by Massih Talebian
About 45 years ago, an Iranian poet and painter, Mr. Sohrab Sepehri, visited Japan to take a painting course. He became familiar with haiku at that time, and translated about ten Japanese haiku into the Persian (Iranian) language. Thinking of haiku as a short poem, but lacking an understanding of the genre, he was unable to ascertain the spirit of the haiku form.
On his return to Iran, and influenced by haiku, Sepehri, like the Western Imagists in the 1920’s adopted a haiku-like style. Many Iranian critics believe that his best poems were written after this trip. He also wrote long poems in which imagery became the central core allowing him to express his feelings via the use of concrete images.
Twenty-eight years ago, another famous Iranian poet, Ahmad Shamloo, in cooperation with the Zen and Buddhist text translator, E.Pashayi, translated part of Volume I, Haiku and Volume I, History of Haiku by R.H. Blyth, which is the first Persian book to officially introduce Japanese haiku to the Iranians, featuring haiku composed by Basho, Buson, Issa, Shiki and the ten disciples of Basho.
Following the R.H. Blyth translations, it took another 10 years before Iranian poets started to write short poems emulating the haiku form, but most of these short poems, like Sepehri’s, lacked the “poetic spirit,” which Matsuo Basho believed to be the main feature of a haiku.
By the Internet infrastructure, Iranian poets had the chance to look at the international haiku movement, and as a result, there are a lot of haiku enthusiasts in Iran. Many have their own weblogs, and some are published.
The purpose of this short paper is to introduce you to some of the Persian contemporary haiku-like short poems, sorted chronologically, covering the past two decades.
Persian to English translations are mine, and I tried to convey the main images and each poem’s individual poetic spirit in the English versions.
Mr. Sirus Nozari
نظر به صنوبر می کردم
ماه
آن سوی آسمان می گذشت
looked through the pines
moon
passed beyond the sky
Mr. Ghodsi Ghazi-noor
دیدار ما
چون آب و ماه ، چه دور !
چه در هم
our date,
as the sea and the moon . . .
how far, how hazy
Mr. Yarta Yaran
میان گندمزار
زنی نشسته است
سر به زانو ، زار زار
among the wheat fields
a woman sits, head on her
knees, lamenting
Mr. Abbas Kiyarostami (the famous Iranian photographer, poet and movie director)
چه کسی تعیین کرد
برگ سبز توت را
برای قوت کرم ابریشم
who assigned
the green berry leaves as
silkworm nurture?
Mr. Seyed Ali Salehi (a famous contemporary poet and the author of Thousand and One Haiku)
همه رفته اند
جز زنی کنار مزار
یکی پروانه
no one but
a woman by the grave . . .
a butterfly
Mr. Kaveh Goharin
هیچ درختی تنها نیست
وقتی که پروانه ای
مهمان برگ ها است
no lonely tree
when a butterfly
sits on a leaf
Mr. Seyed Ali Mirafzali
شب مثل پتوی مُرده سربازی
از پنجره
نیمدار و نَمدار گذشت
night passed
as the dead soldier’s wrap . . .
through the worn window
Mr. Sirus Rumi
بانو
چه سخت التیام می یابد
زخم دلم
oh, donna
how hardness heals
my heart wounds
Mrs. Fariba Arabnia
تنگِ غروب
محکوم به تنهایی
تک درخت خشک
deep sunset . . .
destined to loneliness,
a barren tree
Mr. Majid Jamshidi
نم نم باران
سیلی بود
برای مورچه ها
spring mist . . .
a raging flood
for ants
Mr. Reza Rezanejad Shirazi
خورشید
در سپیده دم طلوع می کند
لاله عباسی من در غروب
sunrise . . .
my marvel of Peru blooms
at sunset
Mr. Mahmoud Falaki
نوروز امسال
دیوار اطاقم را
به رنگ چشم های تو خواهم کرد
this new year,
I paint my room walls . . .
your eye color
Mrs. Katayun Amuzgar
شامگاهان باز
هندوانه می شمارد
مترسک بیکار
at night again,
counting the watermelons . . .
idle scarecrow
Mr. Hossein Mostafapour
چه سینه سرخ هایی
که ترساندم
به شوق سبز شدنت
so many robins
that I have frightened . . .
you sprout
کجا رفت
بادی که مرا جاگذاشت
اولین روز بهار؟
descending
the mountain, me and
my shadow
Mr. Reza Arabi
شامگاه کوهستانی
چراغ های شهری دور
روشن می شوند
mountain dusk
a distant town’s lights
turn on
Mr. Ehsan Porsa
چشمانت را که می بندی
بوسه را
به خط بریل می نویسم
in Braille . . .
kisses as you close
your eyes
Mr. Reza Ashofteh
ردای نارنجی بودا
چه نورانی است
زیر نور ماه
Buddha’s orange cloak . . .
How luminous it glitters
Under the moon ligh
Mrs. Samaneh Hosseini
کجا رفت
بادی که مرا جاگذاشت
اولین روز بهار؟
where does it go
the passing by breeze
first day of spring?
Mr. Mehdi Ghanbari:
گورهای خالی
از باران لبریز شدند
روستای شلوغ
empty graves
filled by the rain, this
first day of spring
Mrs. Fereshteh Panahi
بوی اطلسی
از تراس همسایه‌ای
سرسنگین بامن
petunia scent
through the neighbor’s terrace . . .
sulky with me
Mr. Abbas Hossein-Nejad (Graduate in Japanese language andliterature at Tehran Unviversity)
شکوفه داده درخت
در عمق زمستان
سینه سرخی!
blooming trees
deep in the winter
a robin
Mr. Mohammad Hoghughi
نه او کنار دریا است
نه دریا کنار اوست
او فقط شاعر است
she is neither
by the sea nor the sea by her . . .
she’s just a poet
Mr. Massih Talebian
روی نیلوفر بنفش
تور تارهای عنکبوت
یکی دو بال مگس هم
a morning glory
covered with spider’s web
one or two fly wings too
دهکده پیدا نیست
اما آنسوتر قلهء برف پوش
سرخ نارنجی است
snow covered peak . . .
Beyond the invisible village
orangish red
Massih Talebian holds a Master degree in Electronics engineering, and is currently the manager of an instrumentation engineering company in Iran. He's interested in poetry, especially in haiku aesthetics. Talebian has published essays on Basho's aesthetics in Iranian poetry journals, and is currently writing a Persian book on haiku theories and aesthetics.