PODCAST #17: INDIAN, PERSIAN, ARABIAN POEMS

I have an astonishing opportunity to acquaint you with Indian, Persian, and Arabian poems in perfectly crafted versions, thanks to the mid-19th-century German translator, scholar, and poet Friedrich Rückert, who learned 44 languages, including Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabian.  In talk-show interview style, I offer English versions of Rückert’s poetic treasures, each one followed by a “reply” poem of my own in closely similar style.

To show how enlivening the interaction can be, let me start with Dialogue 64, The Dream Form. In Dialogue 65 Guidance in Love you’ll hear a dialogue in a highly unusual stanza form, faithfully followed by me from the folk poet. Dialogue 51, Verses in the Desert offers an alarming view of love for me to cope with…

Of high entertainment value are the many stories we’re given. Dialogue 52, The Hermit and the Hound is a short narrative masterpiece. Dialogue 115, Most Handsome Gift to the Handsome is a neatly paired couple of clever tales, the second one by Persian poet Rumi. And I love the clever girl featured in Dialogue 127, Abulaina. Finally, Dialogue 128, Al-Mansur’s Death on a Pilgrimage is an extremely short story followed by a relaxed reply.

Love stories are outstanding in this collection. Dialogue 1 and poem 2 of the books opening story Aja and Indumati by the greatest ancient poet of India Kalidasa, shows a typical feature of love narratives in a Hindu context: two sets of characters – the human and the preter-human (gods. who are intensified versions of ourselves). Dialogue 43, Stages of Love features the love-philosophy of Bhatrihari, a man who tried seven times to become a monk.