mabuk...' ('Nauseous...'), were published in the March edition of the magazine Timboel. His other eight works published in 1932 included a syair based on the Hikayat Hang Tuah, three other poems, two pieces of lyrical prose, and two short stories; the poems were again published in Timboel, while the prose was included in the magazine Pandji Poestaka. Around September 1932 Armijn Pane, upon the urgings of Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, editor of 'Memadjoekan Sastera' ('Advancing Literature', the literary section of Pandji Poestaka), invited Amir to help them establish an independent literary magazine. Amir accepted, and was tasked with writing letters to solicit submissions; a total of fifty letters were sent to noted writers, including forty sent to contributors to 'Memadjoekan Sastera'. After several months of preparations, the initial edition was published in July 1933, under the title Poedjangga Baroe. The new magazine was left under the editorial control of Armijn and Alisjahbana, while Amir published almost all of his subsequent writings there. In mid-1933 Amir was recalled to Langkat, where the Sultan informed him of two conditions which he had to fulfil to continue his studies: be a diligent student and abandon the independence movement. Despite the Sultan's disapproval, Amir became more heavily involved in the nationalist movement, bringing him under increasing Dutch scrutiny. He continued to publish in Poedjangga Baroe, including a series of five articles on Eastern literatures from June to December 1934 and a translation of the Bhagavad Gita from 1933 to 1935. His legal studies, however, were delayed, and by 1937 he had still not graduated. The Dutch, concerned about Amir's nationalistic tendencies, convinced the Sultan to send him back to Langkat, an order which the fledgling poet was unable to refuse. In 1937, Amir, together with two of the Sultan's vassals tasked with escorting him, boarded the Opten Noort from Tanjung Priok and returned to Sumatra. Upon arriving in Langkat, he was informed that he was to be married to the Sultan's eldest daughter, Tengku Puteri Kamiliah, a woman he had barely met. Before the wedding Amir returned to Batavia to face his final exam – and have one last meeting with Sundari. Several weeks later he returned to Langkat, where he and Kamiliah were married in an extravagant ceremony. His cousin, Tengku Burhan, later stated that Amir's indifference throughout the seven-day event was due to his unhappiness. Though unhappy with his marriage, he fulfilled his courtly duties. After Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945, he served as the government's representative in Langkat. The following year he was killed in a social revolution led by the PESINDO (Pemuda Sosialis Indonesia), and buried in a mass grave.

Reader's Guide

Amir Hamzah began writing poetry while still a teenager: though his works are undated, the earliest are thought to have been written when he first travelled to Java. Drawing influences from his own Malay culture and Islam, as well as from Christianity and Eastern literature, Amir wrote 50 poems, 18 pieces of lyrical prose, and numerous other works, including several translations. In 1932 he co-founded the literary magazine Poedjangga Baroe. After his return to Sumatra, he stopped writing. Most of his poems were published in two collections, Nyanyi Sunyi (1937) and Buah Rindu (1941), first in Poedjangga Baroe then as stand-alone books. Poems by Amir deal with the themes of love and religion and his poetry often reflects a deep inner conflict. His diction, using both Malay and Javanese words and expanding on traditional structures, was influenced by the need for rhythm and metre, as well as symbolism related to particular terms. His earlier works deal with a sense of longing and both erotic and idealised love, whereas his later works have a deeper religious meaning. Of his two collections, Nyanyi Sunyi is considered the most developed. Amir has been called the 'King of the Poedjangga Baroe-era Poets' and the only international-class Indonesian poet from before the Indonesian National Revolution.

Did You Know?

• Amir Hamzah's first two published poems, 'Sunyi' ('Silent') and 'Mabuk...' ('Nauseous...'), appeared in the March 1932 edition of the magazine Timboel.
• He translated the Bhagavad Gita, serialized in Poedjangga Baroe from 1933 to 1935.
• Amir insisted on speaking Malay even though most educated youth at the time preferred Dutch.
• He was killed in a social revolution led by PESINDO (Pemuda Sosialis Indonesia) and buried in a mass grave.
• His cousin Tengku Burhan stated that Amir showed indifference throughout his seven-day wedding ceremony to the sultan's daughter.

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