Ghazal

Ghazal

1. Ghazal Poems

   • rhyming couplet which also feature a refrain
     • refrain is a repeated phrase word or line. For this poem it is "me"
   • all the same metre. for this poem its 12 syllables per line
   • each couplet is a singular thought or idea and each couplet doesn't have to link to the previous ones or the ones that follow
   • 6th century arabic verse linked to Islam + Sufism
   • should always aim to find the divine way and perfect way to reach God/allah
   • poet should be writing to both a mortal beloved that is unattainable as well as divine love for God which brings completion to the poet. So the poem should be aimed at the unrequited lover and divine God - ambiguous
     • DIVINE LOVE
     • UNREQUITED LOVE
   • a ghazal should approach both an unrequited lover and a love for God

2. If I am the grass and you the breeze, blow through me"

   • grass is a fixed constant and noun, breeze is an abstract noun that is free. Grass depends on other things to live, whereas the breeze doesn't. Breeze/unrequited lover is empowered
   • "grass"= Earth "breeze"= Heaven "blow through me"= breath of God

3. If I am the rose and you the bird, then woo me

   • rose is an organic symbol which needs the bird in pollination in order to survive
   • bird is a metaphor of God and' woo me' is God calling her to her faith and telling her not to be distracted by the world
   • 'if' - no relationship, imagination

4. If you are the rhyme and i the refrain, don't hang on my lips, come and i'll come too, when you cue me.

   • refrain is a constant repeat... all that on her mind,
   • hang on my lips- can't find the words, doesn't know what to say
   • 'come..' ambiguity and overtly sexual
   • when you cue me- power and direction to the man, she moves and speaks only when he tells her
   • could be God- directing and controlling her and putting the words into her mouth in order to carry on

5. If yours is the iron fist in the velvet glove when the arrow flies, the heart is pierced, tattoo me.

   • iron fist- defiance and velvet glove- femininity almost oxymoronic- 2 sides to her - soft + defiant, or man is defiant + she is feminine
   • arrow flies- suggest that he is the archer that will pierce her heart- damage her and that he is powerful and dangerous
   • the heart is pierced- metaphor, damaged and emotive. Tattoo me- suggest physical/internal markings or scars that will/has happen(ed) should this love continue or start
   • Faith of the heart pierced by the mark of God

6. If mine is the venomous tongue, the serepents tail,charmer use the charm, weave a spell and subdue me

   • venomous tongue- suggests poisonous words/ bitterness so the unrequited lover has become embittered
   • serpents tail- biblical reference hints at possible betrayal/disloyal/garden of eden/satan
   • charmer- empowering the man once again - although the serpent is dangerous, the charmer has it under control
   • subdue me- suggests she's out of control and needs guidance, that she's not stable and that she's needs to be calmed down
   • venomous tongue- blasphamy words against God + serpents tail- succumbing to temptation
     • weave a spell- Gods healing when she is sinning to bring her back and control her wrong doing + make her a better person

7. If I am the laurel leaf in your crown, you are the arms around my bark, arms that never knew me

   • laurel leaf- singular suggest insignificance of her to the crown as she's only one segment of his glory. also crown of many leaves may suggest he has many admirers and that he's to going to pay attention to each one individually
     • laurel leaf- one piece of God glory
       • arms that never knew me - doesn't now God as much as she would like, she should embark on his journey more often (religious regret?)
   • a- alliteration with arms around arms
   • arms that never knew me- no physical love, perhaps this is all hypothetical and there has been no relationship + never will be - proof of isolated or unrequited status. he doesn't even know she loves him

8. Oh would that I would bark! So old and still in leaf. And you, dropping in my shade, dew to bedew me!

   • Oh would that i would bark- she wishes it would happen
   • so old and still in leaf- metaphor for her youth which suggests she is no longer young - laments her age
   • dropping- brief encounters and gives her limited and little attention
   • he is the rain, the life-giver
     • she is replenished and renewed by God and her faith

9. What shape should i take to marry your own, have you- hawk to my shadow, moth to my flame- pursue me?

   • she thinks she has to change so that he can see her
     • trying to measure up to God by changing
       • pursue me? - asking God to pursue her/humanity, asking him to follow her as she doesn't trust herself to do right
   • hawk- is free and a predator which empowers the man again and suggests he is to be wary off whilst she is but a shadow- a dark reflection of his incomplete being, stuck on the ground
   • moth to my flame- first time we see the man vulnerable + her with power. Moths are attracted to flames but when they get too close they are burnt. Suggests if he were to find her attractive, finally, he would only get hurt. (same as in he is free to roam and she is stuck)
     • she is the undoing and damage to her own faith
   • ? hints at the fact that she knows he will never pursue her
     • not compatible (moth + flame)

10. If I rise in the East as you die in the West, die for my sake, my love every night renew me.

    • she was born in the (Middle) East and lived in the West (Europe)- reference that she is the unrequited lover
    • she is day and he is night + they can never meet
      • complete opposites
    • it would be easier if he were to die - then she wouldn't have this feeling of unrequited love
      • hints at a saviour or martyr
    • renew me - moon renewing darkness/ faith/ love/ pain
    • Islam more widely worshipped in east (Middle East + Africa) than in western world. Islam is growing in the east but is dying in the west
      • OR when I'm in the east, islam rises in me

11. If when it ends, we are just good friends, be my Friend, muse, lover and guide, Shamsuddin to my Rumi

    • if- hypothetical, all her imagination, she is imagining them breaking up even though the relationship hasn't even started OR did it get started only to fizzle out?
      • Friend- capitalisation suggests significance or a personal diety e.g. God
      • Rumi is a persian love poet who came up with the Ghazal form of poem and Shamsuddin was his assistant
        • suggests partners and co-workers so she still wants to be close to him

12. Be heaven and earth to me, and I'll be twice the me I am, if only half the world you are to me.

    • heaven and earth- too big and cliche
    • twice the me I am- desperation for him to like her and give her attention so she wants to change as she feels that her normally is half as good as he would want or deserve
    • 'if only half the world you are to me' - betrays entire mood of the poem - gives a sense she doesn't care as much as she first did OR does it reflect night + day imagery?
    • if only half the world you are to me- gives a sense that God is not a part of her life as much as he should be
      • Trying to be better for God