Ghazal Page Newsletter #7

7/27/2019 Ghazal Page Newsletter #7

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Newsletter of The Ghazal PageVolume 1 # 7

3 May 2013

Announcements

Here I want to mention the work of Jane and Werner Reichhold at AHA Poetry, and especially their encouraging

symbiotic (“collaborative”) poetry. They have published a comprehensive online book, Symbiotic Poetry:

 Anthology of International Collaborative Poetry, including articles as well as poems. Both Jane and Werner

contributed to early issues of The Ghazal Page; on their site, Bill Dennis has an article on ghazals and renga thatmay be of interest to you.

Since you have this address (gwd@genedoty.org), please use it for submissions and other communication, rather

than using the contact form on The Ghazal Page. That form is there to frustrate spammers, and it seems to beworking. Writing directly to this address is more convenient for each of us, I think. Thanks, and I look forward to

hearing from you.

Remember that both the June issue and the Water challenge are still open for submissions.

If you see things in the Newsletter (or on The Ghazalpage) that are unclear or incorrect, or if you have

ideas/information that would expand and deepen the material, please let me know. If you have ideas for shortpieces for the newsletter—notes and reviews, for example, please let me know. The length can be as brief as 50

or so words, and up to about 500 words. Anything much longer could go on The Ghazal Page.

Dramatis Personae of the Ghazal

In his Diwan, Syed Faizan provides a list of the Dramatis Personae of the traditional Urdu ghazal. The personae

are presented in order of importance and frequency. The list below gives the first nine of the personae with

descriptions drawn from Syed's Diwan (with a couple of direct quotations). Also, I drew a little on Ralph

Russell's Ghalib, especially for the Saki. These persons are presented for their connection with the traditional

ghazal. They illustrate the common cultural vocabulary of poets writing in Urdu. If shairs writing in English

wish to make use of them, I'd like to see the results. However, those of us writing ghazals in English have greatfreedom of image, theme, and symbol. I don't suggest that we give that up.

The Poet (Shair): "The Ghazal poet is portrayed as a romantic Hero, passionate in the extreme, irrational to the point

of self destruction,inconsolable as the raving madman in love, iconoclastic as a rebellious mystic,disconsolate as afailed lover, irrepressible as the 'rend' or the 'debauchee'."

The Beloved: The Beloved can be human or divine, or the human beloved can point to the divine. The beloved is

elusive, teasing and frustrating the poet.

The Vaiz (Preacher): The Vaiz is a fundamentalist fanatic who, while not especially moral himself, opposes the

"immorality" of the Poet and has the power to issue a fatwa on the Poet. Recall the situation in 1989 years ago withSalmon Rushdie.

The Sheikh: The Sheikh is also a fundamentalist but not, like the Vaiz, a hypocrite and tyrant.

The Muhtasib (Enforcer): The Muhtasahib enforces the rulings of the Vaiz.

The Raqib (Rival): This sneaky character tries to woo the Poet's Beloved for himself.

The Priest: The Priest represents "the pious hypocrisies of representative the other faiths such as Hinduism,

Christianity and means to beguile and ensnare pious innocent believers [in Islam]. . . . He is a pious charlatan."

The Saki (Cupbearer): The Saki is a beautiful, graceful young man who can be the Beloved as well. Traditional

ghazal poets aren't shy about their romantic attraction to young men as well as to women. Urdu grammar's lack of 

gender specificity often makes it difficult for translators to choose male or female

referents in English.

Wine: Wine, of course, is forbidden by Islam. Ghalib was a notable wine-drinker, a

topic in many of his ghazals. Wine easily becomes a symbol for mystical ecstacy,

which also is usually opposed by institutional religion.

Copyright © 2013, by Gene Doty