PLATEN.
His Oriental Studies--Ghaselen--Their Persian
Character--Imitation of Persian Form--Translations.
The first to introduce the _γazal_ in its strict form into German
literature[132] was Rückert, who in 1821 published a version of a number
of _γazals_ from the _dīvān_ of Rūmī.[133] Chronologically, therefore,
he ought to have the precedence in this investigation. If we,
nevertheless, take up Platen first, we do so because the _γazals_ of
this poet were really the first professedly original poems of this form
to appear in Germany (Rückert's claiming to be versions only), and also
because they constitute almost the only portion of his poetic work that
comes within the sphere of this discussion. Moreover, the remarks which
we shall make concerning their content, imagery, and poetic structure,
apply largely to the _γazals_ of Rückert and also to his _Östliche
Rosen_, if we except the structure of the latter.
Platen became interested in the East through the work of Hammer, and
still more through the influence of Goethe's _Divan_. He at once set to
work studying Persian, and his zeal was increased when, on meeting
Rückert in 1820 at Ebern, and again at Nürnberg, he received
encouragement and instruction from that scholarly poet. Above all, the
appearance of the latter's versions from Rūmī gave him a powerful
stimulus, and in 1821 the first series of his _Ghaselen_ appeared at
Erlangen. Others followed in rapid succession. The same year a second
series appeared at Leipzig;[134] a third series, united under the title
_Spiegel des Hafis_, appeared at Erlangen the next year;[135] and,
lastly, a series called _Neue Ghaselen_ appeared in the same place in
1823. A few _γazals_ arose later, some being published as late as 1836
and 1839.[136]
We shall confine our discussion to those _γazals_ that date from the
years 1821 and 1822, the last series being Persian in nothing but form.
The _Ghaselen_ are not at all translations. Like the _Divan_-poems they
are original creations, inspired by the reading of H̱āfiḍ, and, to use
the poet's own words "dem Hafis nachgefühlt und nachgedichtet."[137]
They follow as closely as possible the Persian metrical rules, and make
use throughout of Persian images and metaphors, so much so that we can
adduce direct parallels from the poems of H̱āfiḍ. Thus in 13[138] we
read: "Schenke! Tulpen sind wie Kelche Weines," evidently a parallel to
some such line as H̱. 541. 1:
ساقی بيا که شد قدح لاله پر ز می
"_sāqī_, come! for the tulip-like goblet is filled with wine." In 75 the
words "Weil ihren goldnen Busen doch vor euch verschliesst die Rose" are
an echo of H̱. 300. 2:
چوغنچه سرٌ درونش کجا نهان ماند
"like the rose-bud, how can its inward secret remain concealed?" (cf.
also H̱. 23. 3). And again in 85 "Und nun ... entrinnet dem Herzen das
Blut leicht, das sonst mir den Odem benahm" is to be compared with H̱.
11. 9:
دل دردمند حافظ که زهجرتست پر خون
"the sorrowful heart of H̱āfiḍ, which through separation from thee is
full of blood." Furthermore in 81 we read:
Du fingst im lieblichen Trugnetz der Haare die ganze Welt,--
Als spiegelhaltende Sklavin gewahre die ganze Welt!
For the first line compare H̱. 102. 1:
کس نيست که افتادهً آن زلف دوتا نيست
"there is no one who has not been snared by that doubled tress," and for
the second line compare H̱. 470. 1:
ی آفتاب آينه دار جمال تو
"O, thou of whose beauty the sun is the mirror-holder!" In 86 the idea
of the young men slain like game by the beauty of the beloved is
evidently inspired by H̱. 358. 6:
ناوک چشم تو در هر گوشهً
همچو من افتاده دارد صد قتيل
"in every nook thine eye has a hundred slain ones fallen like me," and
the following lines in the same poem 86:
O welche Pfeile strahlt zu mir dein Antlitz,
Und es befreit kein Schild von deiner Schönheit,
remind us of H̱. 561. 7:
چشم تو خدنگ از سپر جان گذراند
"thine eye causes the arrow (lit. poplar) to pass through the
shield of life."
