• Title: Of the Heart and Soul: A Mellifluous Whisper
  • Writer: Piyali Mitra
  • Book Type: Anthology of Poems
  • Genre: Poetry
  • Edition: Kindle eBook
  • Publisher: BlueRose Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
  • Year of Publication: 2021
  • Number of Pages: 59

- Blurb of the Book -

This anthology abounds in the feeling of love-- Love has always been the source of inspiration for the countless poems and thoughtful scribbling made by lovers and admirers, but few poems are written analyzing the concept and how to feel to be in love. This book speaks of how love can be the source of inspiration at the same time the source of abjection. Rejection and dejection can push one to a corner while love can uplift and transcend a mind from one realm to another. This garland of verses as the author would love to call is also a memory book remembering the various emotions her mother has been subjected to.

Some lines and verses of this book speak the loudest and most directly and others have reflection of vibrant imagery and artful characters. Some lines have divine intonation while others draw heavily from mundane life. The book has tried to capture the colors, aroma and essences of water, land, mountains, seasons and even leaves. Every object of Nature has their own language. This book has made an attempt to communicate that subtle language through verses. The book contains some illustrations.

- Lady Bookamore's Views -

Firstly, I would like to thank the writer for giving me an opportunity to review such a wholesome work of poetry.

The Preface to Of the Heart and Soul encompasses the very essence of the anthology in a kind of simplicity that is unfathomable and universal, especially in the following excerpt;

Emotion in various form (sic) remarkably has (sic) been unveiled in Literature but of all love and pain stood out among all the emotions.

Piyali Mitra, "Preface", Of the Heart and Soul

Thus, this undoubtedly stands as one of the primary reasons why I loved reading Of the Heart and Soul. The sheer beauty of the verse blooms in the simplicity that thrives in its themes and language. As the Preface clarifies it beforehand, Of the Heart and Soul contemplates on the question of whether love "mitigate or aggrandize (sic)" the feeling of agony. Love, as we know, is a double-edged sword of human experience. While some perceive it to be an emotion that instills hope, for others with an existential angst, love might seem futile. This duality that exists in the core of this emotion is explored to great depths in this anthology. And there are some experiments occurring at the surface level of the book, another reason why I loved reading the poems in it. For instance, Of the Heart and Soul utilises the ode form while abiding by its technical and thematic conventions. "Welcome October", however, totally shifts from the conversational tone as seen in other poems in this anthology by putting forth a picturesque description of how the transience of nature is best captured in the month of October. It is these minute elements in each of these poems that contributes to Of the Heart and Soul being such a powerfully subjective work of poetry.

However, Of the Heart and Soul has one glitch that, I think, did let down the book to some extent. The absence of copy-editing and proofreading throughout the anthology, including the Preface, seemed to me like a pebble in the show as I tried to rejoice the subtle sublimity that this book promises to the reader. Personally, I believe that if this were addressed beforehand, Of the Heart and Soul would have surely become a must-read for those who devour love poetry for its aesthetics. I convey my best wishes to the writer for her future endeavours.

Lady Bookamore rates this book 4/5

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