Green Romanticism: A Problematic Portrayal of Love and Nature in Damono’s Kolam Through Ecocriticism Standpoint

In Green Romanticism: A Problematic Portrayal of Love and Nature in Damono’s Kolam Through Ecocriticism Standpoint, BINUS’ Subject Content Coordinator of Literature Andreas Akun examines how love and nature are inseparable in the poetry of Sapardi Djoko Damono. Akun uses an ecocritical approach towards a collection of poems written by the late poet and published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama known as Kolam, arguing that the romantic feelings in it are shaped through natural imagery such as rain, clouds, trees, and wind. These elements both as background settings and contributors to emotional meaning; when references to nature are removed, the poems lose their depth.

Akun highlights how Damono portrays harmony between humans and nature through simple and everyday scenes. Blooming flowers, rainfall nurturing trees, pond ecosystems – these sceneries demonstrate balance and interdependence. Through personification and metaphor, nature is given human qualities, reinforcing the idea that emotional experiences follow a cycle of growth, be it for better or worse. In this way, love is portrayed as a process involving sacrifice, change, and giving.

The study also identifies how romantic themes – love, separation, memory, and prayer – are consistently expressed through nature. Clouds symbolize distance, birds represent memory, and wind conveys silent prayer. These recurring natural metaphors emphasize that human relationships cannot be separated from the environment. Nature becomes essential in shaping emotional expression and deepening romantic meaning.

Akun also points out the problematic side of green romanticism in Damono’s poems. Urban life introduces pollution, factory smoke, traffic congestion, and disappearing green spaces – a negative growth that creates tension between human culture and nature. The loss of parks, lakes, and quiet environments reflects not only environmental damage but also declining intimacy and emotional warmth in human relationships.

Overall, Akun concludes that Kolam presents romance and nature as interdependent subjects. But while nature enriches romantic expression, modern urban development often disrupts this harmony. Through the lens of ecocriticism, Damono’s poetry ultimately suggests that people can and must seek balance between their culture and nature.

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