Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry

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also interested in the works of Goethe and readWest-östlicher Divan. By that time
there were also many translations of Ḥāfiẓ available to the public, as well as, of
course,E.B.Cowell’sownessaysandtranslations.SoaneagersoulsuchasTennyson
wouldhavehadampleresourcestomakeuseofingettingtoknowḤāfiẓintimately.
HisknowledgeoftheesotericanderoticlanguageofḤāfiẓisreflectedabundantlyin
hispoetry.Herewecanonlyelaborateonafewexamples.Themysticalimageryof
Ḥāfiẓ occurs repeatedly in such poems asThe Princess, ‘The Gardener’s Daughter’,
‘TheDayDream’,‘VisionofSin’,‘Akbar’sDream’andInMemoriam;butthelocusclas-
sicusisfoundin‘TheLover’sTale’:

Shewasdark-haired,dark-eyed:

Oh,suchdarkeyes!Asingleglanceofthem

Willgovernawholelifefrombirthtodeath,

Carelessofallthingselse,ledonwithlight

Intrancesandinvisions:lookatthem,

Youloseyourselfinutterignorance;

Methoughtalight

BurstfromthegarlandIhadwoven,andstood

Asolidgloryonherbrightblackhair;

Alightmethoughtbrokefromherdark,darkeyes.^57

Direct echoes of Ḥāfiẓ are discernible in this poem if we compare these lines with

somelinesinḤāfiẓ:

Thecurvesofthyhairisthesnareofinfidelityandoffaith[...]

Thycomelinessisthemiracleofbeauty,butthestoryofthyglanceisvisible

magic.

[...]lettherebeahundredshoutsofpraisetothatdarkeye,whichhasmag-

icalpowersinthekillingoflovers[...]

How can anyone on whom thy capricious glance has fallen, that glance

whichalwayswaitsinambushwiththebowofthyeyebrow.^58

One night my heart was dark that I sought to find it in the darkness of thy

hair,Isawthyfaceanddrankacupofwinefromthylips.

At once I embraced thee, and the waves of thy hair embraced my heart, I

placedmylips,andmadesacrificeofmyheartandsoul.^59

Another passage from ‘The Lover’s Tale’ will clarify further to what extent

Tennyson’spoemispermeatedbyimagesofSufiUnity:

...wewoke

Togazeuponeachother.Ifthisbetrue,

ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry