Thursday, September 11, 2014

Quintrain


Quintrain

by Sa'id Aql

Translated by Mansour Ajami 

Once...I heard a bird,
an absorbed ecstatic bird,
eloquently telling
its child:
"Fly away,
soar high:
a few bread crumbs
will suffice you,
but the sky 
you need....
the whole sky."

A very inspirational poem indeed!

Sa|id |Aql (B. 1912) was born in Zahle, Lebanon, where he became a teacher and journalist before establishing himself in the 1930s as one of the leading conventional poets in the Arab world. He was influenced by the symbolist school and despite his many innovations in style and content, never deviated from the conventional formula of a poem.

From : The Flag of Childhood : Poems from the Middle East

3 comments:

  1. But, PGR-ji, why is this titled "Quintrain"? What does it mean and what is the significance?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ah me. Yes. I need the whole sky! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. what is the connotative meaning of the word ecstatic?

    ReplyDelete