Sohrab Sepehri

I'm reading The Oasis of Now, a selection of poems by Sohrab Sepehri (1928-1980) translated into English. There's a faint ring of Walt Whitman to him, he sings to the multitudes. The bio says he knew some things about Buddhism, which is perhaps fairly rare in Iran, but he died fairly soon after the revolution when things were more open and allowed in Iran. He was also a painter who traveled all over Europe. 

I'm really enjoying this poetry book, published in Rochester, by BOA. I couldn't recommend this book more, or this publisher. 

I am intrigued by the other poets he's compared to: Nima Youshij (1895-1960), Ahmad Shamlou, Mehdi Akhavan-Sales (1925-2000), and Forough Farrokhzad (1934-1967) (the one female). My library has a book by Ahmad Shamlou and 2 of Forugh Farrokhzad. She died in a car crash as 32.

The link reference has other Persian poets, including Simin Behbahani (1927-2014).

Parvin Etesami (1907-1941). Her mother outlived her by 32 years. She married her father's cousin, but the marriage only lasted 10 weeks. He was a military man and she was a poet. She declined to become a tutor to the queen. She died of Typhoid fever. Her poems harken back to more classical times.

Ferdowsi (940-1025)

I found this poem that mentions Ferdowsi:

Reciting the Holy Book by Mo H. Saidi

Mother recited the Koran every night.

None of us knew what those words meant.

She persuaded us to pray every day.

She would frighten us,

“You’ll go to Hell otherwise.”

Near the mosque I was born.

Reciting aloud the muezzin kept us

awake all night. Mother said, this was

God’s call, and we would suffer

forever if we didn’t respond.

She paid us to recite the Holy

Book, "So you’ll go to Heaven,”

she’d cry out. When she saw

that we ran away instead

she prayed for us every night.

She brought a mullah who called

us pagans because we read Hugo

and Hemingway, played chess and listened

to Mozart. We kicked a ball

and played soccer in the courtyard.

Our father dismissed the bigot quietly

told us, “That is an ignorant fool:

go to school and read Hedayat and Ferdowsi.”

That mullah is now the Grand Ayatollah

who resides in the Shah’s palace.

Nizami Ganjavi (1141-1209)

Hafez I've already written about. 

Omar Khayyam (1048-1131)

Rumi (1207-1273)  is someone I'm going to have to study in depth at some point, someone I've already read. 

Links

Two poems by Sohrab Sepehri