This is in a long line of poetry that straddles the line between religious and erotic poetry. Among the best known in this category are those by the 13th century Persian Sufi mystic Rumi, who composed over 40,000 lyric verses.Here is one of them, as translated by Coleman Barks.
What Was Told, That
What was said to the rose that made it open was said to me here in my chest.
What was told the cypress that made it strong and straight, what was
whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made sugarcane sweet, whatever
was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in Turkestan that makes them
so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush like a human face, that is
being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in language, that’s happening here.
The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude, chewing a piece of sugarcane,
This is in a long line of poetry that straddles the line between religious and erotic poetry. Among the best known in this category are those by the 13th century Persian Sufi mystic Rumi, who composed over 40,000 lyric verses.Here is one of them, as translated by Coleman Barks.
ReplyDeleteWhat Was Told, That
What was said to the rose that made it open was said
to me here in my chest.
What was told the cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was
whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever
was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them
so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is
being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that’s happening here.
The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,