Eastern Structures

Greetings, and welcome to the official website of what is currently the world’s only journal dedicated to publishing and critiquing a mélange of Asian poetic forms.

The twenty-fourth and most recent issue of Eastern Structures was published in late April of 2023, and features the ghazals of Myles Gordon, John Baglow, Emma Lee, Gail Foster, Mace Hosseini, Alex Lubman and others; the sijo of Sarah Taylor, Corey Bryan and Gareth Writer-Davies; the tanka of Lee Clark Zumpe, Edward Baranosky and Jerome Berglund; and the sedoka of Corey Bryan. The issue also pays tribute to frequent Eastern Structures contributor, the late Norma Jenckes (1943-2022). 

(click here to purchase No. 24 online)

The twenty-third issue of Eastern Structures was published in early October of 2022, and features the ghazals of Emma Lee, Gail Foster, Shelli Jankowski-Smith, Mace Hosseini and Norma Jenckes; the sijo of Edward Baranosky, Sarah Taylor and John Baglow; the tanka of Joshua St. Claire, Susan Tamara Darrow and G. C. Parker; and the haiku of Priscilla Lignori, Alex Lubman, Joshua St. Claire, Becka Chester, Steve Van Allen, Edward Baranosky, Susan Tyrpak, Jonathan Aylett, Reid Hepworth, and several others. 

(click here to purchase No. 23 online)

Also recently published was Insight (1996–2005), the brief companion volume to editor R. W. Watkins 2021 haiku collection Insight. Whereas the first volume focusses on traditional 5-7-5 haiku published in more recent years, the second compiles both traditional and free-form poems published in various haiku journals and anthologies between the mid 1990s and mid 2000s. Containing some material previously uncollected, it also includes a few unpublished poems from the same era. 

(click here to purchase Insight (1996-2005) online)

The twenty-second issue of Eastern Structures was published in late August of 2022, and features the ghazals of John Baglow, Alison Stone, Mace Hosseini, J. F. Shahrukh and Faiza Anum; a selection of translations and original ghazals by E. J. W. Gibb, Walter Leaf, John Payne and James Clarence Mangan from R. W. Watkins's recent Early Journeys, Forgotten Logs: The Nocturnal iris Anthology of Ancient Ghazals in English; the sijo of Gareth Writer-Davies; the haiku of Alex Lubman, Jonathan Aylett, Reid Hepworth, Lynda Zwinger, Joshua St. Claire, Marcia Burton and others; and 'Haiku Mind, Enlightenment, and R. H. Blyth' — three related essays by Jim Wilson. 

(click here to purchase No. 22 online)

Published in July of 2022 was Early Journeys, Forgotten Logs: The Nocturnal Iris Anthology of Ancient Ghazals in English. In this collection, R. W. Watkins reaches back 250 years and uncovers the early history of the ghazal form in English. Previously misrepresented and therefore largely unknown, this history begins in the 1770s with the translations of British polymath Sir William Jones. Early Journeys, Forgotten Logs collects the groundbreaking work of Jones, nineteenth and early twentieth century translators such as E. J. W. Gibb and Edward G. Browne, and early composers of original ghazals, James Clarence Mangan and James Elroy Flecker. An indispensable resource for students of Asian verse forms in English, this anthology sheds light on the forgotten knowledge and skill of early British and Irish practitioners, effectively setting the record straight. 

(click here to purchase Early Journeys, Forgotten Logs online)

The twenty-first issue of Eastern Structures was published in April of 2022, and features the ghazals of Mace Hosseini, Alison Stone and John Baglow; the sijo of Edward Baranosky; the haiku of Priscilla Lignori, Alex Lubman, James Lignori, Jonathan Aylett, Reid Hepworth, Marcia Burton, Suzanne Tyrpak, Steve Denehan and several others; a renga by Joshua St. Claire and Jill Trade; ‘When Does a Sunrise Begin?’ — an essay on the often dubious approaches to haiku history by Jim Wilson; and a review of Danielle Woerner's I Never Promised You a Cherry Orchard by R. W. Watkins. 

