Fereydoon Moshiri

Fereydoon Moshiri (Persian: فریدون مشیری‎; September 21, 1926 in Tehran, Iran – October 24, 2000 in Tehran) was one of the prominent contemporary Persian poets who versified in both modern and classic styles of the Persian poem. He is best known as conciliator of classical Persian poetry at one side with the New Poetry initiated by Nima Yushij at the other side. One of the major contributions of Moshiri's poetry is the broadening of the social and geographical scope of modern Persian literature.^[1]

Biography

Fereydoon Moshiri was born in Tehran to a family known for their legacy of poetry. His school years were divided between Tehran and Mashhad where his father held administrative posts.^[1]

With the outbreak of the World War II the family moved to Tehran and the young Moshiri continued his education at Dar ol-Fonoon and then in Adib High School. Throughout these years his first poems appeared in progressive journals such as Iran-e-Ma. This was the beginning of a career in literary journalism that continued for more than thirty years. In 1946 Moshiri joined the Iranian Department of Telecommunication where he served till retirement. In 1954 Moshiri married Eghbal Akhavan-Zanjani, then an art student at Tehran University. Their daughter and son, Bahar and Babak, became architects.^[1]

Works

Moshiri's first volume of poetry titled Teshne-ye Toofan (Thirsty for the Storm) was published in 1955. His lyrical poems were widely received and left an impact on a generation of younger poets. Through the later years, Moshiri continued to exercise a major influence on development of modern poetry in Iran.

Later works which were published under the titles Abr-o-Koocheh (The Cloud and The Alley, 1962), and Bahar Ra Bavar Kon (Believe The Spring, 1967) embraced a wide variety of universal concepts ranging from humanistic considerations to social justice. A translation of Moshiri's "Koocheh" (The Alley) by Dr. Iraj Bashiri is presented below.^[2]

The Alley

by

Fereydun Moshiri

(1927-2000)

translated

by

Iraj Bashiri

Copyright, Bashiri 2001

Without you

On a moonlit night,

My thoughts aflight,

I visited that alley again.

My body,

transformed into eyes,

Craved to actualize,

Another meeting with you, in vain.

Sweet anticipation,

Of love's rejuvenation,

Overflowed

My mortal cup.

In that sacred locality

Outside all reality,

The crazed lover with me

Caught up.

Thorns of your being blossomed,

In every recess of my soul;

Recollections of your laughter,

Echoed from pole to pole.

The perfume of lost memories,

Permeated the whole;

As I recalled that night,

The alley,

The realm of silences,

The brook,

And the glance I took.

Your black eyes,

Full of mystery,

Full of the elixir of life,

Enchanted me. What magic, what strife!

The sky was clear,

The night calm,

Luck happy,

Time tame.

Moonbeams poured into every nook,

Lighting up the branches in the brook.

And the night

And the fields

And the flowers,

And the rocks that hasty day forsook.

I recall you say, "Avoid this love.

Heed the current,

The mirror of transient life.

"Today my looks,

Whose tomorrow,

Would please you most, my dove?

"Forget me." You said.

"Leave this town a while,

Preserve that God-given smile."

But,

"Avoid your love, I shall not," I said.

"I will not, till dead."

"The instant my heart--my love partridge,

Lit at your roof,

You threw stones to force me leave,

But I did not. Neither did I grieve.

"You are the hunter," I said. "I the game,

Forcing my way into your trap

To make me tame.

"I shall not abandon you

I will not go away,

Not until you do the same."

Droplets oozed down a branch.

With a bitter groan,

The bird of night took to flight.

Tears gathered in your eyes,

The moon's laugher at my plight.

Reminding me of the response I never received.

Sadness engulfed me,

I persisted.

I did not leave.

That night,

The next night,

All my nights,

Joined the darkness that only nights perceived.

You no longer recalled,

The heart-broken lover you had.

You never walked,

Down that alley,

That alley so sad.

Only if you knew,

The distress I went through,

Walking down that alley,

Without you.^[2]

A selection of his poems has been translated into English entitled With All my Tears by Ismail Salami. Some of his other published works are as follows:

• 1957, Gonah-e Darya (The Sin of the Sea)
• 1958, Nayafteh (Undiscovered)
• 1960, Abr (The Cloud)
• 1970, Parvaz Ba Khorshid (Flying With the Sun)
• 1978, Bahar ra Bavar Kon (Believe the Spring)
• 1988, Ah Baran (Oh, the Rain)
• 2001, Ta Sobh-e Tabnak-e Ahura'ii (Until the Bright of Ahuric Dawn)

Last years

Moshiri had been suffering from leukemia and renal failure for five years and died in "Tehran Clinic" hospital on October 24, 2000.^[1]

References

External links

• Fereydoon Moshiri at Iran Chamber Society
• Fereydoon Moshiri's life
• Kooche by Darya Dadvar
• Koucheh (Alley), a poem written and read by Fereydoon Moshiri, Video on YouTube (4 min 6 sec).
  Text: Koucheh.