No one has seen your face, and yet Thousands of rivals seek you; You’re still a bud and yet a hundred Nightingales entreat you. However far I am from you (May no one know that place!) I cannot help but hope that soon I’ll be in your embrace; And it’s not strange that…
Zen and the snowman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJI5gaWuf6w&nohtml5=False At the peak of my soul’s depths I sit in silent reverie The sun above, weather below The vast blue breathes in, out of me The Snow Man by Wallace Stevens One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow; And have been…
Camaron and Hafez: Love’s Minstrels
Translation of Lyrics: Strumming the strings of his guitar, Strumming the strings of his guitar, A Sultan complained of his Queen. Two wells of stars, your black eyes, And a moonless rose, your black hair, Your black hair, your black hair, Two wells of stars, your black eyes. The rosemary bush smells of your body,…
Love, in Old English Verse
To Celia by Ben Jonson Drink to me, only, with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup, And I’ll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise, Doth ask a drink divine: But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, I would not…
Gerard Manley Hopkins
I’ve always loved his sprung verse, its sounds and rhythms simultaneously reminds me of Old Anglo-Saxon poetry, Yoruba poetry, and rap. As incredible as it may seem, the sad English monk may have foreshadowed some of hip-hop and spoken word’s poetic styles. But don’t take my word for it, listen to Eminem of Pharoahe Monch after…
Bulanga
Bulanga Translated Lyrics: Give me a throne and I will be a king Give a sword and I will be a soldier Give me wings and I will be a bird Put me under earth and I will be strong next to you The dead are not dead Maybe invisible, untouchable Come here spirits of…
Rumi on Karbala
كل يوم عاشوراء وكل ارض كربلاء Translation: Where are you, o martyrs of God? You calamity seekers of the desert of Karbala Where are you, o you the light-winged lovers Lighter than the birds of heaven, o celestial soveirgns Who have opened the gates of the heavenly spheres You who have released yourself from time and…
Shaykh Bahaii Amuli
A translation of the lyrics (by M. Dilmaghani): — So long, in plead of unison with thee my eyelids are drowned in the deluge of tear. So long, in plead of unison with thee, Thou, the sole beloved! The arrow of thy sorrow pierced all lovers’ heart… For how long, how long shall…
Flamenco is Love and Pain
“Flamenco is love and pain,” he said. “Heartbreak. In art there has to be pain, that is clear – it is like life, whether you want it or not, it is there.” -Vicente Amigo in an interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCoyXkD_n3I Hafez says… مرا می*بینی و هر دم زیادت می*کنی دردم Marâ mibini o hardam, ziyâdat mikoni dardam…