Publisher comments
Vibrant, contemporary rendering of love poetry of Hafiz
Though he lived seven hundred years ago, Hafiz is still the most popular poet of Persia, and one of the greatest love poets who ever lived. This little book is perhaps the best introduction to his life and work. The poems of Hafiz overflow with a profound appreciation of the beauty and richness of life when seen through the eyes of love. With unerring insight, he explores the feelings and motives associated with every level of love, tracing each nuance of emotion in depth and detail. His poetry outlines the stages of the mystic's "path of love" - that journey of inner unfolding in which love dissolves personal boundaries and limitations to join larger processes of growth and transformation. Through these processes, human love becomes divine love and the lover merges ultimately with the source and goal of all love, which Hafiz calls the Divine Beloved. Dan Ladinsky has rendered sixty of these poems in a vibrant contemporary American idiom, and the editor has added a concise, informative essay about the poet's life and times.
Though he lived seven hundred years ago, Hafiz is still the most popular poet of Persia, and one of the greatest love poets who ever lived. This little book is perhaps the best introduction to his life and work. The poems of Hafiz overflow with a profound appreciation of the beauty and richness of life when seen through the eyes of love. With unerring insight, he explores the feelings and motives associated with every level of love, tracing each nuance of emotion in depth and detail. His poetry outlines the stages of the mystic's "path of love" - that journey of inner unfolding in which love dissolves personal boundaries and limitations to join larger processes of growth and transformation. Through these processes, human love becomes divine love and the lover merges ultimately with the source and goal of all love, which Hafiz calls the Divine Beloved. Dan Ladinsky has rendered sixty of these poems in a vibrant contemporary American idiom, and the editor has added a concise, informative essay about the poet's life and times.
