Wednesday, September 28, 2005

The Dance Within


"Is not most talking
A crazed defence of a crumbling fort? "

A poet on my blog, after a long time. Have been meaning to write about Hafiz and his poetry.But never found the words. Hence the silence.

I have laughed out loud reading some of his poetry in quiet bookstores and fought back a tear or two in the library reading others. What can I say. Just grab a book of his poems, sit back, relax and let the pleasure begin. :)


Silence

A day of Silence
Can be a pilgrimage in itself.

A day of Silence
Can help you listen
To the Soul play
Its marvellous lute and drum.

Is not most talking
A crazed defence of a crumbling fort?

I thought we came here
To surrender in Silence,

To yield to Light and Happiness,

To Dance within
In celebration of Love’s Victory!

From: “I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz: by Daniel Ladinsky.


My first Hafiz poem, you ask? After a long, interesting (and needless to say, absolutely pointless) discussion with a friend. I start questioning the usefulness/uselessness of time spent chatting. My friend smiles, but says nothing. Later that day, I find this in my inbox. Most wonderful!

What Should We Do About That Moon?

A wine bottle fell from a wagon
And broke open in a field.
That night hundred beetles and all their cousins
Gathered
And did some serious binge drinking.
They even found some seed husks nearby
And began to play them like drums and whirl.
This made God very happy.
Then the 'night candle' rose into the sky
And one drunk creature, laying down his instrument
Said to his friend - for no apparent
Reason,
"What should we do about that moon?"
Seems to Hafiz
Most everyone has laid aside the music
Tackling such profoundly useless
Questions.

- Hafiz


(image from http://www.sharadhaksar.com)

I was instantly fascinated. Why worry about the why, when you are having such a good time?

Reminds me of Madhushala by Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Bachchan is another poet who can make you, care and yet not care, so easily, that it can hurt.

Let me not forget, the reason (a post by
Falstaff), I was reminded of Hafiz today.

3 comments:

Falstaff said...

Nice. You can never have too much of a good thing, can you. I can think of at least a half dozen other pieces I feel like quoting at this point.

The Black Mamba said...

Yes. I guess that is why I never got around to posting anything on Hafiz, until now. Can hardly resist quoting a dozen more.

Space Bar said...

iknow thi sis an old post, but i hope you don't mind a comment anyway. i came to hafiz via ladinsky...and though they're, strictly speaking, what ladinsky calls 'renditions', i think they must capture the essence better than any obsession with rhyme.

'i heard god laughing' and 'the gift' are real treasures.

'No Other Kind Of Light'

Find that flame, that existence,
That Wonderful Man
Who can burn beneath the water.
No other kind of light
Will cook the food you
Need.