"Not since the popularity of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran in the 1960s has a poet made such a dent in American Culture. And if any one person could be said to be responsible for the Rumi renaissance, it would have to be Coleman Barks." --The New York Times (12/6/98)
In 1244, the brilliant scholar Rumi and the dynamic wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz met and immediately felt a deep spiritual connection to one another. "The glance," this mystical experience that occurs in the meeting of the eyes between the lover and the beloved, parent and child, friend and friend, taps a major, yet little-explored theme in Rumi's poetry. Following on the success of The Essential Rumi bestselling translator and poet Coleman Barks brings the spontaneous love lyrics of The Glance. These powerful, complex and all newly translated poems range from ethereal to everyday and express the unique place of human desire, longing, and ecstasy--where in the meeting of eyes there occurs not just the union of two souls but the crux of the universe.
In an illuminating and deeply personal introduction Barks explores the meaning of the glance that allows us to experience love as a presence all around us and always available. He speaks of its many paradoxes: the sweetness of grief, the freedom of limits, the warmth of nakedness, the eloquence of silence. Here, in this exquisitely packaged work, is a new kind of lyric love for our time--one of connection, wholeness, and belonging.
In 1244, the brilliant scholar Rumi and the dynamic wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz met and immediately felt a deep spiritual connection to one another. "The glance," this mystical experience that occurs in the meeting of the eyes between the lover and the beloved, parent and child, friend and friend, taps a major, yet little-explored theme in Rumi's poetry. Following on the success of The Essential Rumi bestselling translator and poet Coleman Barks brings the spontaneous love lyrics of The Glance. These powerful, complex and all newly translated poems range from ethereal to everyday and express the unique place of human desire, longing, and ecstasy--where in the meeting of eyes there occurs not just the union of two souls but the crux of the universe.
In an illuminating and deeply personal introduction Barks explores the meaning of the glance that allows us to experience love as a presence all around us and always available. He speaks of its many paradoxes: the sweetness of grief, the freedom of limits, the warmth of nakedness, the eloquence of silence. Here, in this exquisitely packaged work, is a new kind of lyric love for our time--one of connection, wholeness, and belonging.
