Poetry. Middle Eastern Studies. Translated from the Farsi by
Geoffrey Squires. Thought by many to be untranslatable, the great
14th century Persian poet Hafez, who has been celebrated by figures
as different as Goethe, Emerson, and Bunting, has at last found the
voice in English that he deserves. Geoffrey Squires, who lived in
Iran for three years, gives powerful insight into that culture with
these translations of the work of one of its iconic figures. Based
on 248 ghazals (just over half the Divan), this is one of the most
comprehensive translations ever to appear and also one of the most
varied, revealing aspects of the work--courtly, lyrical, satirical,
mystical--that will surprise and delight many. Squires brings a
poet's ear to the task, capturing the energy, wit and beauty of the
original which after all this time still speaks to us. He also
breaks new ground in terms of translation strategy, using short
interstitial prose pieces to punctuate and point the text. Detailed
background notes are provided, and there is an extensive
bibliography in Farsi, English and French. "Geoffrey Squires'
translations of Hafez are not only beautiful (and they are) but
innovate a new approach to the translation and presentation of
poets from the distant and exotic past. In finding fresh means to
show Hafez in context, Squires composes a work both faithful to
Hafez and with a narrative power that opens a true dialogue between
present and past. His Hafez in that sense sets a new standard for
our time and for years to come."--Jerome Rothenberg "In their
careful, musical, painterly pointing of difference in similarity,
stress inside equanimity and singularity breaking the continuum,
Geoff Squires' Hafez translations weave a shimmering, moire fabric
from the old and the new, the strange and the deceptively familiar.
Squires is the best of hosts, too, offering small, genial and
always useful interventions, tiny palate-cleansers of data or
abstract form, which arrive before you knew you needed them. If
Paul Blackburn had improvised a verbal riff on Astrophil and
Stella, and Brian Coffey had written it down, they might have come
close to, but would never equal, the marvelous sensual minimalism
of Hafez and Squires."--Peter Manson "Geoffrey Squires is a poet of
note. What strikes me is his capacity to put into words what is
fluid or elusive, writing characterized by the innerness of its
language. This explains why he has an affinity with Hafez. His long
absorption in the world of Iran has led him to the masterpieces of
its literature. Analyzing Hafez in the light of his predecessors
such as 'Ayn al Qozat, he explores among other themes the mystic
gulf between belief and faith. A richly mature work, this
translation brings a new lustre to the jewel that is
Hafez."--Charles- Henri de Fouchecour
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