Ghazal – Mimi Khalvati

The Ghazal is a particular form of poetry that has its origins in the Middle East. It was common in Persia (now Iran). It is a poem that could have been sung and is structured in couplets. There is often a refrain in the poem – a bit like a chorus in a song. It is similar to the European sonnet form of poetry. The sonnet originated in Italy where it was called a ‘sonnetti’ (little song).Like the sonnet, the Ghazal was often part of a sequence of poems written from one person to another. Also, it is usually about love, especially unrequited love.

Features typical of a Ghazal are:

 Five or more couplets  Even numbered lines rhyme  No enjambment between verses – each should make sense as a complete idea.  First couplet should be a rhyming one  Final couplet should be rhyming  Final verse contains a mention of the author

Mimi Khalvati was born in Tehran and moved to the Isle of Wight as child. She had her first poetry published in 1991.

This particular Ghazal is written in couplets but not always rhyming.

The imagery used in the poem is expressed through the use of metaphors that contain images of nature.

It is written in the first person.

This Ghazal is about the speaker’s desire to have a relationship with an unnamed lover. It is as much about sexual desire as it is about the spiritual nature of love. The speaker wants an emotional and physical relationship with the lover and makes this very clear through her use of imagery.

Many of the couplets begin with the word ‘if’ and express Khalvati’s fantasies about this relationship and what it will be like. 1 www.purplehobbit.co.uk

In the first couplet it sets up the idea that the speaker is hoping for a lover to respond. The idea that she is the grass and he the breeze would seem to suggest that he will be the controller in the relationship and she will bend to his will – just like the grass in the breeze. It also suggests that she is somehow rooted and unable to move and that he can move and is therefore more powerful. The flower, again, is rooted whilst the bird is more in control and can move about 0 it also, just like the breeze has the power to destroy the flower.

At the end of the first couplet she says she wants him to ‘woo her’ – this suggests that she wants him to be in control of the relationship and that she wants him to court her.

The first couplet rhymes, in keeping with the traditional Ghazal form.

In the couplets that follow Khalvati uses something known as ‘mosaic rhyme’ where the even lines rhyme on more than one syllable. This form is her tribute to the traditional form of the Ghazal. The pattern of rhymes is meant to give the poem an almost hypnotic or mesmerising quality.

The second couplet continues the ideas of one of them being more powerful that the other with the fact that he is the rhyme – the dominant part of the song and she the refrain – the chorus or part that is repeated throughout.

She suggests that she will sing with him when he ‘cues’ her – so only when he wants her to do so – she won’t sing on her own impulse – so she will only love as and when he wants her to. There is also an allusion to their imagined sexual relationship in this line.

She suggests through the idea of him being an ‘iron fist’ that he is the stronger and more powerful one and that he has the power to destroy her. The image of the ‘velvet glove’ suggests that he is someone who appears one way on the outside, but is different underneath. This couplet goes on t0 suggest that she wants him to hunt her. The arrow is love and it is her heart that she wants to be pierced. The image of the tattoo suggests that she wants to be marked forever by him. It is a very intimate image.

This sort of imagery makes the reader think that the speaker wants to be dominated by her would-be lover –she is almost obsessive in her desire to be loved – very intense emotions are being explored here.

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She imagines herself as a serpent being charmed or subdued by her lover. The magical power of love is hinted at here: the fact that she uses the verb –‘subdue’, again suggests the idea that she wants to be controlled by him.

The idea of the laurel crown references ancient symbolism of victory:

‘I am the laurel leaf in your crown’

Laurel crowns were used in ancient Roman times and were used to crown the Caesars. They, therefore have links to power. She sees herself as part of the confirmation of the man’s power and sees herself as a symbolic adornment just like a crown. Laurel was originally used as crowns for Olympic Games winners – symbolic of the hard work and struggle that goes into winning. The speaker is perhaps acknowledging the fact that their love will represent a long struggle – hers to get him to finally notice her. It is also a symbol of tranquillity – so perhaps what she thinks her affection will bring the man.

As the second part of the image she describes herself:

‘You are the arms around my bark’

She imagines herself as a tree that he will cover and embrace in the same Way as the bark covers the whole tree. She concedes that this has never happened in the final part of the line

‘Arms that never knew me’

This is in keeping with the conventional idea of the Ghazal as a poem about unrequited love.

The dramatic exclamation of the next couplet helps to personalise the poem and remind the reader that there is a real person speaking. It is slightly melodramatic; however Khalvati did not feel that she had to follow any conventions about realism in this kind of poem. After all, it is supposed to be a mystical and romantic poem so being realistic was not a priority. The image created in this couplet is the idea of her being like a tree and possible to produce new leaves every year until it dies – if she were bark she would not age so the chance of their love being realised would have much longer to happen.

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In the second line of this couplet she imagines providing him with rest and protection under her canopy if she is a tree. She promises to provide him with shelter and protection. The idea of him dropping ‘dew to bedew me’ suggests that he provides her with life – just like water (dew) does for the tree. There is also a clear sexual connotation in the phrase ‘bedew me’.

She offers to change in order to win his love:

‘What shape should I take to marry your own?’

This shows the extreme lengths Khalvati is willing to go to in order to win this man’s love.

She follows this up with two images from nature – the hawk and the moth. Her reference to herself in the line:

‘Shadow to his hawk’

This suggests that she will follow and move with him in the synchronised manner of a shadow. Again a reference to the closeness of their sexual relationship is clear.

The idea of him being attracted to her like a:

‘Moth to a flame’,

This is clear in its meaning that he will hopefully find her irresistible. There is also a sense of danger here in that if the moth gets to0 close it will be burned or consumed by the flame. This is also a reference to the burning passion she feels for this man.

In line 15 she uses the image of east and west as being inseparable:

‘If I rise in the east as you die in the west’

This image suggests that they are sun and moon to each other – essential to each other’s being yet separate to their existence – just as the sun and moon are.

She goes on to say the she will be ‘renewed’ by him every night – another hint at their sexual relationship and the effect she imagines it will have on her.

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Khalvati imagines that even after the end of the relationship they will remain friends:

‘If when it ends we are just good friends’

This is not enough for her though – she wants to remain his ‘muse’ – someone who has had a profound influence on his life, and will never be forgotten.

She goes on to use the image of Shamsuddin and Rumi as an illustration of how she sees their friendship. They were famous in Persian history and Rumi wrote a Ghazal in honour of his relationship with Shamsuddin.

In the final couplet, Khalvati expresses the need for her lover to be her whole world:

‘Heaven and earth to me’

The final line is quite self-deprecating – he will be the whole world to her but she knows that she will only ever be half of it to her:

‘If only half the world you are to me’.

She manages to get a play on words using her own name into the final couplet ‘twice the me’ = Mimi, in keeping with the tradition of the Ghazal.

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