(click here to purchase No. 21 online)

The twentieth issue of Eastern Structures was published in early December of 2021, and features the ghazals of Christopher Mooney-Singh, John Baglow, Jennifer Horne, Norma Jenckes and Shelli Jankowski-Smith; the sijo of Edward Baranosky and Gareth Writer-Davies; the haiku of Joshua St. Claire, Jonathan Aylett, Priscilla Lignori, R. W. Watkins, Alex Lubman, Danielle Woerner, Steve Denehan, Anne Hills, Becka Chester, Susan Polizzotto and several others; a renga by Joshua St. Claire and Jill Trade; and an essay on the ‘Significance of Season’ by Jim Wilson. 

(click here to purchase No. 20 online)

Also published in December of 2021 was Insight, a collection of editor R. W. Watkins's more traditional haiku. Focussing on material written in more recent years, Insight compiles poems originally published in Haiku Canada Review and related anthologies, online venues, Watkins's own Eastern Structures magazine, as well as more obscure outlets. A companion collection was published in November of 2022. 

(click here to purchase Insight online)

The nineteenth issue of Eastern Structures was published in late August of 2021, and features the ghazals of Denver Butson, Mace Hosseini, Shelli Jankowski-Smith, Norma Jenckes and David Raphael Israel; the sijo of Gareth Writer-Davies and Daniel Elias Galicia; the tanka of Kiersta Recktenwald; the haiku of Joshua St. Claire, Priscila Lignori, Danielle Woerner, Steve Denehan, Jim Wilson, Pat Geyer, Marla Carew and several others; and a lengthy choka by editor R. W. Watkins. 

(click here to purchase No. 19 online)

The eighteenth issue of Eastern Structures was published in early June of 2021. Issue 18 features the ghazals of David Raphael Israel, Alison Stone, Liùsaidh (L J McDowall) and Eric Torgersen; the sijo of Michael Wilson and Rose Menyon Heflin; the haiku and senryu of David Shields, Priscilla Lignori, Marla Carew, Danielle Woerner, Steve Denehan, Foster Hurley and several others; the haibun of Muhammad Sallahudin Bin Abdul Rahim and David Raphael Israel; and an assessment of the late Raymond Roseliep’s haiku and the changing times in which he published by Jim Wilson.  

(click here to purchase No. 18 online)

The seventeenth issue of Eastern Structures was published in early April of 2021. Thematically encompassing the winter of 2020–21, it features the poetry of Alison Stone, Philip Michael Bulman, Eric Torgersen, Mace Hosseini, Gareth Writer-Davies, Priscilla Lignori, Danielle Woerner, Sher Ting, Steve Denehan, R. Gerry Fabian, Michael T. Smith and several others. It also includes a series of brief essays on the haiku theories and observations of the late Robert Spiess by Jim Wilson.  

(click here to purchase No. 17 online)

The sixteenth issue of Eastern Structures was published in January of 2021. A predominantly Autumn-themed issue, it features the poetry of Aafaq Hameed, S. Haina, Alison Stone, William Dennis, John W. Steele, Laura Z. Fairgrieve, Mike Alexander, Michael Wilson, Rose Menyon Heflin, Danielle Woerner, Sher Ting, Neal Whitman, Michael Lustbader, and several others. It also includes an essay on ‘Form and Spirit in English-Language Haiku’ by Jim Wilson, and an assessment of the Moonlight Haiku Challenge Anthology by R. W. Watkins.

(click here to purchase No. 16 online)

The fifteenth issue of Eastern Structures was published in September of 2020, and features the poetry of Muhammad Sallahudin Bin Abdul Rahim, William Dennis, Denver Butson, Michael Wilson, Gareth Writer-Davies, Priscilla Lignori, Danielle Woerner, Dante Gray, Mitchell Grabois, Neal Whitman, Michael T. Smith, and several others. It also includes detailed annotation on the composition of his ghazal ‘All-Knowing’ by poet Muhammad Sallahudin Bin Abdul Rahim; and ‘Was “The End” the Beginning?’, a consideration of The Doors’ classic recording as ghazal by R. W. Watkins. 

(click here to purchase No. 15 online)

The fourteenth issue of Eastern Structures was published in July of 2020, and features the poetry of William Dennis, Eugene A. Melino, Mace Hosseini, Norma Jenckes, Edward Baranosky, Kiersta Recktenwald, Neal Whitman, Danielle Woerner, Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, Michael T. Smith, Sari Grandstaff, and several others. It also includes an introduction to the ancient Japanese sedoka form, with examples, by Don Ammons; as well as the essays ‘The Single-Sentence Haiku’ and ‘Tenacious’ (a consideration of the formal English-language haiku’s longevity and perseverance) by Jim Wilson.

