Sohrab Sepehri

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Sohrab Sepehri

Born	October 7, 1928 Kashan, Iran
Died	April 21, 1980 Tehran, Iran, Pars Hospital, (Buried beside Emamzade Soltan Ali's Shrine, Mashhad-eh Ardahal village, Kashan, Persian: صحن امامزاده سلطان علی، روستای مشهد اردهال، اطراف كاشان)
Occupation	Persian Poet and Painter.

Sohrab Sepehri (Persian: سهراب سپهری‎ transliteration: Suhrāb Sipihrī) (October 7, 1928 - April 21, 1980) was a notable modern Iranian poet and a painter. He was born in Kashan in Isfahan province. He frequently is considered as one of the five famous modern Iranian poets who have practised "New Poetry" (a kind of poetry that often has neither meter nor rhyme), the others being Nima Youshij, Ahmad Shamlou, Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, and Forough Farrokhzad all of them now dead. He died in Pars hospital in Tehran of leukemia. His poetry is full of humanity and concern for human values. He loved nature and refers to it frequently. His poetry has been translated to many languages including French, English, Spanish, Italian, Swedish and Russian.

[edit] Poetry

Beyond The Seas

Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani

I’ll put up a boat,

And I'll set it free off the shore

I’ll let it take me away from this eerie land,

where nobody calls up the sleeping heroes

from the midst of their long, lonely trance.

I’ll put up a boat,

and I'll set it free off the shore;

a boat with no net, with no seine,

and with my heart cleansed of wish for pearl.

I’ll sail away on the tides

I’ll sing all along the ride.

Neither the blues of the deeps,

Nor the mermaids, natives of the seas

will captivate me from my solitary glide

I’ll move on with pride.

I’ll sail away on the tides,

I’ll sing all along the ride:

“I’ll leave this eerie land behind;

its men failed to recall the tales of their legends,

its women were not as luscious as clusters of grape,

its mirrors evaded from celebration of the shapes.

I did not see a torch,

I did not see a loch.”

I shall sail away,

I am tired of the reign of opaque panes

Now it’s time for the verse of the glass.

I’ll sail away on the tides

I’ll sing all along the ride:

“Beyond the seas,

There is another land;

Its windows open to the virtue of the lights

On its roofs, doves constantly gaze at the soar of human mind

Its children walk with the backpacks full of wisdom and trust.”

“Beyond the seas,

There is another land;

People there, they care

for the airs of a gentle hill

for the feel of brief dream.

Its soil listens to the song of your soul,

Its wind carries the scent of the birds' wings.”

“Beyond the seas,

There is another land;

Its dawn is white, clear and vast,

alike the freshness of the day’s first sight

Its poets are heirs of the water, wind and light.”

Beyond the seas,

There is another land:

I shall put up a boat,

I will put up a boat.

Another poem By Sohrab Sepehri

Translated by Neima Jahromi

I’ve never seen two rival pines.

I’ve never seen a willow

Sell its shadow to the earth.

An oak happily offers

Its branch to the raven.

And wherever there is a leaf,

and in me, passion blossoms.

Another poem By Sohrab Sepehri

Translated by Persica Australis

I saw not two trees become foe.

I saw not a willow,

Sell its shade to the earth.

Benevolently it shares,

The elm its branch to the raven.

Wherever there is a leaf,

My Passion blossoms.

[edit] Sohrab Sepehri's life timeline:

Born in 1928 – Kashan – Iran

He hosted a painting exhibition - Tehran 1944

He published his first poetry book that followed by a few other books in the same year - 1951

He graduated from the fine arts university with B.A. degree in painting - Tehran – 1953

He translated some Japanese poetry into Persian and published them in a literary magazine called Sokhan – 1955

He traveled to Paris and attended the Paris Fine Arts School in lithography – 1957

He traveled to Tokyo to further his studies in lithography and wood carving – 1960

On the way back to Iran from Japan , he visited India and became familiar with the ideology of Buddhism – 1961

He published three books in poetry – 1960

He traveled to India again and visited several cities and provinces – 1964

He traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan 1964

He traveled to Europe and visited several countries such as Germany,England,France,Spain,the Netherlands,Italy and Austria – 1966

He published some long poems after he returned to Iran – 1966

He hosted a painting exhibition in Tehran 1967

He published another book in poetry 1967

He traveled to Greece and Egypt – 1974

He published his final book called ‘Hasht Ketab' (Eight Books), which was the collection of almost all of his published poems in one volume – 1976

He got blood cancer and traveled to England for treatment – 1978

Unfortunately, his attempt to defeat cancer brought him no result. He returned to Iran and died in Pars Hospital in Tehran on Monday April 21, 1980.