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Hafez of Shiraz
6
Give never the wine bowl from thy hand
Nor loose thy grasp on the rose’s stem
‘Tis a mad bad world that the fates have planned
Match wits with their every stratagem.
Persian Poems edited by A. J. Arberry page 80
http://books.google.com/...
h/t to LJ Braun p162 of The Cat Who Went Bananas
http://www.thesongsofhafiz.com/
Hafiz of Shiraz (Khwaja Shams ud-Din Hafiz-i Shirazi, 1326-1390) is widely recognized as the pre-eminent master of the Persian ghazal form.
The lyrical beauty of his poetry has been celebrated by people around the world for centuries. Hafiz is one of the great Sufi poets, in the tradition of Rumi.
In his native land of Persia (modern Iran), where his Divan is revered to an extent rivaled only by the Qur'an, the beauty of Hafiz's lyrics has always been most appreciated when accompanied by music. His words are not so much poetry as songs.
TheSongsofHafiz.com celebrates this aspect of Hafiz as well as the rich history of his contributions to the spiritual and philosophical literature of human kind.
http://www.thesongsofhafiz.com/...
SOME FILL WITH EACH GOOD RAIN
There are different wells within your heart.
Some fill with each good rain,
Others are far too deep for that...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
In sum, the work in toto represents a sort of spiritual autobiography, and a diary of the Sufi Path, written, in part, as an instructive manual to other 'winged' readers. And perhaps, this acceptance of his work as a veritable expression of a holistic event -- self realization -- is no doubt a basis for the (long standing) insistence by some of the uncanny oracular properties of the Diwan-e Hafez-e Shirazi, a cherished poet and inspired light of the Iranians.
It is said in the legend that Hafez was promised immortality, in stead of Shakeh Nabaat. And as of now, it looks like the angel kept his word!
One of Hafez's greatest fondnesses was for wine, so when the Muzaffarids captured Shiraz in 1353 and declared prohibition it is no surprise that Hafez wrote a mournful elegy for the loss:
اگرچه باده فرحبخش و باد گلبيزست
به بانگ چنگ مخور مى، كه محتسب تيز است
Though wine gives delight, and the wind distills the perfume of the rose,
Drink not the wine to the strains of the harp, for the constable is alert.
Hide the goblet in the sleeve of the patchwork cloak,
For the time, like the eye of the decanter, pours forth blood.
Wash the wine stain from your dervish cloak with tears,
For it is the season of piety, and the time for abstinence.
در آستين مرقع پیاله پنهان كن
كه همچو چشم صراحي، زمانه خونريز است
به آب ديده بشوييم خرقهها از مى
كه موسم ورع و روزگار پرهيز است
Translation by Edward Browne
several poems translated by Gertrude Bell here:
http://www.poetseers.org/...
The Margin of a Stream
http://www.poetseers.org/...
...And take the gifts a tranquil mind may bring;
No heart is dark when the kind moon doth shine,
And grass-grown river-banks are fair to see.
The Saki's radiant eyes, God favouring,
Are like a wine-cup brimming o'er with wine,
And him my drunken sense goes out to greet,
For e'en the pain he leaves behind is sweet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
The phrase "days of wine and roses" is originally from the poem Vitae Summa Brevis by the English writer Ernest Dowson (1867-1900):[4]
Ernest Dowson: http://www.fullbooks.com/...
They are not long, the days of wine and roses:
Out of a misty dream
Our path emerges for a while, then closes
Within a dream.
The other side of my title tonight has to do with the fates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
The Fates
The Fates is a common English name for the three spinning fate goddesses of European mythologies:
Moirae in Greek mythology
Parcae in Roman mythology
Norns in Norse mythology
The Fates (whether Parcae or Moirae) make regular appearances in popular culture, produced to appeal to a mass market. The presence of the Fates lends an atmosphere of depth and universality to some productions of market-driven contemporary culture. Alternatively, they may be introduced with a mock-heroic sense of parody.
Orddu, Orwen and Orgoch are Lloyd Alexander's versions of the Moirae. They appear in the Prydain Chronicles.
Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick from Terry Pratchett's Discworld are loosely based on the Moirae.
The Masters... Poems: (so many favorites!)
http://www.thehypertexts.com/...
To Earthward
by Robert Frost
I craved strong sweets, but those
Seemed strong when I was young:
The petal of the rose
It was that stung...
The hurt is not enough:
I long for weight and strength
To feel the earth as rough
To all my length.
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
...Iram indeed is gone with all its Rose,
And Jamshyd's Sev'n-ring'd Cup where no one knows;
But still the Vine her ancient Ruby yields,
And still a Garden by the Water blows.
And David's Lips are lock't; but in divine
High piping Pehlevi, with "Wine! Wine! Wine!
Red Wine!" -- the Nightingale cries to the Rose
That yellow Cheek of hers t'incarnadine.
Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring
The Winter Garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To fly -- and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.
From The Quotable Woman compiled and edited by Elaine Partnow.
A book may be a flower that blows;
A road to a far town;
A roof, a well, a tower;
A book
May be a staff, a crook.
Lizette Reese
You cannot choose your battlefield,
The gods do that for you,
But you can plant a standard
Where a standard never flew.
Crumpling a pyramid, humbling a rose,
The dust has its reasons wherever it goes.
Nathalia Crane
The fates are not quite obdurate.
They have a grim, sardonic way
Of granting men who supplicate
The things they wanted--yesterday!
Roselle Mercier Montgomery
I am thinking of many books where the characters fought against or won against fate such as Lymond of the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett There are others who lost such as Macbeth.
What are your thoughts about fate and roses and the wine of life? Do you have some favorite quotes or poems?
What books are you enjoying now or hope to get soon or have loved in the past?
plf515 has a wonderful book diary on Friday mornings early and all day
pico has Literature for Kossacks on Tuesdays.
An Interview With Iranian Expert and Journalist Barbara Slavin
by intrepidliberal
http://www.dailykos.com/...