Love and Yearning

October 19, 2003 6:52 PM

Love and Yearning: mystical and moral themes in Persian poetry and painting. (Flash req'd)
posted by moonbird (7 comments total)

Here is some modern stuff.
posted by clavdivs at 7:15 PM on October 19, 2003

Beautiful exhibition moonbird, and a good example of how a poster with a reputation for quality posts and a well-designed online exhibit can lead me to explore a topic that I probably wouldn't have sought out on my own. Thanks ;-)

The main site has some other excellent online exhibitions too - I especially liked this exploration of Whistler's Peacock Room.
posted by madamjujujive at 6:45 AM on October 20, 2003

nothing to say except, moonbird - great post!
posted by Pericles at 8:39 AM on October 20, 2003

Sweet, thanks moonbird.
posted by plep at 12:30 PM on October 20, 2003

Oh yum! What a great online exhibit. I've been looking for reproductions of Persian miniatures for ages and still no luck. Thanks moonbird!
posted by lobakgo at 12:48 PM on October 20, 2003

My pleasure entirely!

I love discovering 'new' poets (by new I mean 600 years old but previously unbeknownst to me) and this artwork is spectacular. Quite absorbing... The Smithsonian has excellent exhibitions online and is worth a good exploration.
posted by moonbird at 2:06 PM on October 20, 2003

Great post (as usual), and I'm definitely going to go see the exhibition. To show my appreciation, here's a poem from a book I recently bought, Hafiz of Shiraz: Thirty poems by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs:

Boy, bring the cup, and circulate the wine:
How easy at first love seemed, but now the snags begin.

How many hearts lie bleeding, waiting for the wind-loosed musk
Out of those tresses—the bright twist of black curls?

For what security have we here in this halting-place,
Where every moment the bell clangs "Strap up your packs"?

Stain your prayer-mat with wine if the Master tells you:
That seasoned voyager knows the ways of the road.

But travelling light, what can these land-lubbers know of it—
Black night, our fear of the waves, and the horrible whirlpool?

My self-willed love will sink my reputation:
The truth leaks out; they make a ballad of it at their meetings.

If you seek his presence, Hafiz, do not let him alone:
And when you meet his face, you can tell the world to go hang.

(If you're interested, there are seven other translations of the poem here.)
posted by languagehat at 3:11 PM on October 20, 2003