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The ghazal is a poetic form with roots in Arabic and Persian literature. Ghazal poems are composed of rhyming couplets, with each couplet functioning as an independent unit.
The hallmark of a ghazal is the presence of a refrain, known as the “radif,” which is repeated at the end of both lines in the first couplet and then at the end of the second line in subsequent couplets. Ghazals often explore themes of love, loss, longing, and spiritual contemplation.
They embody a sense of melancholy and desire, with the repetition of the radif lending a musical quality to the poem. Ghazal poetry has been celebrated for its elegance, emotional depth, and ability to evoke profound sentiments within a compact and structured form.
‘Ghazal’ is an ancient Persian form of poetry that makes use of couplets, which are quite similar to sonnets that have been in use by the European poets.
If I am the grass and you the breeze, blow through me. If I am the rose and you the bird, then woo me.
‘Gacela of Unforseen Love’ explores the relationship between love and despair through a remembered romance which has run its course.
No one understood the perfume
of the dark magnolia of your womb
Nobody knew that you tormented
a hummingbird of love between your teeth.
Tracy K. Smith’s Ghazal explores history, identity, and loss of African Americans, questioning if their identity will be recognized or remain buried.
The sky is a dry pitiless white. The wide rows stretch on into death.
Like famished birds, my hands strip each stalk of its stolen crop: our name.History is a ship forever setting sail. On either shore: mountains of men,
Oceans of bone, an engine whose teeth shred all that is not our name.
‘Backdrop’ by Agha Shahid Ali is a thoughtful poem that speaks about the Arabic language. It also reflects on the speaker’s connection to his ancestors.
‘The Ghazal ‘By Exiles”’ by Agha Shahid Ali is a painful piece of poetry. In it, the poet reveals how hard it is to leave the place where one spent one’s golden times.
‘The Ghazal “In Real Time”’ by Agha Shahid Ali intertwines pain, suffering, and injustice. The powerful poem creates meaning within the complex structure of a ghazal.
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