Persian poetry, a literary heritage as rich as any in the world, found a brilliantly versatile voice when Dick Davis began his career as a translator several decades ago. Yet his English-language renderings–ranging from epics such as The Shahnameh ...
Persian poetry, a literary heritage as rich as any in the world, found a brilliantly versatile voice when Dick Davis began his career as a translator several decades ago. Yet his English-language renderings–ranging from epics such as The Shahnameh and Vis & Ramin to the concentrated wisdom of Rumi and Hafez–are just one measure of his gifts with words. Davis is also an acclaimed poet, with a voice and sensibility very much his own.
At Home, and Far from Home, his ninth book of poetry, focuses on Iran and how it stirs him. Some of the poems draw on his scholar’s knowledge of Persian history and culture to reach into long-ago lives and minds: poets, artists, adventurers. In others, he weaves a gossamer net to catch subtleties of love, grief, or spiritual yearning. In still others, he looks at himself as a traveler, translator, and, for many years, an Englishman in a country often suspicious of the West. Sometimes the tone is witty, sometimes tender, but keen imagination and sharp intelligence are always in play as he explores the pull and aura of Iran. It is a remarkable collection–proof that, as Davis writes of another poet,
The insubstantial filigree
Of singing words or wordless song
Can bring us back where we belong.
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