Customer Reviews

The Love Poems Of Ahmad Shamlu

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The Love Poems Of Ahmad Shamlu by Firoozeh Papan-Matin is an erudite translation by Arthur Lane (Professor Emeritus of English, California State University, Northridge) of one of Iran's most influential literary figure, showcasing great works of poetic rhetoric. Epitaph: Nothing active in the leaving/No Stillness in the staying.//Branches would not detach from the root;/the tattling wind/revealed no worthy secret/to the leaves.//The maiden of my love/is an exotic mother./The speeding star/on its despairing route/revolves in an eternal orbit.

These are the best translations I have yet seen of Ostad Shamlou's poems. I am a pretty good amateur poet, who studied poetry at school, and when I got this book I felt despondent; for here are exactly the poems I have tried and failed to write. I had to put the book back on the shelf while I took some time to absorb the shock.
Shamlou's work will certainly appeal to readers of Paul Celan or Nazim Hikhmet

One small complaint. About the forward by Ms. Firoozeh. Someone should let her know Azerbaijan is not now and has never been in Russia! What a phenomenal error! How could it be. Surely an educated person would know the difference between the Soviet Union and Russia?

There are several other pretty glaring factual errors in the forward that i am really quite surprised were missed by either the editor or the co-translator. Oh well, not to worry, the translations themselves are something else.