What you need to know before you
start: Haiku, limerick, ode,
sonnet, iambic, trochaic, poetic foot, stanza, refrain, rhyme scheme (aabb, abab,
abca, aaba), word play, pun,
The Bedouins of ancient Arabia and Persia made poetry a conversational art form. Several poetic forms developed from the participatory nature of tribal poetry. Today in most Arabic cultures, you may still experience public storytelling and spontaneous poetry challenges in the streets. The art of turning a rhyme into sly verbal sparring is considered a mark of intelligence and a badge of honor.
The ghazal (pronounced "guzzle") is an intricate pre-Islamic poetic form that is thought to have developed through the practice of poetic challenges. It is a series of couplets, called shers, no more than a dozen or so, which are related, but not connecting in a narrative pattern. The first couplet, or matla, has a rhyme pattern, kaafiyaa, preceding a single word or short phrase refrain, radif, at the end of each line. Thereafter, every couplet shows a pattern wherein the first line doesn't rhyme, but the second line ends in the kaafiyaa and the radif. Finally, the last couplet, the maqta, contains the takhallis, the poet's name or pen-name.
This complex structure requires careful insights and an understanding of irony and word-play. It dates to pre-Islamic times, yet remains current, forming the lyrical base of much popular music in India, Iraq, and Iran. You will enjoy discovering the rules of ghazal writing through observation and inference.
After completing this lesson, You will be able to:
Examples
of what a ghazal looks like
Example
Suspended in the garden, Time, bit by bit, shines-
As you lean over this page, late and alone, it shines.
Mark how Shahid returns your very words to you.
It's when the heart, still unbriefed, but briefly literature, shines.
Example
Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight
Before you agonize him in farewell tonight?
And I, Shahid, only am escaped to tell thee-
God sobs in
my arms. Call me Ishmael tonight
This is what a ghazal looks like:
Couplet one:
______________________________rhyme A + refrain
______________________________rhyme A + refrain
Couplet Two, Three, & so on:
____________________________________________
______________________________rhyme A + refrain
Explanation
of a GHAZAL
American poet Agha Shahid Ali explains the ghazal succinctly as follows:
A poem of five to fifteen couplets. The name rhymes with "guzzle."
No enjambment (the running over of a sentence from one couplet to another) between couplets. Think of each couplet as a separate poem, in which the first line serves the function of the octave of a Petrarchan sonnet and the second line the sestet-that is, there must be a turn, or volta, between lines 1 and 2 of each couplet. Thus, certain kinds of enjambments would not work even WITHIN the couplets, the kind that would lead to a caesura in line 2. One must have a sense that line 2 is amplifying line 1, turning things around, surprising us.
Once again, ABSOLUTELY no enjambment between couplets-each couplet must be like a precious stone that can shine even when plucked from the necklace though it certainly has greater luster in its setting.
What links these couplets is a strict formal scheme. (I am speaking of the canonical form of the ghazal, shaped by the Persians in, I believe, the twelfth century.) This is how it works: The entire ghazal employs the same rhyme and refrain. The rhyme must always immediately precede the refrain. If the rhyme is merely buried somewhere in the line, that will have its charm, of course, but it would not lead to the wonderful pleasure of IMMEDIATE recognition which is central to the ghazal, The refrain may be a word or phrase.
Each line must be of the same length (inclusive of the rhyme and refrain). In Urdu and Persian, all the lines are usually in the same meter and have the same metrical length. So establish some system-metrical or syllabic-for maintaining consistency in line lengths.
The last couplet may be (and usually is) a signature couplet in which the poet may invoke his/her name in the first, second, or third person.
The scheme of rhyme and refrain occurs in BOTH lines of the first couplet (that is how one learns what the scheme is), and then in only the second line of every succeeding couplet (that is, the first line of every succeeding couplet has no restrictions other than to maintain the syllabic or metrical length.
There is an epigrammatic (deals with a single thought or event often with a clever turn at the end) terseness in the ghazal, but with immense lyricism, evocation, sorrow, heartbreak, wit. What defines the ghazal is a constant longing.
Other references:
Select the following three sample ghazals, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Academy of American Poets from a search on ghazal:
1.
Ghazal of the
Better-Unbegun by
Heather McHugh (to access this poem, search for the title on Find
a Poem)
2.
Ghazal:
for Donald [sic] Hall (The title is actually "Ghazal" for
Daniel Hall)
3.
Ghazal
Suggested activities (Remember, there is a bonus if you design your own activity).
1: Recipe for Rhyme
Does COW rhyme with FEW or BURROW? Does CAKE rhyme with ATTACK? Yet in Arabic poetry, these might be acceptable rhymes. Arabic poetry uses a different form of rhyme than English poetry. Arabic poets sometimes need only end in the same syllable or even letter to call it rhyme. Look at the first ghazal. Read it aloud, taking turns for each couplet, so that the discreteness of the shers is emphasized through voice, while the radif is made obvious because each speaker ends in the same word. Identify the patterns you observe and try to devise a rhyme scheme formula through inference. You should arrive at the formula defined by Ali:
Couplet one:
______________________________rhyme A + refrain
______________________________rhyme A + refrain
Couplet Two, Three, & so on:
____________________________________________
______________________________rhyme A + refrain
2: Defining the Ghazal
Remember, the first couplet always repeats the rhyme and refrain, and the last couplet always contains the poet's name. The poet is referred to as the Shayar, the equivalent of the speaker. Speculate as to why this structure was established. After you are finished sharing responses, recall that ancient Arabic poetry was often a public event and group participation was encouraged. One theory states that the opening couplet repeats the rhyme and refrain so that everyone participating hears it twice and is certain of it; the final stanza belongs to the poet who initiated the ghazal, so he claims credit after so many have participated by including his name.
Next, discuss the relationship of the couplets within a ghazal. Notice that the couplets do not link, but are related only by the pattern of rhyme and refrain, as well as a theme. Notice also that there is no enjambment between lines, and that the second line seems to respond to the first line.
Combine your observations to arrive at a final, single-sentence definition of the ghazal. It may be worded like this--- A Ghazal is an _________poem with a _____ of independent ________, of which the first couplet defines the _______pattern and refrain in both lines, remaining couplets use the same rhyme and ________ in the second line, and the last couplet mentions the _________ name.
Use the Arabic terms in your discussion.
3: Group Ghazal!
1.
In your group, compose a ghazal for a total of thirteen shers,
beginning and ending with the same Shayar, or poet. The group should
decide on the radif, but the Shayar can choose the kaafiyaa.
You have thirty minutes for composition; then you will read your ghazal
to the class
1.
Research other Arabic forms of poetry such as the qasida or the rithá', or famous Arabic poets and their influence on Arabic literature.
2.
Locate more works by Agha Shahid Ali and present a report on his life and
his poetry.
3.
Do a Google search on ghazal
to find other (at least 6) examples of ghazals.
4.
Compose your own ghazal to
present on a poster for the class.
Timetable and Rubric will
follow….