For this week I have created my own ghazal, inspired by the love poetry and examples we have seen in class. Some of the most well know love poets include Rumi, who has been studied to some extent in this course. The definition of the ghazal, as defined by Carla Petievich, is as follows:
“The ghazal is by far the most popular of the four major poetic genres in classical Urdu. It is a love-lyric form, consisting of varying numbers of two-line verses called she’rs… Cohesion within a ghazal is considered, conventionally, to be provided by the uniform structural pattern of all its she’rs rather than by a narrative sequence such as that which exists in a ballad.” (Assembly of Rivals, pg. 1)
In reading Rumi’s poem, Andak Andak, which earlier on in this course I memorize and recited, we clearly get a sense for what the rhythm, rhyming scheme, and general themes are in these ghazals. In Andak Andak, Rumi creates a sense of peace and warmth in his meter: I have, in my own ghazal above, tried to elicit that same emotional response. The meters from line to line are matched to create a nice transition from each verse to the next, and in doing so I am emulate the feelings I most associate with the morning. In addition, I have stuck with the conventional structure of the ghazal, ending each she’r with the same word, “open,” and allowing for each she’r to not be dependent upon the order in which it is put, with the exception of the first and last.
Overall, I chose the morning as the center for this ghazal as it is one of the most memorable moments of my day. For those first few moments I am awake, my senses are overwhelmingly acute and I am able to take in all that is occurring around me. This concept is mentioned by Carla Petievich in her book Assembly of Rivals, in which she discusses the ghazal as somewhat of a series of “conventional exaggerations” (pg. 3). As we have become familiar with them in this course, many of the ghazals have included a painful love of sorts, but an overwhelming love as well: a love that transcends the corporeal experience. In my own life, I have a similar overwhelming love when I rise each day, a feeling that I have attempted to convey in the above ghazal of my own.