Persian Poetry Tuesday: Forugh Farrokhzad's "Grief"

Forugh Farrokhzad was the most significant female Iranian poet of the twentieth century, corresponding most closely, in terms of American poetry, to Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. Her poems are political, feminist, sexual, erotic, breaking almost every taboo that existed for women in the 1950s and 60s in her country. For her commitment to her art and her vision, she earned the scorn of her society and her family. She was committed to a mental institution and had her only biological child removed from her custody. Today, she is recognized for the great artist that she was, both in and out of Iran. A selection of her work has been beautifully translated by Sholeh Wolpe in the book Sin, published by The University of Arkansas Press. This poem, Grief, is from her book Asir (Captive), which was published in 1955:

Grief

Like the disheveled locks of a woman
the Karun river spreads itself
on the naked shoulders of the shore.
The sun is gone, and the night’s hot breath
wafts over the water’s beating heart.

Far in the distance the river’s southern shore
is love-drunk in moonlight’s embrace.
The night with its million brilliant bloodshot eyes
spies on beds of innocent lovers.

The cane field is fast asleep. A bird
shrieks from amid its darkness,
and the moonbeams rush to see
what fear has driven it to such despair.

On the river’s skin, palm shadows
tremble at the sensual touch of the breeze,
and inside the silent secret deep of night,
frogs sing their loud frog songs.

In this rapturous night’s bliss
the distant dream of your hands draws near,
your scent rushes in like a wave, your eyes
glimmer on the water’s face, then go dark.

My pitiful heart, eager and hopeful,
fell captive to the hands of your love.
You sailed away on your own river, left this land–
O snapped branch of my passion’s storm.

Cross posted on The Poetry in The Politics, The Politics in The Poetry.