Sign-In
Cart
The Mirror of My Heart: A Thousand Years of Persian Poetry by Women
Hardcover
Poetry AnthologiesGeneral Poetry
ISBN13: 9781949445084
Publisher: Mage Publishers
Published: Jan 10 2024
Pages: 344
Weight: 1.29
Height: 0.94 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
I gaze into the mirror of my heart,
And though it's me who looks, it's you I see.
So speaks one of the many distinctive voices in this new anthology of verse by women poets writing in Persian, most of whom have never been translated into English before; this is especially true of the pre-modern poets, such as the unnamed author of the lines above, known simply as the daughter of Salar or the woman from Esfahan.
One of the very first Persian poets was a woman (Rabe'eh, who lived over a thousand years ago) and there have been women poets writing in Persian in virtually every generation since that time until the present. Before the twentieth century they tended to come from society's social extremes. Many were princesses, a good number were hired entertainers of one kind or another, and they were active in many different countries - Iran of course, but also India, Afghanistan, and areas of central Asia that are now Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Not surprisingly, a lot of their poetry sounds like that of their male counterparts, but a lot doesn't; there are distinctively bawdy and flirtatious poems by medieval women poets, poems from virtually every era in which the poet complains about her husband (sometimes light-heartedly, sometimes with poignant seriousness), touching poems on the death of a child, and many epigrams centered on little details that bring a life from hundreds of years ago vividly before our eyes.
The Mirror of My Heart is a unique and captivating collection introduced and translated by Dick Davis, an acclaimed scholar and translator of Persian literature as well as a gifted poet in his own right. In his introduction he provides fascinating background detail on Persian poetry written by women through the ages, including common themes and motifs and a brief overview of Iranian history showing how women poets have been affected by the changing dynasties. From Rabe'eh in the tenth century to Fatemeh Ekhtesari in the twenty-first, each of the eighty-three poets in this volume is introduced in a short biographical note, while explanatory notes give further insight into the poems themselves.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Davis, Dick
The Mirror of My Heart (Bilingual Edition): A Thousand Years of Persian Poetry by Women
Forugh, Farrokhzad
Davis, Dick
Rabe`eh Balkhi
Hardcover
Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz: Bilingual Edition
Davis, Dick
Hafez
Khatun, Jahan Malek
Hardcover
Also in
Poetry Anthologies
Alaska Literary Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry
Grace Moler, Shaelene
Holleman, Marybeth
Lord, Nancy
Paperback
We Had Our Reasons: Poems by Ricardo Ruiz and Other Hardworking Mexicans from Eastern Washington
Ruiz, Ricardo
Paperback
A Bowl of Goodness: Nourishing Poems with a Side of Soup, Celebrating Community, Friendship, and Resilience
Jackson, Major
Hardcover
The Oxford Book of English Verse, Part 1: Medievals to Marlowe (Yesterday's Classics)
Quiller-Couch, Arthur
Paperback
Poem a Day: 366 Poems, Old and New - One for Each Day of the Year
McCosker, Karen
Albery, Nicolas
Paperback
The Harp and Laurel Wreath: Poetry and Dictation for the Classical Curriculum
Berquist, Laura M.
Paperback
Faeries, Sprites & Malevolent Spirits: An Anthology of Classic Poetry & Stories
Thorne, Aurora
Hardcover
Here to Stay: Poetry and Prose from the Undocumented Diaspora
Lin, Esther
Hernandez Castillo, Marcelo
Joseph, Janine
Paperback
Daughters of Latin America: An International Anthology of Writing by Latine Women
Guzman, Sandra
Paperback
Creative Stillness: An Anthology of Poetry and Essays by the Creative Writing Hour
Makoni, Sekai
Alejandrina, Dhayana
Alaloul, Nadine
Paperback
White Teeth, Red Blood: Selected Vampiric Verses
Byron, George Gordon, 1788-
Baudelaire, Charles
Dickinson, Emily
Hardcover
The Dharma of Poetry: How Poems Can Deepen Your Spiritual Practice and Open You to Joy
Brehm, John
Paperback
Into the Garden: A Wedding Anthology: Poetry and Prose on Love and Marriage
Mitchell, Stephen
Hass, Robert
Paperback
On Resilience: Stories of Climate Adaptation Across Washington's Landscapes
Senechal, Lindsay
Morgan, Harriet
Paperback