Mastering the Ghazal

No, not a gazelle, I said  ghazal

Poetry Month is a great time to learn about and experiment with new poetic forms. I’ve been getting these emails from Knopf Poetry during Poetry Month featuring a poem each day. Last week there was an interesting poem that introduced an interesting poetic form: the ghazal. 

Some of you may know all about it, and I have probably read some without being aware of the form.

The poem was “Easter Ghazal,” by David Young (read the poem at the Knopf site here). I thought it was an interesting poem and it prompted me to find out more about the form. I went to Poets.org to read some about the form that originated in seventh century Arabic poetry. Here is what I learned there: 

The ghazal is composed of a minimum of five couplets—and typically no more than fifteen—that are structurally, thematically, and emotionally autonomous. Each line of the poem must be of the same length, though meter is not imposed in English. The first couplet introduces a scheme, made up of a rhyme followed by a refrain. Subsequent couplets pick up the same scheme in the second line only, repeating the refrain and rhyming the second line with both lines of the first stanza.

A ghazal will often present the pain of loss and the beauty of love in spite of loss. In some of my poetry, I have tried to speak to the coexistence of sorrow and beauty, but I was not familiar with this form that traditionally presents such juxtaposition. 

More Examples

I then went to the Poetry Foundation website for their definition of the form. It was there that I found an example of a modern English language ghazal that seems more true to the form than “Easter Ghazal.” This one is by Patricia Smith, titled “Hip-hop Ghazal.” You can read her poem at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/49642/hip-hop-ghazal

“Rain" is a fine example of the ghazal by American poet and novelist Kazim Ali. Ali was born in the United Kingdom to Muslim parents of Indian descent, so one imagines that he is going back to his ancestral roots in using the ghazal format. You can read his poem, for his poetry collection The Far Mosque at  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54262/rain-56d23467ac47f.

An Old and Continuing Tradition

The ghazal originated in seventh century Arabia and became popular in the thirteenth and fourteenth century with Persian poets and was often utilized by Rumi and Hafiz. The form lends itself to romantic love poems as well as metaphysical poetry. The German poet Goethe, and Spanish poet Lorca experimented with the form. In our modern day, Ravi Shankar made use of the ghazal in his music. The form traditionally evokes feelings of love, melancholy and longing.

Every culture has its own unique poetic expressions and forms. We can expand our appreciation by learning to listen to other poetic venues. We can enhance our own creativity when we attempt to appropriate some of those other poetic forms. 

I think I will give this poetic form a try. If you are interested in writing ghazal, there is a great site called tweetspeak: the best in poetry and poetic things. It offers an introduction to ghazal and instructions on writing your own ghazal poetry.



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