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In Wineseller's Street: Renderings of Hafez

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Translating the poet Hafez has been a daunting task since British scholars discovered Persian poetry long ago. So now the fad is to do "renderings," which means you can write something in the general ballpark range of the original work and declare that you've captured the spirit of that original. Sometimes it works, sometimes it misses by several miles. This work, though it has its sporadic good moments, isn't the answer to understanding Hafez.

Thomas Rain Crowe is a poet, translator, essayist, editor, and author of six book of original poetry. In Wineseller's Street we are treated to the best of his literary sensitivity and language skills in presenting the poetic Hafez showcased within the traditions of Sufism and Persian literature rended up for an English speaking readership. 67: O rich man, I have come from Paradise to bring you some happy news!/Amidst my sweet songs, my raucous jokes, and my beautiful stories/That will soothe your heart, there is also the truth./I say, "This mansion is really a dwelling for the poor./Put on a feast that costs you everything you have, in honor of/the real King of Wealth. And give it all away!"

Though not quite as 'accessible' as Háfez' "The Gift", these 74 ecstatic poems in Wineseller's Street will no doubt give the reader a glimpse of the God by whom Háfez was happily and painfully intoxicated. God, the "Beloved", is the Wineseller who lures the poet "out of the throne rooms and courts of the East and into the streets", where it's presumably easier to love with abandon.