Persian Love Poetry

This little book is a beguiling collection of Persian love poems drawn fromboth classical and modern poetry, but united by the theme of love in its myriadinterpretations. Included are poems that explore the spiritual lovebetween humans and God, the magical love between lovers or spouses, theaffectionate love between family members and between friends, and eventhe patriotic love for one’s homeland. Each poem is accompanied with a preciousPersian chef d’oeuvre from the British Museum and, in particular, numerous illustrations of Persian miniatures. The editors come to this subjectwith vast expertise: Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis is curator of Islamic andIranian coins in the British Museum, and Sheila R. Canby is an assistantkeeper in the British Museum specializing in Islamic Iran. Both have publishedon Persian art, art history, archaeology, and myths, among other topics.Their aim is not to produce a well-researched and exhaustive collectionof Persian love poetry, but rather “to encourage readers to delve further intothe wealth of Persian literature” (p. 5). With its modest aim of capturing theinterest of novice western readers, theirs is a delightful book that charms itsway to success.As explained in the “Introduction,” Iranians and other Persian (Farsi)speakers treasure poetry not only because of the beauty of the poetic languageitself, but also because they derive joy and comfort from the poets’ perspectivetoward the world. The most famous Persian poets often have a mystical(Sufi) viewpoint toward life, whereby passion is a path to reach God and thetruth. Interwoven into the people’s social consciousness, poetry holds arevered place in Persian culture. A single verse from the best-known Persianpoems can capture an idea with elegant brevity. Iranians and other Persian(Farsi) speakers still recite poetry as a succinct and powerful way to expressa point, thought, or emotion. To explain how deeply embedded poetry is inthe Persian psyche, many oft-quoted proverbs draw much of their meaningand message from Persian poetry ...