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| Artisans from Fez at work constructing the Moroccan Courtyard - Art of Arab Lands, Metropolitan Museum of Art |
I got home recently from a wonderful trip to New York City, where I fell head over heels in love with the new Art of Arab Lands galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (under renovation and construction for the last eight years.) You can read all about my trip here (Books Around the Table - the blog I share with my writing group - please do go there to catch the links to the Met website about this project) and what the craftsmanship on exhibit in these galleries did to me...stopped me in my tracks, wowed me, thrilled me, awed me, amazed me,...I'm not sure I've found the right verb for it yet. They certainly made me wish I had another whole week just to take in everything on view. In honor of that experience, I'm posting a poem written originally in Arabic by the poet Mbarka Mint al-Barra' of Mauritania (just south of Morocco in West Africa) for today's Poetry Friday. Not sure how good the translation is, but here is an excerpt from it. The full poem can be found at the link below and at the website of the Poetry Translation Centre. I don't know anything about the poetry of the Arab world - time to learn!
Poetry and I
The sin is that I wasn't a stone
And the troubles of the world make me sleepless
And I shield myself with poetry
And it keeps me company when I'm far from home
And poetry is my satchel that I will always carry with me
It holds the taste and fragrance of the earth
It holds thickets of prickly branches
It holds palm fronds loaded with dates
It paints all the stories of love in my language
Its colours form the spectrum from grape to dawn....
[Read the full poem here....]
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| Textile Fragment, 14th Century, Nasrid |
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| Mihrab - Prayer Niche |
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| 13th Century Astrolabe from Yemen - Brass - Cast, Hammered, Pierced, Chased, Inlaid with Silver |
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And for more Poetry Friday poems, head over to the round-up at NO WATER RIVER, blog of the wonderful and energetic Renee LaTulippe, who knows a thing or two or three about good poetry.
Thanks for the post, Julie. The Met is such a beautiful museum. Next time I'm in NYC, I'll have to visit those galleries.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite lines were:
"And poetry is my satchel that I will always carry with me
It holds the taste and fragrance of the earth." And the last line, what a knock-out!
What a beautiful poem. I must admit that I am remiss as well. I spent several weeks in Bahrain sometime in 2009 and 2010, and learned a little bit about the Middle Eastern culture - so rich, and so filled with life, vibrance, and pride in their wondrous and ancient heritage. Time to learn more, yes.
ReplyDeleteThis is really lovely. Thank you for the introduction and sharing of this poem!
ReplyDeleteOne day, one day I will visit New York - and I will want to spend a whole week in the Met... The poem is beautiful and I think I'm going to have to come back and savour it more slowly...
ReplyDeleteIt's a fascinating poem, and I loved comparing the literal translation with the final version. The whole process of translation boggles my mind. These are my favorite lines:
ReplyDeleteIt paints all the stories of love in my language
Its colours form the spectrum from grape to dawn
I am always amazed by the mosaic work - that prayer niche is incredible!! Thanks for the enlightenment today.
ReplyDelete