A Ghazal: DisUnity and Unity by the Rain
The identity and roots of the form of a poem is critical when writing. When reading about the ghazal and its origins and forms, I thought it was really interesting to see that form being taken from one language and put into another. The main structure in a ghazal is its use of repetition. Each couplet can be describing something completely different from the previous line, but its identity comes from the radif, which is the aspect of the poem that repeats at the end of every couplet. The ghazal’s main origin comes from Arabia, so the flow of the lines really are quite different in distinguishing languages. Urdu and Persian are the dominant languages in which ghazals are written, but their flow is very different compared to the English language. Therefore, in the ghazal form, “the poets follow an inner ear rather than any clearly established rules, as in English” (Ali 210). For instance, there are no rules regarding the meter and rhythm when following the form in English because the syllables and rhythms of the languages are very different. It is important to look at the language and the ghazals’ natural form because it teaches us that language and sound plays an important role in poetry. Personally, growing up surrounded by the Urdu language, I have been exposed to ghazals in their verbal forms such as songs. Even through the simple speaking tone of a ghazal, the ambience is really created through the environment and reactions to the ghazal. Agha Shahid Ali recognizes the culture behind ghazals in “Ghazal: To Be Teased into DisUnity.” He describes “the audience would be so primed and roused” (Ali 213). The culture behind ghazals is just as important as it’s form because its like an experience. Different types of poetry can be categorized by its structure, rhyming schemes, and more. However, it is really interesting to learn about its origins because poetry is a form of writing that can be verbal, whether that is through song or through speaking. Agha Shahid Ali emphasizes that in his writing when explaining the origins of the ghazal and how the form of poetry is usually expressed.
A ghazal that was provided as an example in Ali’s writing is “Jewel House Ghazal” by Rafique Kathwari. The main idea that readers can draw from this poem is that a mother and her child have been separated by a border or borders. The two, however, are connected by “the rain” which is the radif in this particular ghazal. It emphasizes the idea that even when being apart, we all are still living under the same sky. They see the same moon and sun rise and set every day, they are just separated by distance and are experiencing these events by their own means. However, the rain prompts the main character, which can be assumed to be Kathwari because of the use of “I” in his ghazal, to constantly remember his mother. In the very first couplet he mentions “I feel her presence in the rain” (Ali 214). Readers can assume that the rain really draws them together especially when considering the first couplet’s connection to the last couplet which states “my mother’s scents in the rain” (Ali 214). Kathwari is saying how his mother’s aroma exists within the rain, therefore, it holds her memory.
The form of a ghazal is meant to be very freeing. The couplets do not have to connect with one another, except for the first and last ones. Considering this piece of knowledge, readers can infer that each couplet in Kathwari’s “Jewel House Ghazal” is related to his first couplet. It is all describing a memory, except for the second and fifth couplets. The second couplet I thought was really mesmerizing and interesting to look at. Kathwari writes “A rooster precedes the Call To Prayer At Dawn: God is a name dropper: all names at once in the rain” (214). I reread it a few times and was intrigued by the form of the last bit “all names at once in the rain” and inferred he was saying how God is calling all names and each drop of water is a name which emphasizes the idea that there are countless names and people existing. It highlighted the setting and time in which it was time to go pray.
In comparison to the third couplet, he mentions forsythia shriveling, which is a type of flower. I believe Kathwari was comparing his mother to the forsythia in saying that she is a delicate flower who is slowly growing older because the imagery of a flower shriveling can provide an image of becoming wrinkled and old. The jumping from the couplets about God and then about his mother seemed really random at first, but I think it is meant to show that Kathwari was really thinking about his mother and was praying for her. In the sequence of couplets, the writer first was called to prayer, then thinks about his mom growing old and later performs ablution and truly respects the rain as it is seen as a gift from God and can symbolize his mother.
Ali, Agha Shahid. “Ghazal: To Be Teased into DisUnity.” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate The Diversity of Their Art, Edited By Annie Finch and Kathrine Varnes, University of Michigan Press, 2002, pp. 210–216.
Kathwari, Rafique. “Jewel House Ghazal” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, Edited by Annie Finch and Kathrine Varnes, University of Michigan Press, 2002, pp. 214.
