Abstract
The myth has a close relationship with art and literature, especially poetry; myths have to be expressed in the best and most talented words for survival, and for this reason they are manifested in poetry and literature, the most enduring and artistic level of human language. The poets promote myths, beliefs, and dreams of ancient tribes and express their thoughts and intentions encouraging the dynamism and redefinition of myths in the reader’s mind. The reflection of myths is very impressive in Hazin Lahiji’s poetry; he has deep links with literature and national and religious culture, to the point where the link is reflected in his poems. This article aims to analyze the national myths in the poetry of Hazin Lahiji, a famous Indian style poet. The result of the research indicates that Hazin has used mythical characters for expressing his thoughts and ideas in such a way that national and mythical stories are restored and recreated in the mind of the audience; of course, Hazin uses myths to show disbelief, the lack of credibility of the world, and the failure of man to take advantage of the awesome power to denounce and condemn it.
Keywords:
national myth, poetry, Hazin Lahiji
Introduction
The word myth is derived from Latin ‘myths’ and Greek ‘mythos’. According to the ancient Greek words, mythos means dumb, silent, and reticent, the opposite of logos meaning the word, statement, subtle word, reason, and wisdom (Letafati 2004:195). In the term, mythos refers to a story that apparently originates from an unknown history date against which the sources of the narrations are known (Karimi Panah and Radfar 2011:82). In the present article, myth is not just what belongs to the metaphysical part, but also in the broader sense of what exists in the history of mankind but has come out of the real shell and found a mythical color, because myths are gradually developed over time. In the same vein, the authors of this essay attempt to examine everything inherited from the historical and metaphysical myths manifested in the poetry of Hazin Lahiji. The reference to national myths and prophets has a long history in the works of poets of Iran, where poets such as Roodaki, Ferdowsi, Unsori, Khaghani, Nezami, Sana’i, Attar, Rumi, Sa’di, Hafez and others have referred to national and religious stories in their poetry due to specific reasons (Poornamardian 2006:54). Hazin Lahiji is no exception and has used these myths to express his mental images. So far, research on this subject has not been carried out on the poems of Hazin Lahiji; however, there are at least two studies conducted in this area, namely “The Poetical Manifestation of Myths and Historical and Religious Traditions in Khagani’s Poems (2002)” by Ali Ardalan Javan and “The Dictionary of Myths and Stories in Persian literature (1996), the work of Mohammad Jafar Yaghighi.
This article aims to answer the question of why Hazin Lahiji has used national myths in his poetry.
2. Manifestation of myth in Hazin Lahiji’s book of poems
“Myths relate to the time of man’s happiness and liberation and his close relationship with the gods, which later disappeared as a result of the collapse of this prosperity and freedom, and the connection between the Earth and the Heaven” (Eliadeh 1995:58). In Jung’s view, the civilized man preserves pre-historical myths and beliefs in the unconscious, and shows these beliefs in their work for critique, retrieval and discovery of it. Today, ‘literature in exile’ has a special place in the critique of psychology (Sharifian 2010:224). Another aspect of collective memory is the distant history, ancient times, and even mythology of every ethnic group (Sharifian 2010:210, 1389).
Myth is widely reflected in Hazin Lahiji’s poems. The mythological characters in Hazin’s poetry are a reflection of the brilliant past of Iranian history and would not be a huge claim to say that a significant percentage of his poetry is the same. Addressing the national myths of each nation reflects the feeling of pride and promise of a rich culture and civilization, and reminds of that joy and pleasure in the speaker and listener.
Delight in the tradition or the distant past occurs when there are profound cultural, social and political changes in society” (Sharifian 2010:221). Hazin Lahiji among Indian style poets is of special prominence. Having lived apart from his friends and homeland in India for a long time, Hazin had experienced a foreign culture, policy and society in a strange land. Thus, he tried to console his turbulent soul and relieve his pains by reconstructing the national myths of Iran. Perhaps one of the best manifestations of such reconstruction can be found in the following poem, which recalls the passion of the poet about the Aryan land and his ancestors, and also refers to the glorious past of Iran, which has a magnificent and thrilling empire:
Beheshte barin ast iran e man
Basitash soleyman o shan ra negin
Gar az fakhr balad be keyhan kam ast
Ke astatkhare o takhtgahe jam ast
Fereydon yek az khoshe chinanae ust
Soleyman ham az khosh neshinane ust
Bovad larze dar keshvare room o ros
Ze rozi ke mikoft kavus kos
Kahin kakhshe eyvane keykhosrovist
Kamin taghe o ghorfeye kasravist
(Hazin Lahiji 2008:437, 438)
This poem is rich in mythical elements regardless of its expressive and exquisite beauties. …
Conclusion
Myth is one of the important themes in the poetry of Hazin Lahiji since the manifestation of these myths in the poetry of Hazin is deeply rooted in Iranian culture and civilization. Not surprisingly national myths have a particular place in his poetry.
Myths are so prominent in his poetry that there are few masnavi or lyrics in which mythical characters have not been named; Hazin used mythical characters to express his thoughts so that readers would unconsciously rebuild and reimagine national and mythical stories. Hazin filled his poetry with national elements using national mythological figures like Jamshid, Fereydoun, Zahak, Esfandiar, Rostam, and he recalls Iran’s myths and, in the same vein, introduces the brilliant past of Iran. In fact, the greatest use of myths is to show the anxiety and the indifference of the world and the helplessness of man against the power of time.
Certainly, mythological figures have been interwoven in Hazin’s poems like gold threads, giving them a stunning effect, and Hazin has used these mythical symbols effectively to make the concepts more easily understandable.
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FULL Paper PDF file:
Trames-2019-1-109-122Bibliography
PUBLICATION:
Trames
VOLUME/ISSUE:
Vol. 23, No. 1
PUBLICATION DATE:
March 2019
AUTHORS
- Arab, Zohreh
- Amirahmadi, Abolghasem
- Sardehi, Ali Eshghi
SUBJECTS:
- Lahiji, Hazin–Criticism and interpretation
- Poets–Criticism and interpretation
- Poetry–Criticism and interpretation
- Narratives–Analysis
Citation:
@article{article,
author = {Arab, Z and Amirahmadi, A and Sardehi, A},
year = {2019},
month = {01},
pages = {109},
title = {The manifestation of national myths in hazin lahiji’s book of poems},
volume = {23},
journal = {Trames. Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences},
doi = {10.3176/tr.2019.1.07}
}
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3176/tr.2019.1.07
Maryam Momeni was born in 1970 in Tehran. She holds a degree in Literature - German language from the Melli University of Tehran.
As an assistant administrator, my duties will include overseeing and analyzing financial operations, approving purchases and expenditures, mediating between staff and other executives, appointing heads of departments, marketing and promoting the business, and facilitating training programs. My expertise in streamlining business operations will help the organization thrive and maximize efficiency and profits.
Professor Siavosh Kaviani was born in 1961 in Tehran. He had a professorship. He holds a Ph.D. in Software Engineering from the QL University of Software Development Methodology and an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Chelsea.
