just another ex-jazz-musician/proto-rapper/Jersey-Irish-poet-actor/print-junkie/film-raptor/beat-hipster-"white Negro"-rhapsodizer/ex-hippie-punk-'60s-radical-organizer's take on all things cultural, political, spiritual & aggrandizing
Friday, July 24, 2009
QUOTE (POEM) FOR THE TIMES
"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth 'You owe me.'
Look what happens with a love like that. It lights up the whole sky."
—Hafiz (the 14th-Century Persian poet, from a new translataion by Mahmood Karimi-Hakak and Bill Wolak)
I'm pleased to see there's a new translation of Hafiz available. I had a lot of difficulty with the Daniel Ladinsky translations, which were all that seemed to be available in recent years.
Too much Ladinsky, not enough Hafiz ... and too much effort expended in being 'contemporary' in phrasing and idioms. Give the reader a little latitude to do that work for herself/himself.
Nice!
ReplyDelete~ Willy
Dear Lal,
ReplyDeleteA huge number of poets could do well to look at this poem and see what can be done with a mere 29 words. Thanks for posting this.
Bob Berner
balanced ...
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to see there's a new translation of Hafiz available. I had a lot of difficulty with the Daniel Ladinsky translations, which were all that seemed to be available in recent years.
ReplyDeleteToo much Ladinsky, not enough Hafiz ... and too much effort expended in being 'contemporary' in phrasing and idioms. Give the reader a little latitude to do that work for herself/himself.