Water

Sohrab Sepehri

      We shouldn’t muddy the water.
      A pigeon may drink it down the road
      Or in a far away grove a starling may bathe
      Or in the village, a jug may be filled.
      We shouldn’t muddy the water.
      This running water may feed a poplar and wash away sadness from a heavy heart.
      A dervish may dip his dry bread in it.
      A pretty woman may come to the river bank
      We shouldn’t muddy the water
      The beauty will be doubled.
      What refreshing water!
      What limpid river!
      How pure the uptown people are
      May their springs always boil and their cows always milk!
      I have not seen their village.
      But, no doubt, god walks along their wattles
      The Moon, over there, lights the width of words
      No doubt, uptown, the walls are short.
      Their people know what a poppy is.
      No doubt, over there, blue is blue.
      The people know when a flower blooms.
      What a village it would be!
      May its garden alleys be filled with music!
      The people from the head of the river know water.
      They did not muddy it,
      Neither should we.

    Translated by Mahvash Shahegh

    

Sohrab Sepehri - Sohrab Sepehri was born in Kashan and graduated from Tehran University's Faculty of Fine Arts. He founded a school of poetry resembling that of the French symbolists. Although commentators place him within the tradition of Iranian poetry, he created totally new metaphors in his verse. Sepehri's most famous piece,Seda-ye Pa-ye Ab (The sound of the water's footsteps, 1965), is an autobiographical narrative verse that many critics consider a masterpiece of contemporary Persian poetry. Tags: Thanal Online, web magazine dedicated for poetry and literature Sohrab Sepehri, Water
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