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comment by galen
galen  ·  3787 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Weekly Hafiz: The beginning

Yeah, I'll definitely check out Halevi. The little bit of his poetry I've read so far has been pretty good, although I have to say I tend to find his rhyme scheme a little bit cheesy.

My dad actually recommended another book when he saw that I was reading Hafiz - Stray Birds, written in Bengali and then translated to English by Rabindranath Tagore. I haven't started it yet, but he says it's pretty good.





Rossignol  ·  3787 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I haven't at any point felt that Halevi's rhyme scheme is intrusive. The translation I've been reading is by Levin and, assuming you're from the US, is purchaseable: http://www.amazon.com/Poems-Diwan-Poetica-Yehuda-Halevi/dp/0856463337/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407346366&sr=8-1&keywords=levin+diwan

Can I ask if you had any particular motivation for reading Hafiz or did you just pick him up?

galen  ·  3787 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Thanks for the translation rec, I wouldn't be surprised if my problems with the rhyme scheme were an issue with the translator, not Halevi.

I actually first heard some of the poetry from The Gift at a summer camp I went to a couple years back, one of the counselors read it to us every once in a while and I really enjoyed it. Finally a few weeks ago I remembered to ask her who the translator was and picked up my own copy.

Rossignol  ·  3787 days ago  ·  link  ·  

What's the nature of a summer camp where you're read poetry? We don't really have them in England and I was under the impression it was where mothers sent their children to make the American hinterland look like the Aokigahara.

galen  ·  3787 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Hah! Yeah, this was kind of a weird camp. We produced a full-length Shakespeare play in 2 weeks with a cast of 14 pre-teens and teenagers, and one of the (4) counselors read us poetry at night just because.