Abstract
A Poet, Who Dreads of The Darkness of The City: Saeb-E Tabrizi
Classical poetry (whether Turkish or Farsi poetry) is a
literary tradition where common mazmuns (hiding a
meaning in metaphorical words or phrases that is
associated with its features), similes and metaphors occupy
a certain ground. As a matter of fact, it has been criticisized
by some literary critics for being unoriginal and as
repeating one another. While this assertion appears to be
true at first glance, an analysis of a more observant
perspective will reveal this assertion to be a false accusation
or at least exaggerative interpretation.
We can see certain differences among various schools
within classical poetry (classical style, hikemi style, Hindi
style) and among different poets that share the same school.
To deal with this difference from the aspect of mazmun, this
difference appears as saying something not said before
using the same mazmun, or creating a new mazmun. A
term (as a word or phrase) that is not used before can be
associated to a new context or it can bear a totally new
imagination.
Dealing with the phrase savad-e shahr (the darkness of
the city), this study first locates the significance of the term
within the tradition of classical poetry, then discusses its
meaning and associations for Saeb-e Tabrizi and reveals
the differences between the two.
Keywords
Classical Turkish Poetry, classical Farsi poetry, Saeb-e Tabrizi, sevad-e shahr