Hi Richard
Thanks for the links and the info about Saadi. Yes, he's very different
from Rumi and Hafiz, but clearly very interesting. I can see what Edmund
means by nodding towards Marvell; it's not just the ethical inquiry, but a
certain sensuality present in the translation, at least, which I can't say I
quite see in Pope.
The links you make to Emerson and Thoreau etc are very interesting indeed;
these mutual influences have always been there. Maybe I find myself most
interested in the elegance of the form, the shifting from prose to poetry.
With different intent, it has, in English translation at least, the same
kind of elegance of Haibun. Then I started wondering what traditions we
have in English of this prose/poem style. I could only think of the prose
of the King James Bible and Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, but it
is early in the morning and my thoughts aren't exactly sharp and
scintillating...
All best
A
Alison Croggon
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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