Nizar Qabbani

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The Epic Of Sadness Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: ABACDEF GHIJK LMNOPQRSTJKUJVE JWXWDYWY JZA2B2C2D2E2F2E2G2H2 I2J2J2JK2J2L2J2J2M2F JJJ2G2 JJ2JJ2N2SJ O2J2J2J2 IJ2P2YG2J2Q2J2G2J2R2 J AJ2AJ2JJ2F

Your love taught me to grieveA
and I have been in need for centuriesB
a woman to make me grieveA
for a woman to cry upon her armsC
like a sparrowD
for a woman to gather my piecesE
like shards of broken crystalF
-
Your love has taught me my lady the worst habitsG
it has taught me to read my coffee cupsH
thousands of times a nightI
to experiment with alchemyJ
to visit fortune tellersK
-
It has taught me to leave my houseL
to comb the sidewalksM
and search your face in raindropsN
and in car lightsO
and to peruse your clothesP
in the clothes of unknownsQ
and to search for your imageR
even evenS
even in the posters of advertisementsT
your love has taught meJ
to wander around for hoursK
searching for a gypsies hairU
that all gypsies women will envyJ
searching for a face for a voiceV
which is all the faces and all the voicesE
-
Your love entered me my ladyJ
into the cities of sadnessW
and I before you never enteredX
the cities of sadnessW
I did not knowD
that tears are the personY
that a person without sadnessW
is only a shadow of a personY
-
Your love taught meJ
to behave like a boyZ
to draw your face with chalkA2
upon the wallB2
upon the sails of fishermen's boatsC2
on the Church bells on the crucifixesD2
your love taught me how loveE2
changes the map of timeF2
Your love taught me that when I loveE2
the earth stops revolvingG2
Your love taught me thingsH2
that were never accounted forI2
So I read children's fairytalesJ2
I entered the castles of JenniesJ2
and I dreamt that she would marry meJ
the Sultan's daughterK2
those eyesJ2
clearer than the water of a lagoonL2
those lipsJ2
more desirable than the flower of pomegranatesJ2
and I dreamt that I would kidnap her like a knight and I dreamt that I would giveM2
her necklaces of pearl and coralF
Your love taught me my ladyJ
what is insanityJ
it taught me how life may passJ2
without the Sultan's daughter arrivingG2
-
Your love taught meJ
How to love you in all thingsJ2
in a bare winter treeJ
in dry yellow leavesJ2
in the rain in a tempestN2
in the smallest cafe we drank inS
in the evenings our black coffeeJ
-
Your love taught me to seek refugeO2
to seek refuge in hotels without namesJ2
in churches without namesJ2
in cafes without namesJ2
-
Your love taught me how the nightI
swells the sadness of strangersJ2
It taught me how to see BeirutP2
as a woman a tyrant of temptationY
as a woman wearing every eveningG2
the most beautiful clothing she possessesJ2
and sprinkling upon her breasts perfumeQ2
for the fisherman and the princesJ2
Your love taught me how to cry without cryingG2
It taught me how sadness sleepsJ2
Like a boy with his feet cut offR2
in the streets of the Rouche and the HamraJ
-
Your love taught me to grieveA
and I have been needing for centuriesJ2
a woman to make me grieveA
for a woman to cry upon her armsJ2
like a sparrowJ
for a woman to gather my piecesJ2
like shards of broken crystalF

Nizar Qabbani



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