(click here to purchase No. 14 online)

Drawn from the pages of Eastern Structures, Sijo West, Contemporary Sijo and a few other literary journals past and present, Wholly Trinities: The Nocturnal Iris Anthology of Sijo is the latest compilation from Nocturnal Iris. Edited by R. W. Watkins and focussing primarily on the work of key early practitioners in the haiku community and the poets they subsequently inspired, this collection features the sijos of such groundbreakers as Edward Baranosky, Debra Woolard Bender, Evelyn C. Yates and Lorna Moor Schueler, in addition to those of more recent developers, such as Liùsaidh (L. J. McDowall), Tamara K. Walker, Chi Holder, Michael Wilson and Pat Geyer. Not professing to represent every ‘strand’ of the English-language sijo over the past fifty years, Wholly Trinities does however focus on one very important branch and its tributaries.

  (click here to purchase Wholly Trinities online)

The thirteenth issue of Eastern Structures was published in March of 2020, and features the poetry of Debra Woolard Bender, Edward Baranosky, Mohammad Zahid, William Dennis, Mace Hosseini, Denver Butson, Priscilla Lignori, Susan Tamara Darrow, Steve Denehan, Kiersta Recktenwald, Christina E. Petrides, and several others. Also included is R. W. Watkins’s lengthy interview with longtime poet and former World Haiku Review editor Debra Woolard Bender.  

(click here to purchase No. 13 online)

The second in a series of omnibuses was published in late February of 2020. The Complete Eastern Structures / Volume Two collects Issues 6 through 10 in one handy 8.5" × 11" volume. At 180 pages in length, this collection is ideal for the Creative Writing professor who wishes to introduce his or her students to a multitude of Asian verse forms in a comparative context.

(click here to purchase The Complete Eastern Structures / Vol. Two online)

The twelfth issue of Eastern Structures was published in December of 2019, and features the poetry of Tamara K. Walker, Edward Baranosky, Norma Jenckes, William Dennis, Eric Torgersen, Red Slider, Mace Hosseini, Priscilla Lignori, Susan Tamara Darrow, Mark Ward, Kiersta Recktenwald, Mitchell Grabois, Jim Wilson, C. J. Gregory, and several others. Also included is Odin H. Halvorson’s essay, ‘Richard Wright: The Best American Haiku’, and R. W. Watkins’s review of Tamara K. Walker’s recent volume of sijo, Fabric Heart.

(click here to purchase No. 12 online)

The eleventh issue of Eastern Structures appeared in October of 2019, and features the poetry of Steffen Horstmann, William Dennis, Simeon Dumdum Jr., Tamara K. Walker, R. W. Watkins, Edward Baranosky, Pat Geyer, Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, Steve Denehan, Susan Tamara Darrow, Nicholas Alexander Hayes, Clark Strand, Michael Lustbader, Shelli Jankowski-Smith, Charles Kramer, John Martucci, and many others. It also includes Jim Wilson’s essay ‘The Ecology of Formal Haiku’, and his review of 575: The Haiku of Basho, a recent collection edited by John White and Kemmyo Taira Sato.  

(click here to purchase No. 11 online)

The tenth issue of Eastern Structures appeared in June of 2019, and features the poetry of Norma Jenckes, Steffen Horstmann, Mace Hosseini, Aafaq Hameed, Faiza Anum, Eric Torgersen, Nalini Priyadarshni, Michael Wilson, Sue Burke, Priscilla Lignori, Susan Tamara Darrow, Debra Woolard Bender, JoAnn Passalaqua, Steve Denehan, Ma. Milagros T. Dumdum, Simeon Dumdum Jr., and many others. It also includes tanka excerpted from Waka-Cola: A Tanka Guide to Pop Art (2019) by R. W. Watkins,  and ‘Differentiating and Emancipating’ (Four Brief Essays) by Jim Wilson, focussing on the dubiety of free-verse haiku.  

(click here to purchase No. 10 online)

The ninth issue of Eastern Structures was published in March of 2019, and features the poetry of Steffen Horstmann, Mohammad Zahid, Eugene A. Melino, Pat Geyer, Chi Holder, Edward Baranosky, Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, Sean Lynch, I. S. Kipp, Charles Kramer, Odin H. Halvorson, B. J. Wells, William Dennis, and several others. It also includes the essays ‘Getting to Know the Ghazal’ by Norma Jenckes and ‘The Noun Clause in Formal Haiku’ by Jim Wilson.

