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ClaudeLévi-Strausshasshownushowmythologyencodescertainculturalvalues.
ArnoldVanGennepandVictorTurnerhavedemonstratedthatvariousculturalrit-
ualsgivemeaningtoandsymbolicallyencodecertainperiodsofsocial-cultural
transition.Theseencodedritualssometimesimplicitlyinformliteraryandother
artisticworks,andmakingthemexplicitmaythereforeyieldcriticalinsightsinto
theseworks.InthecaseofthetripartiteArabicqaṣīda,forexample,Suzanneand
JaroslavStetkevychhaveuncoveredariteofpassage,withthestageofseparation
articulatedinthenasīb;thestageofliminalitysymbolizedinthejourneysectionof
theraḥīl;andthestageofaggregation,orreintegration,symbolizedinthefakhrsec-
tionofthepoem.Theanimalsthatthepoetencountersintheraḥīl,ajourneyoften
undertakenatnight,areallsymbolicofthesojourner’soutcaststate.^32
Similarly,ananalysisofthespecifictime-framesofthePersianghazal,thechar-
actersandeventswithwhichparticulartimeperiodsandscenesarespecificallyand
perhapsexclusivelyassociated,thecatalogueofmotifsandimageswhichradiate
fromit,and–inshort–thesemiotichorizonsofthetime-frame,maylikewise
proveusefulinunderstandingthefixed-formofthePersianghazal.
TheHourofDawninḤāfiẓ
Approximately90,ornearlyone-fifth,oftheghazalsofḤāfiẓexplicitlyrefertodawn
orearlymorning,whichtimemustthereforeconstituteasignificantsemiotichori-
zoninhismythopoesis,particularlyifthesewordscomeataformativepointinthe
poem,suchasthefirstorthelastline.Intherestofthischapter,Iwillattempta
lexical/semioticinventoryofdawnandthearchetypalscenes,poeticsituationsand
emotionsattendantuponitsevocation.Dothedifferentwordsfordawn,daybreak
andmorningeachhavetheirownsemioticvalency,ordotheyallevokemoreor
lessanundifferentiatedmythopoetictime?Considerationwillbegiventodawnin
relationtootherpoetictime-frames(night,seasons,festivals)anditsroleasa
sacred, orin illo temporetime, in which suffering is resolved and meaning is
revealed.Byisolatingthesemantichorizonsofdawnasatopos,itishopedthatthe
relationshipbetweencertainthemesandtopoi,andthereforethearchitectonicsof
hisghazals,mayemergeinsomewhatclearerrelief.
Itakeitasaclearpremiseofthisstudythatdawnisindeedtheparamount
mythopoetichouroftheday,andsymbolicallysaturatedforḤāfiẓ.Ḥāfiẓannounces
tousthathecomposespoetryatnightandweepsatdawn,forthelaughingandcry-
ingofloverscomefromtwodifferentplaces(373:6):
Khandavugirya-yi‛ushshāqzijā’īdigarast
mīsurāyambishabuvaqt-isaḥarmīmūyam.Thelaughterandtearsoftheloverscomesfromsomeotherquarter
Icomposeatnightandweepatdawntide.ḤāfiẓandtheReligionofLoveinClassicalPersianPoetry