Topics in Islamic Literature

3 units

For centuries, Persian lyric poetry depended on motifs such as roses and nightingales, candles and moths-a repetitiveness of poetic imagery that contradicted the variety of social and personal themes. Yet these images and motifs, far from being rigid, acquired in the poetry of masters such as Khayyam, Hafiz, and Rumi, an inherent flexibility for constant redefinition and change. Readings in English translation.