(click here to purchase No. 9 online)

The eighth issue of Eastern Structures was published in October of 2018, and features the poetry of Mace Hosseini, Mohammad Zahid, Chidananda Sali, Denver Butson, Christopher Mooney-Singh, Norma Jenckes, Edward Baranosky, Priscilla Lignori, Steve Denehan, Mark Redfearn, Nancy Rullo, Ann Hills, and several others. It also includes ‘Prohibitions and Marginalizations’ (Four Short Essays) by Jim Wilson, focussing on the groundless dogmas inherent in contemporary mainstream haiku. 

(click here to purchase No. 8 online)

The seventh issue of Eastern Structures was published in September of 2018, and features the poetry of Christopher Mooney-Singh, Mace Hosseini, William Dennis, Liùsaidh (L. J. McDowall), Pat Geyer, Bill West, Daniel Hales, Cherilynn Mai, Priscilla Lignori, Clark Strand, Mitchell Grabois, Lance Nizami, and several others. It also includes the second part of Jim Wilson’s essay, ‘Instantiating Syllabics from Japanese to English’, focussing on formally constructed English-language tanka. 

(click here to purchase No. 7 online)

The sixth issue of Eastern Structures was published in April of 2018, and features the poetry of Denver Butson, Norma Jenckes, John Philip Drury, Daniel Hales, Mace Hosseini, Tamara K. Walker, Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, Mark Redfearn, Nancy Rullo, Anne Hills, and several others. It also includes the essay ‘Instantiating Syllabics from Japanese to English’ by Jim Wilson. 

 (click here to purchase No. 6 online)

The fifth issue of Eastern Structures was published in early December of 2017, and features the poetry of Denver Butson, John Philip Drury, Mark Redfearn, Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, R. W. Watkins, Tamara K. Walker, Anne Hills, Gareth Writer-Davies, and several others. Also featured is the third in a series of essays on the sijo by L. J. McDowall, and an introductory essay on the Cambodian pathya vat form by Bob Newman. 

(click here to purchase No. 5 online)

Also published in December of 2017 was the omnibus, The Complete Eastern Structures / Volume One, which collects the first five issues in one handy 8.5" × 11" volume. At 180 pages in length, this collection is ideal for the Creative Writing professor who wishes to introduce his or her students to a multitude of Asian verse forms in a comparative context.  

(click here to purchase The Complete Eastern Structures / Vol. One online)

The fourth issue of Eastern Structures was published in October of 2017, and features the poetry of Steffen Horstmann, Eric Torgersen, Mindy Watson,Liùsaidh (L. J. McDowall), Chi Holder, Pat Geyer, Nancy Rullo, Mark Redfearn, Priscilla Lignori, James Lignori, William Dennis and Lance Nizami. It also features the literary essays of R. W. Watkins and L. J. McDowall. 

(click here to purchase No. 4 online)

The third issue of Eastern Structures was published in May of 2017, and features the poetry of Steffen Horstmann, Eugene A. Melino, Sunil Uniyal, Norma Jenckes, Eric Torgersen, Liùsaidh (L. J. McDowall), Mindy Watson, William Dennis, Sue Burke, Chi Holder, Pat Geyer, Priscilla Lignori, Clark Strand, Craig W. Steele, Lance Nizami and Bill West. It also features the literary essays of R. W. Watkins, Jim Wilson, R. K. Singh and L. J. McDowall.

 (click here to purchase No. 3 online)

The sophomore issue of Eastern Structures was published in October of 2016, and features the poetry of Eric Torgersen, Denver Butson, William Dennis, Steffen Horstmann, Liùsaidh (L. J. McDowall), Priscilla Lignori, Norma Jenckes, Clark Strand, Bill West, Chi Holder, Craig W. Steele, Lance Nizami and M. K. Punky (Michael Konik); and the literary essays of Clark Strand and Jim Wilson.

(click here to purchase No. 2 online)

Picking up where editor R. W. Watkins’s Contemporary Ghazals left off, the premier issue of Eastern Structures was published in April of 2016. No. 1 features ghazals by the likes of Denver Butson, Steffen Horstmann and William Dennis; Korean sijo by Bill West and Liùsaidh (L. J. McDowall); Japanese haiku and tanka by such accomplished practitioners as Clark Strand, Priscilla Lignori and Jim Wilson; and essays by Wilson and Watkins.

