R - The Weeping Nation
Ruswa
The Weeping Nation
Love is a wild, a sentient sorrow
That longs through life for Beauty
Beauty lives behind the veil
Feeding on Love's grief
They may not meet, but Beauty gives
A glimpse to Love at times
Love will spasm in return
The agony of separation
Yearn, at least to touch the veil
That hides the face of light
Then weep, Love has no place
With laughter, Love will weep
And Beauty smiles, she knows
Love burns with grief
R.
N Burwood
Ruswa wrote:
The prince returns in sombre mood--this attractive piece has a 1890s
feel--Dowson etc., Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder etc.,
Weeping Nation? Are we talking princesses here?
Nigel
Ruswa
N Burwood <char...@cruzio.com> wrote
>
> The prince returns in sombre mood--this attractive piece has a 1890s
> feel--Dowson etc., Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder etc.,
> Weeping Nation? Are we talking princesses here?
> Nigel
>
Cynara was our anthem in the dissolute, unfaithful college years.
Notes to poems are frowned on here, but I shall forgive myself this once.
The weeping nation is a term used to refer to my people - the Ithna'
sheri. The spiritual reading of the poem has Beauty as God, and Love as
faith. Alternatively, this is a description of the underlying philosophy to
the Persian / Urdu poetic form - the ghazal. The merit of a ghazal is often
measured by how well it captures the wonder of Beauty, or the torment of
Love. In that reading it is more a reflection on some of the themes that I
have picked up in the Prince series.
I acknowledge here a debt to Zamir Akhtar Naqvi, for his lucid and
passionate lecture on the subject.
R
N Burwood
Ruswa wrote:
Good to hear that. I don't frown on elucidation/ annotations/notes etc., It
was OK for Tom Eliot. Maybe one day you will say more about Zamir Akhtar
Naqvi. Cynara--is there a more heady poem? Nigel