Author: Robert Bly
Sunil Dutta/
Publisher: Rupa
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 147
ISBN/UPC (if available): 817167576X
Description
This translation in Hindi and English endeavors to bring the intensity and finesse of Ghalib's poetry to English readers. Ghalib's poetry combines humor and anguish.
Ghalib's poetry combines humor and anguish. In "The Clay Cup", he says:
I Know that Heaven doesn't exist, but the idea is one of Ghalib's favorite fantasies.
He weaves many emotions into his couplets, jumping from one to the other, leaving it to the reader to find the connecting thread.
'In the Lightning should have Fallen on Ghalib Selected Poems of Ghalib' Poet Robert Bly and Urdu scholar Sunil Dutta endeavor to bring the intensity and finesse of Ghalib's poetry to English readers.
Ghalib is one of the most famous and widely read Urdu poets. While he wrote in the tradition of Hafiz and Rumi he managed to imbue it with his distinctive stamp such that it has remained vibrant and vital more than a century after his death. He had led a very unorthodox life. He was a Muslim but he drank alcohol and was found of gambling. His life was full of rejections, excesses and difficulties. He spent most of it in Delhi during the British conquest of India.
Contents
The Surprises in Ghalib
PART I
My Destiny
My Spiritual State
The Clay Cup
When the Day Comes
My Head and My Knees
About Limits and Meaning
Don't Skimp with me Today
Fantasies and Jealousies
Questions
Some Exaggerations
PART II
Waiting for God
Near the Zam Zam Well
The Road with Thorns
The Drop and the River
About My Poems
Rubbing My Forehead
The Candle Flame
A Lamp in a Strong Wind
When My Letter Writer Gets Frightened
Desires Come by the Thousands
PART III
Leftovers in the Cup
When the Sky Clears
The Candle That Has Gone Out
Where Are the Other Faces?
Not Making a Commotion
The Bird Gathering Straws
Thanking the Robber
The Musky Wine of Heaven
Behind the Curtain
The Sword Wound
Ghalib and His Work
Selected Bibliography
About the Editors