Eastern Structures No. 25 is slated for publication sometime in early 2024, and submissions of dynamically correct ghazals, sijo, haiku, tanka, renga and other Japanese forms, as well as relevant essays and reviews, are certainly welcome for consideration. Submissions may be sent to the editor at nocturnaliris@gmail.com. Submissions are read immediately upon an email’s opening, and there is nothing as unnecessary and capricious as a deadline in effect. More detailed submission guidelines can be found here.

We would advise, of course, that potential contributors make themselves familiar with the style and protocols of the magazine by purchasing and reading a copy. Such commerce also provides the financial and emotional incentives necessary for the magazine’s survival. Too many fine journals have fallen to the axe in the wake of the Internet and the ‘freebie culture’ that has subsequently arisen. Copies of No. 1 can be obtained at Amazon and CreateSpace. 

‘Discourses on Disorder’, a decade-spanning five-part interview with poet and editor R. W. Watkins, appeared in webzine Setu in 2017. Click here to read the informative and eye-opening Q&A. 

Some Basic Points about the Ghazal Form

The ghazal (pronounced ghuzzle — the gh drawn almost silently from deep within the throat) is a structured poem traditionally confined to the Islamic world and Indian subcontinent, where it has thrived — and continues to thrive — both as written verse and lyrical verse. The word ‘ghazal’ is of Arabic origin, and literally means ‘talking to women’. This is neither surprising nor inappropriate when one considers that the stereotypic dusky, exotic woman of the Near East, and the romantic longing for her, is one of the form’s most popular and enduring motifs, alongside wine and Sufi mysticism. Such major themes have been explored most exquisitely over the centuries by such principal poets as Attar, Rumi and Hafiz in Farsi; Ibn al-Farid in Arabic; and Ghalib and Faiz in Urdu.

The ghazal’s origins can be traced to seventh century Arabia, where it evolved out of the nasib — the introductory section of another poetic form, the qasida.

In the following centuries, the ghazal spread as Islam spread: into the Indian subcontinent, throughout parts of Eastern Europe, and eventually into Spain, where the form was also adopted by Jews writing secular verse.  In each case, the poetry was composed in the language native to its new setting, hence its (relatively) early availability in a wide range of languages subsequent to Arabic: Farsi, Urdu, Hindi, Turkish, Hebrew, etc.

Eventually, the ghazal began to be explored by ‘name’ poets and linguistic and ethnic groups more synonymous with the (so-called) Western World: Goethe, Rückert, Lorca; German, Spanish, and English — sort of. As Agha Shahid Ali has pointed out, the ghazal never exactly got off to a shining start in the language of Shakespeare, Blake and Coleridge. Early attempts by James Clarence Mangan and (especially) James Elroy Flecker seem to be little more than novel experiments in passing, and obviously owe a lot to early English translations from the Farsi by R. A. Nicholson — particularly that of Rumi’s Divani Shamsi Tabriz (Cambridge, 1898). Probably as a result, the English ghazal appears to have been rendered extinct by the second quarter of the twentieth century, and, aside from a few ‘free-verse’ experiments (i.e., featuring preservation of the couplets tenet only) — of which, Adrienne Rich’s and Phyllis Webb’s are probably the most well-known — it would remain that way until the late 1980s / early 1990s, when poets such as John Hollander and Elise Paschen would begin its reintroduction. 

To re/introduce a poetic form properly, one must first be familiar with its proper tenets — a prerequisite which eluded the ghazal in the West for close to sixty years. The situation only changed in the mid 1990s, when the Kashmiri-born, oft-mentioned Agha Shahid Ali — inspired by the aforementioned Hollander — published a ‘wakeup’ article, ‘Transparently Invisible: An Invitation from the Real Ghazal’ (Poetry Pilot: The Newsletter of the Academy of American Poets / Winter, 1995—96). In the article, he outlined the principles of the ghazal’s Persian model, and called for English-language adherence to them. Soon after, excerpts from the article were republished in Jane Reichhold’s journal, Lynx (where Gene Doty had already questioned his own status as a ‘free-verse’ ghazal poet, and suggested a ‘parasyntactic’ rhyme scheme for the form), and other poets — of Asian descent and otherwise — began publishing essays (mostly) reaffirming Ali’s outline. The result was an immediate outpouring of first attempts from poets across the US (and at least one from Canada!), prompting the Fall 2000 publication of Ali’s anthology, Ravishing DisUnities: Real Ghazals in English.

