PREFACE The purpose of this collection of translations is to make a selection of the Iranian New Poetry available to the poets, who may see how much of their work is translatable (in universal language) or retained in the translations; to teachers and students of English who are encouraged by these translations and who may decide to translate additional poems; and to non-Iranians who wonder if poetry in Iran has stopped after Jammy or Attar. The, translations are offered here with the Iranian texts en face. Because each word of a poem is unique in itself and in its order, the reader should read the Iranian along with the English translations. The translator regrets the absence of a number of New Poets in this book and the meager representation of others. He feels that a collection encompassing the works of fewer poets would better illustrate the trend of Iranian New Poetry than the same size collection including a few poems each from a larger number of poets. He hopes to expand the present collection at a later date, at which time a larger selection of poets will be undertaken. For permission to reprint the poems in this book, acknowledgments are made to the poets themselves and to the following copyright holders: for N. Yusij to Seragim Yusij and for F. Farroxzad to Puran Farroxzad. I am particularly grateful to T. Dunn, F. Maleky, T. McAffee, A. Qarebaqy, R. Ranjbaran, D. Sadxu and B. Tului for their help, encouragement and technical assistance. CONTENTS Iranian Phonetic Transcription 1 Preface 2 Introduction 3 Nima Yusij 7 A Poem of the times 10 It Is Night l0 My Home Is Clouded 12 The Yellows 14 In a Cold Winter Night 16 O people! 18 The Shadow of Self 22 Foruq Faroxzad 25 The Bird Was Only a Bird 28 Another Birth 30 Red Rose 38 The Gift 40 The Pair 40 Friday 42 On the Soil 44 Transient 48 My Lover 50 Ahmad Samlu 58 Praise 60 An Epigram 60 The Song of Acquaintance 62 The Street 62 Poverty 66 The Tombstone 66 I Stood on the Soil Earnestly 68 The Sketch 70 Nocturne 70 Nocturne 72 Nocturne 74 Mehdy Axavan-calec 76 The Flower 78 In the Bar 80 Like a Thirsty Vessel 80 The Excuse 82 Lyric 2 82 The Windows 84 The Moment of Meeting 84 The Nurse 86 An Elegy 86 Grafts and Garden 90 Ahmadreza Ahmady 96 The News 96 The Future Father of the Street 96 From the Season of Stay 98 "We Sent Rain”100 The Teacher 102 The Death of the Fish 104 A Song of Thanks and Friendship 106