Why am I annoyed by rhyme in English language poetry, and not, say, in the Urdu poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz? The above image is taken from Faiz's poem Shaam (Evening). I've never found an English translation that I care for, but here's the final verse and a half, transliterated (sorry, no diacritics): Ab kabhi shaam bujhegi na andhera hoga,
Ab kabhi raat dhalegi na sawera hoga.
Aasmaan aas liye hai ke yeh jaadu tute,
Chup ki zanjir kate, waqt ka daaman chhute,
De koi sankh duhaai, koi paayal bole,
Koi but jaage, koi saanwali ghungat khole.
The sounds in this poem are exquisite. Musical, hypnotic. They give me chills.
I guess I'm not annoyed by all rhyming English language poetry. (There's Shakespeare, after all). Maybe I've just read too much bad poetry. Maybe all the good rhymes in English have been taken. (But I don't believe that, do I?)
Maybe historical distance gives me permission to enjoy rhyme. Maybe I'm predisposed to view form in contemporary poetry as phony and forced. Thing is, when rhyme creeps its way into a piece on its own - as incidental rhyme, or near-rhyme, or assonance - I find it very pleasing. Ironically, the one form I actually enjoy when employed by English-language poets is the Ghazal, made famous by the Urdu poet Ghalib (but this form uses repetition rather than rhyme...)
Hm. Curiouser and curiouser.
De koi sankh duhaai, koi paayal bole,
Koi but jaage, koi saanwali ghungat khole.
The sounds in this poem are exquisite. Musical, hypnotic. They give me chills.
I guess I'm not annoyed by all rhyming English language poetry. (There's Shakespeare, after all). Maybe I've just read too much bad poetry. Maybe all the good rhymes in English have been taken. (But I don't believe that, do I?)
Maybe historical distance gives me permission to enjoy rhyme. Maybe I'm predisposed to view form in contemporary poetry as phony and forced. Thing is, when rhyme creeps its way into a piece on its own - as incidental rhyme, or near-rhyme, or assonance - I find it very pleasing. Ironically, the one form I actually enjoy when employed by English-language poets is the Ghazal, made famous by the Urdu poet Ghalib (but this form uses repetition rather than rhyme...)
Hm. Curiouser and curiouser.
2 comments:
I find when reading poetry in another language I am less likely to notice the rhyme, feeling less at home in general. I would also say in general I don't like rhyme much, but then hang all kinds of exceptions on it.
Hi Sarah,
You make a good point. The disorientation we feel when spending time with another language probably makes rhyme less intrusive (maybe even makes it pleasing - sort of a "way in", if that makes sense). Who knows? Maybe when Faiz wrote this piece, all the Urdu-speakers were like, "bole/khole? Not again!" (smile)
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