* * * * *
Again and again we meet with allusions to the famous image of the love
of the nightingale for the rose (35, 75, etc.) so common in Persian
poetry, especially in H̱āfiḍ. We cite only 318. 1:
فکر بلبل همه آنست که گل شد يارش
گل در انديشه که چون عشوه کند در کارش
"the whole thought of the nightingale is that the rose may be his
beloved; the rose has in her thought how she may show grace in her
actions." In 302. 1 the nightingale is called عروس گل "the rose's
bride."
Besides this, the poems teem with characteristic Persian metaphors: the
moth longing for the flame (37, H̱. 187. 7); the tulip-bed glowing like
fire (67, H̱. 288. 1); the tulip-cheek لاله عذار (whence Moore's _Lalla
Rookh_), لاله رُخ (70, H̱. 155. 2); the musk-perfumed hair لاله مشکين
(73, H̱. 33. 4); the garden of the face (73, H̱. 33. 4); the pearl of
Aden درٌ عدن (77, H̱. 197. 10 and 651); wine as a ruby in a golden cup
(82, H̱. 204. 8 ايا پر لعل کرده جام زرٌين "O thou, the golden cup is
made full of ruby"); the eye-brows like the crescent-moon (82, H̱. 470.
5 ابروی همچون هلال "brow like the new moon"); the dust on his love's
threshold (83, H̱. 497. 10 خاک در يار); the sky playing ball with the
moon (14, inspired by some such couplet as H̱. 409. 7); and the verses
like pearls (43). For this compare H̱. 499. 11:
چو سلک درٌ خوشاست نظم پاک توحافظ
"like a string of lustrous pearls is thy clear verse, O H̱āfiḍ." We
might multiply such parallels, but those given bear out our statement in
regard to the imitation of Persian rhetorical figures on the part of
Platen.
In the eagerness to be genuinely Persian, the poet was not content,
however, with imitating only what was striking or beautiful; he
introduces even some features which, though very prominent in Eastern
poetry, will never become congenial to the West. Thus the utter
abjectness of the Oriental lover, who puts his face in the path of his
beloved and invites her (or him) to scatter dust on his head (H̱. 148.
3), is presented to us with all possible extravagance in these lines of
87:
Sieh mich hier im Staub und setze deine Ferse mir auf's Haupt,
Mich, den letzten von den letzten deiner letzten Sklaven, sieh![139]
To the _sāqī_ is assigned a part almost as prominent as that which is
his in the Persian original. It was the introduction of this repulsive
trait (e.g. 82) that gave to Heine the opportunity for the savage,
scathing onslaught on Platen in the well known passage of the
_Reisebilder_.[140]
* * * * *
Otherwise Platen, like Goethe, ignores the mystic side of H̱āfiḍ, and
infuses into his _Ghaselen_ a thoroughly bacchanalian spirit, taking
frequent occasion to declaim against hypocrisy, fanaticism and the
precepts of the _Qurān_. The _credo_ of these poems is the opening
_γazal_ in _Spiegel des Hafis_ (64), where the line "Wir schwören ew'gen
Leichtsinn und ew'ge Trunkenheit" may be taken to reflect the sentiment
of the revelling Persian poet, who begs the _̱sūfī_ not to forbid wine,
since from eternity it has been mingled with men's dust (H̱. 61. 4);
who claims to have been predestined to the tavern (H̱. 20. 4); who asks
indulgence if he turns aside from the mosque to the wine-house (H̱. 213.
4); who drinks his wine to the sound of the harp, feeling sure that God
will forgive him (H̱. 292. 5); who is above the reproach of the boasters
of austerity (H̱. 106. 3); and who, finally, asks that the cup be placed
in his coffin so that he may drink from it on the day of resurrection
(H̱. 308. 8). But when Platen flings away the _Qurān_ he certainly is
not in accord with his Persian model, for, while H̱āfiḍ takes issue with
the expounders of the sacred book, he discreetly refrains from assailing
the book itself.
