t
h e W A L L ( D I V A R )
Farrokhzad's second
volume of verse, containing twenty-five short lyrics, was published
in mid-1956. Called (The) Wall, it included poems composed through
the spring of 1956 which for the most part, like The Captive poems,
do not present palpable Iranian settings or autobiographical details
amenable to verification on the basis on internal evidence. Love moments,
wishful thinking about love, lovers' complaints, and the like are
the main subjects. But as a natural continuation of the sorts of statements
in The Captive, the poems in The Wall
seem very Iranian in their moods and reflective of emotional states
natural for an Iranian woman in the poet's circumstances. In addition,
at the risk of oversimplification, one can assert a difference between
the two volumes in terms of what their titles emphasize. In The Captive,
Farrokhzad depicts her plight as an individual, whereas in The Wall
she treats her state and sense of captivity.
In several poems in The Wall, the female speaker refers to her own
poetry and lack of a good name. In one poem, she addresses a "thou"
and refers both to the Karun River and to a first love there, that
is, in Ahvaz: "How will your memory die in my heart? / The memory
of you is the memory of first love"
Divar (The Wall), was published dedicated to her former husband "in
memory of our shared past, and with the hope that this worthless gift
of mine can be a token of my gratitude to his boundless kindness."
Veils and Words
Farzaneh Milani page 134
The Sin ( Gonah )
I sinned a sin
full of pleasure,
In an embrace which was warm and fiery.
I sinned surrounded by arms
that were hot and avenging and iron.
In that dark and silent seclusion
I looked into his secret-full eyes.
my heart impatiently shook in my breast
In response to the request of his needful eyes.
In that dark and silent seclusion,
I sat disheveled at his side.
his lips poured passion on my lips,
I escaped from the sorrow of my crazed heart.
I whispered in his ear the tale of love:
I want you, o life of mine,
I want you, O life-giving embrace,
O crazed lover of mine, you.
desire sparked a flame in his eyes;
the red wine danced in the cup.
In the soft bed, my body
drunkenly quivered on his chest.
I sinned a sin full of pleasure,
next to a shaking, stupefied form.
o God, who knows what I did
In that dark and quiet seclusion.
TOP