At this point, the reader is no doubt asking, So what exactly constitutes a Real Ghazal? As I’ve already implied, there are somewhat different versions of the form that have evolved in its traditional Muslim / Indian-subcontinent context alone. For now, let me concentrate upon the model most extolled and promoted by Ali.

The Persian ghazal consists in a series of couplets (traditionally, from a minimum of five to a maximum of twelve) of equal metrical and/or syllabic length. These couplets are sometimes referred to in Urdu as shers. There are never any enjambments between the couplets, and each should (ideally) be able to stand as its own independent poem — the first line presenting a dilemma or question that is resolved (often ironically and/or humourously) in the second. According to Ali, a ghazal that is ‘continuous’ — i.e., one which follows a storyline or establishes a blatantly specific theme throughout the couplets, but does not succumb to enjambments — is known as a qata.

The couplets’ requirements of identical length and autonomy are complemented by their even more unique requirements of both exact and approximate repetition. Both lines of the first couplet (referred to as the matla in the traditional Farsi and Urdu contexts) and the second line of each following couplet feature the same word or phrase coming at the end. This practice is known as radif. In addition, both lines of the first couplet and the second line of each following couplet feature the same internal rhyme, located immediately before the radif. This attribute is known as qafia (sometimes written as qaafiya or kaafiya). Thirdly, the poet may choose to ‘personalise’ the ghazal by quoting his or her name (or, more often, nickname) in the final couplet. This practice is referred to as makhta, and is now considered only optional in this modern (post-modern?) context — at least in light of the views expressed by most Eastern poets, including Ali and Hemant Kulkarni (see Kulkarni’s ‘The Philosophy of Ghazals’, Lynx, Vol. XII: No. 2; June, 1997).

An outline of the form’s attributes within the context of excerpts from an actual ghazal*, with red denoting qafia, yellow denoting radif, and green denoting the makhta:

What will suffice for a true-love knot? Even the rain?                                                                                                                                                 But he has bought grief’s lottery, bought even the rain. 

After we died—That was it!—God left us in the dark                                                                                                                                                   And as we forgot the dark, we forgot even the rain.

They’ve found the knife that killed you, but whose prints are these?                                                                                                                 No one has such small hands, Shahid, not even the rain.

*‘Ghazal’ by Agha Shahid Ali; originally published in Rooms Are Never Finished (W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.). Copyright © 2002 by Agha Shahid Ali. Also included in Contemporary Ghazals No. 2.

(Note: the early Arabic version of the ghazal features a qafia but no radif. Both lines of the first couplet and the second line of each following couplet end in a monorhyme. It should be pointed out, however, that this variation has not been strictly limited to Arabic writers, and has been utilised by poets writing in Farsi, Urdu and other languages to this day.)

As for the question of ghazal subject matter in an English-language context, Indian and/or Muslim authors tend to be lenient in this area as well. “I see no reason for any thematic restrictions on the ghazal,” writes Kulkarni in the ‘Concluding Remarks’ of his aforementioned article. He also points out that contemporary motifs such as Freedom (in the face of the British Empire/Commonwealth) and Political Ineptness have competed with such classic motifs as Wine and Romantic Longing at various times in India’s past. Also, Ahmed Ali — as Agha Shahid Ali has pointed out — has maintained that the ghazal has a “dedication to love and the beloved. At the same time, the form permits, in the best Persian and Urdu practice, delineation of all human activity and affairs from the trivial to the most serious” (Ali, The Golden Tradition [New York: Columbia University Press, 1973], as cited in the introduction to Ravishing DisUnities, ed. by Agha Shahid Ali [Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 2000], p. 3).

(Condensed section from the Introduction to Contemporary Ghazals: An Anthology, 2014)

Some Examples of the Form: 

Ghazal

Barbara Little

Ship aground, etched in unpitying sepia tones                                                                                                                                     captures history in vanishing sepia tones.

A family stores memory in photographs,                                                                                                                                                   leaving each generation questioning sepia tones.

My pirate grandfathers, long ago gentrified,                                                                                                                                           resist my restless ransoming sepia tones.

Who have we been and where are we going?                                                                                                                                           Abandoning and gathering sepia tones.

