The literature of Persia is one of the world"s oldest and frequently referenced literatures. It covers two-and-a-half thousand years, although a significant portion of the pre-Islamic documents have been lost. Much of it has been within historical Persia , which includes present-day Iran, Iraq and Azerbaijan, along with portions of Central Asia where the Persian language has been treated historically as ...
Spring is here. Although the calendar has announced the beginning of spring, some of us question whether or not it's really here. Snow is on the mountains and, in some places, still in the valleys. But as we watch the birds begin their annual migration, we also see little signs that change is in the air. Buds on the trees are ...
When we start talking about poetry from the Middle East, and about Farsi poems in particular, I can"t help but think of Rumi. Now for those who are unfamiliar with poetry from that region of the world, let me start out by telling you about Rumi -- one of the most influential poets among the Muslims of central Asia. Rumi, or ...
When someone mentions the topics of trees and poetry, probably every single one of us thinks about Joyce Kilmer's, Trees. Most American high school students have raised their eyebrows at first hearing Kilmer's quaint little poem. Many of those students have gone on to write comical parodies of Kilmer's highly recognized work, poking fun at both the poem and any ...
The ancient Greeks believe that there were four principle elements of which everything in the universe was derived from: earth, wind, fire and water. This belief was the cornerstone of much of philosophical thought for over two thousand years, so it should be no mystery that water has become a major poetry topic. Add to that the reality that much of ...
Not everyone can go from being an 11 year-old runaway to an internationally recognized poet and songwriter. Yet, Rod McKuen did just that. Although he never really garnered many accolades for his musical performances, his song writing netted over 1,500 songs and the sale of over 100 million record albums. In the poetry realm, McKuen began publishing books of poetry in ...
The words from Ecclesiastes remind us that there"s a time weep and a time to laugh. Yesterday"s articles were more somber, dealing with the reality of death and the emotions that such losses bring to us. Today focuses on the second half of that line from Ecclesiastes, a time to laugh. I"d guess that love has been the most common topic ...
I won't ever claim to have been a 'hippy' who lived in a commune and shared homegrown veggies and microbiotic meals with my brothers and sisters, but I did participated in many of the early Earth Day activities in the mid-70s. A biology major at the time, I had become keenly aware of the problems of ...
Part of the reality of life is death. It is unavoidable. How we deal with death is often reflected in song, poetry, and prose. As noted in my earlier post, Poems About Loss, expressing our grief through poetry has likely been a common practice since the beginnings of language. It"s interesting to see how each culture handles the subject of death. ...
Some of us aren"t very good about talking about loss. In many of our modern, sophisticated cultures, we"ve forgotten how to deal with loss -- grieving is a underdeveloped concept. We are actually too busy to grieve and deal with loss. Mostly when we talk about "loss" our thoughts go to the death of family members or friends or people we knew ...
