Iambus was Toh hsien Min’s very first published collection of poetry. This was a little apparent to me in his work, especially because I had read his collections backwards.
His play on style was a lot simpler and most poems, shorter. It felt like a poet’s scribbles at the start of an idea, in comparison to his more polished works in later collections.
Again, the variety in subject points in his poetry made it seem as if Hsien Min had carved inspiration from just about any object or scenery. A recurring theme in this collection however, was nature. The theme was shared in poems such as ‘In the Park’, ‘Weed-Killer’ and ‘Bukit Timah and Hindhede’ where imagery of nature was profusely used.
This led me to insinuate a gentler tone throughout his poetry. Whereas in ‘Means to An End’, his latest collection, I sensed a more assertive and opinionated tone. Frankly, I liked ‘Iambus’ the least and ‘Means to An End’ the most. His opinions and personal perspective weaved in his poetry encouraged a lot more thought by the reader which made reading more engaging.