Witness the revival of an antiquated hue:                                                                                                                                                 walking daily more slowly, practicing sepia tones.

I am soaked in primary disingenuous colors,                                                                                                                                         wishing for little comforting sepia tones.

(from Contemporary Ghazals No. 1)

Lost Without an Eighteenth Chapter

(for J. V.)

R. W. Watkins

A dim star Down Under clings to life with aspiration lost;

in the time of slackers, grunge and noise, in deep sedation, lost.

In the golden age of rock ’n’ roll, beneath the Southern Cross,

she was born amongst the dispossessed—their sense of nation lost.

In a work of fiction fused with fact, she’s drawn up Hanging Rock;

through the boulder arches, clouds and light, and to temptation, lost.

On a tropic island trapped in time, she’ll dwell forever young

with the other shipwrecked student youths—for the duration, lost.

In a darkened valley bides her kind, the Boom’s forgotten half;

beneath the summits of Love and X, a ‘generation’ lost.

In the midst of marriage comes a blow, a diagnosis dire.

A battle begins upon her breast—all jubilation lost.

Her imperfect body yields and falls to fierce mutated cells.

She surrenders beauty, breath and fame—in isolation, lost.

(from Contemporary Ghazals No. 4)

at first it seems like summer dying there

(first line by Weldon Kees)

Denver Butson

at first it seems like summer dying there

then we notice the sausages drying there

we follow the gypsy signs the bouquets

the smell of onions frying there

make no mistake she had always wanted this

to be drowning rather than just lying there

you say your goodbyes do your little salutes

you leave behind those who are still crying there

if I ever get to Denver I’ll remember your buttons

your snaps the knots you kept untying there

(from Contemporary Ghazals No. 3)

The following is an example of the qafia-only Arabic style:

Ghazal: I Will Not Refrain

Hafez (c. 1320—1389)

Adapted by R. W. Watkins

From loving wine and my friend, I will not refrain.

Scores of times I’ve repented, but will never again.

Eden, the Tree of Knowledge, and even virgins divine

can’t compare with the dirt from a friend’s dusty lane.

Learning’s lectures and studies offer only a hint

—just a word in your ear; I shan’t repeat it in vain.

Of what abounds in my mind, I’m never aware

—’til it’s over all heads in the saki’s domain.

A teacher said snidely, “Cease loving, desist”.

There’s no need to row, brother—I just won’t abstain!

This measure of virtue for me shall suffice

—that I don’t flirt from the pulpit with the fair and urbane.

The living guide, Hafez, grant’s genuine wealth.

From kissing dirt under such feet, I shall never refrain.

(from Contemporary Ghazals No. 4)

Some Basic Points about the Sijo Form

According to Larry Gross, who published and co-edited five issues of Sijo West in the mid to late 1990s, sijo refers to “an ancient Korean verse form traditionally containing three lines of 14 to 16 syllables each, for a total of 44 to 46. It resembles haiku in having a strong foundation in nature and in even more ancient Chinese patterns, but its unique characteristics and flavor distinguish it from all other poetry genres.”

The first line of a sijo poem introduces a situation or problem. Development of this plot or concept occurs in the second line, and is sometimes referred to as a turn. The third line contains what may be described as a surprise or twist ending, and provides resolution or closure to the issues raised in the first two lines.

Korean poetry, according to Dr. Gross, was being written as early as 17 BC, when King Yuri’s Song of Yellow Birds was composed; but its roots can be found in earlier Chinese quatrains. Sijo, Korea’s most popular poetic genre, is “often traced to Confucian monks of the eleventh century, but its roots, too, are in those earlier forms.”

The work of 17th century poet Yun Sŏn-do (1587–1671) is generally regarded not only as the finest examples of the sijo form, but of Korean poetry in general; e.g:

You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and pine.                                                                                                       The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade.                                                                                                                               Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask?

Each of the sijo’s three lines is ‘broken’ approximately in the middle with a sort of caesura, although not one resulting from metrics. Each half-line contains six to nine syllables, with the latter half of the third line sometimes being slightly shorter. Owing supposedly to “modern printing limitations”, many English-language sijo over the past two decades have been printed in six lines, the enjambment occurring at the caesura. Such reformatting has produced mixed results. (Sources: Sijo West No. 1 [1995] and the Wordshop website)

A concise glossary of Japanese poetry forms and terms can be found at the AHA Poetry website.

Watch this space....