Volume 6 | Issue 1 | April - May
2012 |
Dark Song
Ahmad Shamlou
In the leaden backdrop of the dawn
the horseman stands in silence
the long mane of his horse
disheveled by the wind.
O, Lord ! O, Lord!
Horseman are not to stand still,
when the event is brewing.
Beside the burnt hedge
the girl stands in silence
her delicate skirt
waving in the wind.
O, Lord! O, Lord!
Girls should not to remain silent,
when weary and hopeless
men grow old.
Translated by: E. Kho’i
Esmail Khoi is one of the major contemporary Iranian poets. Born in 1938 in Mashad, North-East Iran, he was educated in Iran and England, first visiting the latter in 1963. He has published over thirty books in Farsi and three selections have appeared in English translation, including Edges of Poetry: Selected Poems (Blue Logos Press, USA, 1995) and Outlandia: Songs of Exile (Nik Publishers, Vancouver, 1999). His work is characterised by a rare combination of lyricism and honesty. He gives frequent readings of his poems across the whole of Europe and North America.
Ahmad Shamlou - Ahmad Shamlou (December 12, 1925 - July 23, 2000)is Iran's most celebrated contemporary poet. Shamlou was prominent
both as a great historical literary figure and as a major poet. He was a journalist,
a playwright, a translator and a broadcaster. His historical contribution to
the reformation of Persian poetry has been the subject of many books. His poetry
has been translated into several languages, however it remains a relatively
undiscovered treasure in the West. He was a humanist and a socially minded intellectual
who has skillfully woven personal love and affection together with his social
attitudes. He lived always with hope and passion for justice.