But perhaps the chief significance of these _Ghaselen_, as well as those
of Rückert, lies in the fact that they introduced a new poetic form into
German literature. It is astonishing to see how completely Platen has
mastered this difficult form. The _radīf_ or refrain, so familiar to
readers of H̱āfiḍ, he reproduces with complete success, as may be seen,
for instance, in 8, where the words "du liebst mich nicht" are repeated
at the end of each couplet, preceded successively by _zerrissen_,
_wissen_, _beflissen_, _gewissen_, _vermissen_, _Narzissen_, exactly in
the style of such an ode as H̱. 100. In those odes called _Spiegel des
Hafis_ the name _Hafis_ is even regularly introduced into the last
couplet, in accordance with the invariable rule of the Persian _γazal_
that the author's name must appear in the final couplet.
Besides the _γazal_ Platen has also attempted the _rubāʻī_ or quatrain,
in which form he wrote twelve poems (_Werke_, ii. pp. 62-64), and the
_qa̱sīdah_. Of this there is only one specimen, a panegyric (for such in
most cases is the Persian _qa̱sīdah_) on Napoleon, and, as may therefore
be imagined, of purely Occidental content.[141]
* * * * *
Of Platen's translations from H̱āfiḍ we need not speak here. But we must
call attention to the attempt which he made to translate from Niḍāmī's
_Iskandar Nāmah_ in the original _mutaqārib_-metre. The first eight
couplets of the invocation are thus rendered, and in spite of the great
difficulty attending the use of this metre in a European language, the
rendering must be pronounced fairly successful. It is also faithful, as
a comparison with the original shows. We cite the first two couplets
from the Persian:
خدايا جهان پادشاهی تراست
زماخدمت آيدخدايی تراست
"O God, world-sovereignty is Thine! From us comes service, Godhead
is Thine. The Protection of high and low Thou art! Everything is
nonexistent; whatever is, Thou art."[142]
Of other Oriental poems, not translations, we notice "Parsenlied,"
dating from the year 1819, when Goethe's _Divan_ appeared, and it is
quite possible that the _Parsi Nameh_ of that work suggested to Platen
the composition of his poem.[143] His best known ballad, "Harmosan,"
written in 1830, has a Persian warrior for its hero. The source for the
poem is probably Gibbon's _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_ (chap.
li.)[144]
FOOTNOTES:
[132] We might say into European literature. The only previous attempts,
as far as we know, to reproduce this form were made by Jones, who
translated a ghazal of Jāmī (Works, vol. ii. p. 501) into English, and
by a certain Tommaso Chabert, who translated several ghazals of Jāmī
into Italian (Fundgruben, vol. i. pp. 16-19).
[133] In Taschenbuch für Damen, which was already published in 1820,
thus establishing Rückert's priority over Platen. See C. Beyer, Neue
Mittheilungen über Friedrich Rückert, Leipz. 1873, p. 14; also letter to
Cotta, ibid. pp. 113, 114.
[134] Published in Lyrische Blätter.
[135] In Vermischte Schriften.
[136] Platens Werke (Cotta), vol. ii. See p. 7, note, where information
is given as to place and date of these poems.
[137] Dedication of Spiegel des Hafis to Otto von Bülow, vol. i. p. 265.
[138] We cite the Ghaselen by the number in vol. ii. of the edition here
used.
[139] Goethe protested against this Oriental feature. See Noten u. Abh.
to his Divan, vol. iv. p. 273 seq.
[140] Heines Sämtliche Werke, ed. Born (Cotta), vol. vi. pp. 130 seq.
Goethe in his comments on his Saki Nameh (op. cit. p. 307) emphasizes
the purely pedagogical side of this relation of sāqī and master.
[141] Kasside, dated February 3, 1823, ii. p. 60.
[142] Lith. ed., Shīrāz, A.H. 1312.
[143] The Divan appeared August, 1819. Platen's poem is dated Oct. 28,
1819.
[144] See Studien zu Platen's Balladen, Herm. Stockhausen, Berl. (1898),
pp. 50, 51, 53, 54.