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The Gentle Winds: Time, Space, and Nature in Classical Persian Poetry
Abstract
Wind, as a natural element and as a symbolic significance, is extensively featured in Persian poetry. In this paper, I analyze the poetic subject of wind as a cultural element representing time and space in which the poems were written. Describing the essential characteristics of wind in classical Persian poetry, I focus on a specific type called the gentle wind. This category includes the spring wind (Bad-e Bahari), the morning wind (Bad-e Sobhgahi), the new-year wind (Bad-e Norouzi), the agreed wind (Bad-e Movafegh), breeze (Nasim), and the Saba wind. Persian poets consider these winds as living creatures that might affect the course of an event or life itself. These winds exist and blow in Persian poetry not only as natural phenomena but also as messengers, as conduits, as symbols. They connect lovers to their beloved. They carry delightful omens. They revive and resurrect the dead. These constructive perceptions of wind are expressed in the classical poetry genre corresponding with traditional society. What are the reasons for the continuity or discontinuity in the way the concept of wind has been portrayed in the classical era? When did the concept begin to change meaning and use? This paper addresses three prominent poets including Rumi, Sa'di, and Hafez in order to explain the genesis and development of the poetic concept of the gentle wind. Providing examples from later periods, the paper draws a distinction between the symbolic significance of this element in different eras and literary schools. It provides textual and discourse analyses as well as such concepts as the Bakhtinian notion of Chronotope in its analysis.
Discipline
Literature
Geographic Area
Iran
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries