He Had Such Quiet Eyes

Pools of Lies

Bibsy Soeharjo's poem for the coming-of-age girls is incisively blunt.

The poem goes like this:

Smoky Eyes of Sharukh Khan

He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise

They were two pools of lies

Layered with thinnest ice

To her, those quiet eyes

Were breathing desolate sighs

Imploring her to be nice

And to render him paradise

If only she’d been wise

And had listened to the advice

Never to compromise

With pleasure-seeking guys

She’d be free from ‘the hows and whys’

Now here’s a bit of advice

Be sure that nice really means nice

Then you’ll never be losing at dice

Though you lose your heart once or twice

Bibsy at Recital

Brief Description and Interpretation

An innocent, possibly naive girl, is taken up with a man who is "quietly" attractive. Being young and perhaps influenced by love stories, movies and songs, she fell in love with the man,not knowing the pitfalls that awaits her.

When she found out that he was a pleasure seeker, out for fun as he preys on young girls,she became aware on hindsight that she has been taken advantage of and in regretting, sought out answers how she has been influenced by physical beauty and sweet, glib talk.  Or was she weak and seeking for affections?  This realisation is a turning point which will make her more aware the next time around.

In the third stanza, Bibsy gave the moral advice to all coming-of-age girls. Make sure you know who you are going to be friends with. Know the men 'as fully as possible' before you commit yourself on a long term relationship or else you would fall into " thinnest ice". Be alert and wise and you will never 'lose at dice' which means you will not lose at love.

Bibsy also advise take love is not easy to find at 'first sight'. One should seek mature love-one that can last even though you may have a heart-break or two in seeking it.

Now let us do these questions

Questions :

1.   What does the word quiet imply when describing the man’s eyes?

2.   What is the man trying to do?

3.   Which line implies the woman is naïve?

4.   What do you understand by the phrase thinnest ice?

5.   In the second stanza, what quality does the woman lack?

6.   Pools of lies indicates what kind of man is this character?

7.   Would pleasure seeking men really love woman? Give reasons

8.   What does never to compromise imply?

9.   What is the poet’s warning to woman in the last stanza?

10.  How would you infer from the words, never be losing at dice?