Aku (poem)

And I will care even less I want to live a thousand more years Anwar first read "Aku" at the Jakarta Cultural Centre in July 1943.

[1] It was then printed in Pemandangan under the title "Semangat" ("Spirit"); according to Indonesian literary documentarian HB Jassin, this was to avoid censorship and to better promote the nascent independence movement.

[3] Indonesian writer Muhammad Balfas notes that one of Anwar's contemporaries, Bung Usman, wrote "Hendak Jadi Orang Besar???"

[5] Netti analyzes the poem itself as reflecting Anwar's need to control his environment and not be shaped by outside forces, emphasizing the first two stanzas.

[8] Budiman also notes that the third and fourth stanzas reflect Friedrich Nietzsche's view that suffering makes one stronger.

Chairil Anwar, author of "Aku"
Anwar's "Aku", on a wall in the Netherlands