Borrowed Ware: Medieval Persian Epigrams [Paperback]

Dick Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2004

Poet and translator Dick Davis brings together a collection of epigrams by poets from the 'classic' period of Persian literature. It makes a fascinating introduction to a literature that is little known in the West, and incidentally provides insight into a vanished and extraordinary way of life. Davis's prodigious scholarship of Persian poetry has enabled him to select a wide range of poems, from both famous and little-known poets. The result is some of the best English translations of Persian poetry ever. Davis has maintained exceptional faithfulness to the original Persian while recasting the poems' grace and drive in English. The book also contains a lucid and entertaining introduction, and informative notes on each of the sixty-eight poets whose work is included. Each poem is faced by the text in delicate Persian nasta'liq calligraphy by Amir Hossein Tabnak.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

Mr. Davis has put what he calls "Medieval Persian Epigrams" into easy, idiomatic English and provided an engaging introduction to the Persian world and an explanation of the code words that might otherwise puzzle modern readers. These authors were court poets, highly valued and well rewarded for wit, elegance, and a light touch. Originality of theme was not necessary, but there are surprises among the lovers' laments and financial complaints. Jahan Khatun, one of the few women poets, considered erotic reform but decided to "renounce renunciations." (A contemporary accused her of being a prostitute, but Mr. Davis points out that he "said this kind of thing" about everybody.) Vahshi requests,

Sweet breeze, inform my noble
lord from me
That panegyrics are what I excel at,
And if he gets obstreperous and rude,
Say satire's also something I do
well at.

The poems are faced by versions in Persian script, making the collection pretty as well as amusing. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"Dick Davis's translation of the best of Persia's medieval short poetry, borrowed ware, is a wonderful book, suffused with love, beautifully produced and with a comprehensive introduction to Persian courtly poetry." (The Independent, London)

"Many of the best poems in borrowed ware are mystical, and Davis is probably the first translator to have succeeded in conveying their intensity of focus. . . . Anyone doubting Davis's own mastery of [poetry] should turn to borrowed ware. This anthology is the most personal of Davis's excellent translations from the Persian. . . . Here, as in Western poetry of a similar period, the subjects are mostly religious and amorous, with some politics thrown in and a good deal of flattery for patrons. Yet these subjects, through their tone and imagery, invite into the book the whole range of that far-off culture's concerns." (Times Literary Supplement)

"Some of the best known Persian poets-Rudaki, Sa'di, Rumi, Hafez-are included in this book, but its virtue is that it has cast its net widely over a fascinating variety of writers from the tenth century to the seventeenth. . . . The epigrams are erotic, religious, and political (sometimes all three together!), and their tone sweeps from the tender to the scabrous, from the bitchy to the mystical." (Poetry Book Society Bulletin) -- Poetry Book Society Bulletin --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 212 pages
• Publisher: Mage Publishers (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934211388
• ISBN-13: 978-0934211383
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,548,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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