Come feel the cool and shadowed breeze, come smell your way among the trees, come touch rough bark and leathered leaves: Welcome to the night. Welcome to the night, where mice stir and furry moths flutter. Where snails spiral into shells as orb spiders circle in silk. Where the roots of oak trees recover and repair from their time in the light. Where the porcupette eats delicacies—raspberry leaves!—and coos and sings. Come out to the cool, night wood, and buzz and hoot and howl—but do beware of the great horned owl—for it’s wild and it’s windy way out in the woods!
THE BOOK OF MUGHAL POETS Anthology of Poetry Under the Reigns of the Mughal Emperors of India (1526-1857) Translations & Introduction Paul Smith CONTENTS: The Mughal Empire, Emperor Babur, Emperor Humayun, Emperor Akbar, Emperor Jahangir, Emperor Shah Jahan, Emperor Aurangzeb, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Sufis & Dervishes: Their Art and Use of Poetry, The Main Forms in Persian, Urdu & Pushtu Poetry of the Indian Sub-Continent. Poets in the Reign of Babur: Babur, Wafa'i, Farighi, Haqiri. Poets in the Reign of Humayun: Humayun, Kamran, Nadiri, Bayram. Poets in the Reign of Akbar: Akbar, Ghazali, Maili, Kahi, Faizi, Urfi, Nami, Hayati, Qutub Shah, Naziri. Poets in the Reign of Jahangir: Jahangir, Rahim, Talib, Shikebi, Tausani, Qasim. Poets in the Reign of Shah Jahan: Qudsi, Sa'ib, Kalim. Poets in Reign of Aurangzeb: Dara Shikoh, Mullah Shah, Sarmad, Khushal, Nasir Ali, Makhfi, Wali, Bedil. Poets in the Reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar: Zafar, Zauq, Ghalib, Momin, Shefta, Dagh. The correct rhyme-structures have been kept and the meaning of these beautiful, powerful, sometimes mystical poems. Large Format Paperback 7" x 10" Pages 544. COMMENTS ON PAUL SMITH'S TRANSLATION OF HAFIZ'S 'DIVAN'. "It is not a joke... the English version of ALL the ghazals of Hafiz is a great feat and of paramount importance. I am astonished. If he comes to Iran I will kiss the fingertips that wrote such a masterpiece inspired by the Creator of all." Dr. Mir Mohammad Taghavi (Dr. of Literature) Tehran. "Superb translations. 99% Hafiz 1% Paul Smith." Ali Akbar Shapurzman, translator in English into Persian and knower of Hafiz's Divan off by heart. "I was very impressed with the beauty of these books." Dr. R.K. Barz. Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University. "Smith has probably put together the greatest collection of literary facts and history concerning Hafiz." Daniel Ladinsky (Penguin Books author). Paul Smith is a poet, author and translator of many books of Sufi poets from the Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Turkish, Hindi, Pashtu and other languages including Hafiz, Sadi, Nizami, Rumi, 'Attar, Sana'i, Jahan Khatun, Obeyd Zakani, Nesimi, Kabir, Anvari, Ansari, Jami, Khayyam, Rudaki, Yunus Emre, Lalla Ded, Ghalib, Iqbal, Rahman Baba and others, and his own poetry, fiction, plays, biographies, children's books and screenplays. www.newhumanitybooks.com
Among the most original and exciting features of the Carolingian Renaissance is the reemergence of political poetry and the development of a vital tradition of verse which comments reflectively and contentiously on the course of public events. Peter Godman's analysis focuses on the character of the classical tradition in the early Middle ages--creatively adapted to "barbarian" literary tastes--and the refashioning and invention of poetic form in response to contemporary political affairs.
Now one of Booklist's 30 Best Books of the Year! "Genius!" – Wired.com “Marilyn Singer's verse in Follow Follow practically dances down each page . . . the effect is miraculous and pithy.” – The Wall Street Journal Once upon a time, Mirror Mirror, a brilliant book of fairy tale themed reversos–a poetic form in which the poem is presented forward and then backward–became a smashing success. Now a second book is here with more witty double takes on well-loved fairy tales such as Thumbelina and The Little Mermaid. Read these clever poems from top to bottom and they mean one thing. Then reverse the lines and read from bottom to top and they mean something else–it is almost like magic! A celebration of sight, sound, and story, this book is a marvel to read again and again.
The wildly enchanting new collection from the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa "If I am not Ulysses, I am / his dear, ruthless half brother." So announces Yusef Komunyakaa early in his lush new collection, The Emperor of Water Clocks. And Ulysses (or his half brother) is but one of the characters Komunyakaa conjures over the course of this densely lyrical book. Here his speaker observes a doomed court jester; here another recalls Napoleon as the emperor "tells the doctor to cut out his heart / & send it to the empress, Marie-Louise"; and here he is just a man, reflecting on why he'd "rather die a poet / than a warrior." Through these mutations and migrations and permutations and peregrinations, there are constants: Komunyakaa's jazz-inflected rhythms, his effortlessly surreal images, his celebration of natural beauty and of love. There is also his insistent inquiry into the structures and struggles of power: not only, say, of king against jester but of man against his own desire, and of the present against the pernicious influence of the past. Another brilliant collection from the man David Wojahn has called one of our "most significant and individual voices," The Emperor of Water Clocks delights, challenges, and satisfies.
Defining Chu begins with an overview of the historical geography, an outline of archaeological evidence for Chu history, and an appreciation of Chu art. Following chapters examine issues of state and society: the ideology of the ruling class, legal procedures, popular culture, and daily life. The final section surveys Chu religion and literature and includes an analysis of the Chuci, the great anthology of Chu poetry, and its impact on mainstream Chinese literature. A translation of the Chu Silk Manuscript¿ is appended. This document has intrigued scholars since its discovery in Changsha some sixty years ago. The inclusion of this rare and difficult text, available for the first time in an effective and accessible translation, will make this volume indispensable to students and scholars of early Chinese history and thought.
For centuries the Japanese court has patronized the art of poetry and participated in the composition of the traditional native verse form waka. This book is a collection of poetry by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko who have continued this legacy.
This lavishly illustrated, oversized (17" x 10") book brings together the last major print series of the celebrated Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849) and the Japanese poetry that inspired these beautiful prints. Whether showing semi-nude women abalone divers struggling with their catch while a male crew of shriveled old salts leers from a nearby boat, or the carefree rapture of a leisurely group of men and women observing cherry blossoms at their peak, Hokusai captures, with drama and delicacy, sublime and ridiculous states. The artist's simplicity, though deceptive, is also remarkable: he illustrates a poem about a lovers' seaside tryst with a magnificently imposing yet unadorned sailing vessel, its small window offering a coy glimpse of the fortunate couple inside. Each of the 111 color prints (as well as 41 black-and-white sketches of projected prints apparently never completed) is accompanied by the poem, in Japanese and English, a biographical note on the poet and by Peter Morse's comments on literary and artistic intention and execution.
