[Poetry Friday] Attar’s Parable Of A Crying Lover

Myra here.

Thank you to Matt Forest of Radio, Rhythm, and Rhyme for hosting this week.

I have been raiding my bookshelves looking for international poetry books, and I am pleased to see that I do have quite a collection – but still not as many as I wish. Here is one title that I purchased a few years back, but still have not had a chance to read through. Translated from the Persian by Sholeh Wolpe, this book features the poetic, parable-ridden, mystical narrative of Attar’s The Conference Of The Birds.

The Conference Of The Birds by Attar Translated by Sholeh Wolpe (Amazon | Book Depository)
Published by W. W. Norton Company (2017) Literary Award: لاک‌پشت پرنده Nominee (2017)
ISBN: 0393292185 (ISBN13: 9780393292183) Bought a copy of the book. Book photos taken by me and edited using an iPhone app.

In her Introductory Translator’s Note, Sholeh Wolpe noted that it is best to read the entire book from start to finish. It is probably not a book to dip into, as the poetic verses and the parables written in lyrical prose are all interconnected and interwoven within a single, overarching narrative. However, I did try to flip through the pages and find a few titles that spoke to me, and hopefully would speak with the Poetry Friday community as well.

Here is one:

I find that there is this constant theme of holding on and letting go, embracing one’s pain and setting one’s self free. It is also evident in this poem here: