Charles Bezzina: Raxx tas-Silenzju: a collection of poems, self-published, 2012, 199 pp.
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Charles Bezzina is one of Gozo’s best and foremost romantic poets, and a very prolific one. This is his seventh collection of poems, and the 25 years that have elapsed since his first collection Triqat Bla Tarf, in 1987, have certainly left their mark on both the poet and his poetic prowess.
What makes Bezzina different from other poets is the unique way in which he interprets his feelings- Alfred Palma
Bezzina has a passionate love for poetry, a love that is charged and intensified by an innate obsession with nature, particularly the sea. Its multiple moods and metaphors play an important part in almost all Bezzina’s poetry. At times, it takes over from the muse and carries the poet away on its own intimate metaphysical journey.
To enhance the beauty and the mystery of this journey, Bezzina resorts to the mystic aura of silence. Both the silence and the sea take centre stage in this collection, and are a haven of inner joy not untouched by a hue of sheer melancholy.
What makes Bezzina different from other poets is the unique way in which he interprets his feelings, the confessional style of his verses, the beautifully selected metaphors with which he interprets his sentiments in poetry, to simultaneously bask in the enthralling beauty and serenity of the Gozitan country side, and the surrounding sea. Bezzina’s choice of words is incisive both in sound, expression and the meaning they are meant to express. Like every other sensitive poet, he feels the pain of reality; he yearns for the ideal life, cherishes love and beauty, is hurt and groans at how futile are his attempts to atone for all the shortcomings and the disillusionment with life.
Sometimes he feels helpless, alone, and so in many poems he withdraws within himself. His best friend is his Id, to which he resorts for understanding, to which he safely outpours his soul, to which he reveals his ideals, his hopes and confesses his disillusionments. This is seen in gems such as Nibda, Illejla Waħdi, Meta, Ersaqt Lejn il-Baħar, Jien Ombra, Fittixt is-Skiet and the very touching and nostalgic Tibqa’ x-Xewqa tal-Passat.
In his extensive and excellent critical study of the poems, Oliver Friggieri says: “(Bezzina’s) confessional poetry is a declaration of faith in the power of the written word, and is simultaneously an admission that the mystery cannot be contained by the word. The mystery is much vaster and far removed from the word.”
Yet, in this absolute condition, poetry is forever redeeming, a source of soothing therapy and consolation. Much of Bezzina’s verses owe their genesis to things natural and human; but the soul which lurks inside this thick book, in most of these 180 poems, lies within, above, and beyond the sea and, of course, the blessed silence that hovers forever over it.
Reading this wonderful collection of poems, I felt much like the contemplative and forlorn man in Caspar David Friedrich’s celebrated painting Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, and thus, a great art-lover myself, I enjoyed my read even more.