About the Ghazal and How to Write a Ghazal
Ghazal poetry is poetry of longing. Traditionally, the ghazal tended to focus on unattainable love, often illicit, or sometimes on metaphysical questions. But, today, the ghazal has broadened to touch many types of longing and loss, as in the friendship poem “Mortal Ghazal, “ by Luisa A. Igloria.
As we compiled our Ghazal Playlist to kick off our new poetry theme, we took this wider view of the ghazal into account. The playlist includes traditional ghazals (the ghazal is often sung in cultures where the poetry form first arose—imagine Rumi’s poetry to music!), unrequited-love songs, and songs of loss and longing. You’ll find a few childhood songs among them—for, children have longings too, but their longings often focus on objects of affection: a horse, a bear, an apricot tree.
Poetry Prompt
The ghazal is a form poem that uses the art of rhyme and repetition. To begin, you could simply write poems of longing. But, if you are feeling brave, you can try one or more techniques from our instructions on how to write a ghazal, below.
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How to Write a Ghazal
1. Number your poem stanzas from 1-5, to make sure you meet the minimum of 5 stanzas. You could go as high as 15. But maybe start out slowly.
2. Each stanza will include two lines (a couplet)
3. Each couplet should be able to stand alone, as if it were its own poem. In some ways, this is good news, because you don’t have to be responsible for creating a narrative.
4. Every line is traditionally the same length (English writers are forgiven this task)
5. In the first line of the last couplet, the extroverted poet gets to insert him or herself. Fun, if you are the type! Call yourself by first name and see how it feels to live in a poem. Here’s a sample from an Agha Shahid Ali poem (bold added for teaching purposes):
And I, Shahid, only am escaped to tell thee–
God sobs in my arms. Call me Ishmael tonight.
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The trickiest parts of the ghazal:
1. The first couplet ends with the same word (bold added for teaching purposes):
Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight?
Whom else from rapture’s road will you expel tonight?
2. The first couplet introduces a rhyme *inside* the lines, right before the final word. For example, check out this opening stanza from Agha Shahid Ali’s “Call Me Ishmael Tonight” (bold and italics added for teaching purposes):
Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight?
Whom else from rapture’s road will you expel tonight?
Notice that this is the poem’s first couplet, so each line ends with the same word—tonight. The rhyme falls right before the end word: spell rhymes with expel.
3. The end word will now repeat at the end of every *second* line of the rest of the couplets. Here is another sample from Ali’s poem:
My rivals for your love– you’ve invited them all?
This is mere insult, this is no farewell tonight.
Note that tonight is at the end of the second line. See the rhyming word right before it? Farewell rhymes with spell and expel, the rhyme first introduced at the beginning of the poem.
4. If the poet chooses to insert his or her name, it is often accompanied by a “turn” (a shift in thought), sometimes humorous or odd. If you prefer to keep your name out of the matter, you could still add a “turn, ” perhaps at the juncture of an image you closely identify with.
Okay, putting it all together, here’s a sample ghazal poem from Patricia Smith (bold and italic added for teaching purposes)…
Hip-Hop Ghazal
Gotta love us brown girls, munching on fat, swinging blue hips,
decked out in shells and splashes, Lawdie, bringing them woo hips.
As the jukebox teases, watch my sistas throat the heartbreak,
inhaling bassline, cracking backbone and singing thru hips.
Like something boneless, we glide silent, seeping ‘tween floorboards,
wrapping around the hims, and ooh wee, clinging like glue hips.
Engines grinding, rotating, smokin’, gotta pull back some.
Natural minds are lost at the mere sight of ringing true hips.
Gotta love us girls, just struttin’ down Manhattan streets
killing the menfolk with a dose of that stinging view. Hips.
Crying ’bout getting old—Patricia, you need to get up off
what God gave you. Say a prayer and start slinging. Cue hips.
— Patricia Smith, author of Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah
Photo by Kevin Dooley, Creative Commons, via Flickr.
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Maureen Doallas says
Lament
A cast of hawks routs a dule of doves.
Morning’s song issues too cruel to doves.
Your window, now it’s streaked so red.
You flinch at feathers from fool doves.
How must Love read your mourning eyes?
Don’t speak of it. In that blood pool doves.
The nest when emptied must be refilled.
Let night reset. In no dreams duel doves.
Come away from the glass; this time, be blind.
Spare not a kiss lest your grief school doves.
L. L. Barkat says
love “in no dreams duel doves.”
Wow, you did it! I still need to try my hand.
Maureen Doallas says
Thank you! (And let me tell you, it’s not easy. Rhymes do not come easily to me.)
Grace Marcella Brodhurst-Davis says
Loved your poem, Maureen! You make it seem so effortless 🙂
Megan Willome says
I’m so glad you explained it!
L. L. Barkat says
yeah. Me too. It was not obvious to me what the form was doing. And reading other explanations? Egads. Quite incomprehensible. So. Had to explain it myself 😉
Vijay Vaghela says
This is surely an interesting site. The central idea follows the themes and styles of Hindi and Urdu languages writing…especially when it comes to expressing feelings of love, emotions and passion; the only difference is that attempts are to be made to do something similar in English! I like it!
L.L. Barkat says
thanks, Vijay 🙂 I wonder if these are easier to write in Hindi and Urdu? 😉
Vijay Vaghela says
Well… not exactly easy since every language has it’s own complexity. And also since each language characteristic has sweetness dissolved itself, I can say one thing for sure, that ghazals written in Hindi/ Urdu have a special bend towards love and romance. In fact the Hindi film industry feeds on the beauty of these, with songs included in most films produced in what is known as “Bollywood” in India!
L. L. Barkat says
have you got a favorite ghazal song, Vijay? 🙂 Ah, Bollywood.
Donna says
🙂 Maureen, I tip my hat to you and your Great Ghazal! This is HARD!
L.L. Barkat says
It *is* hard, and I haven’t tried yet, but I’m thinking I would approach it like I approach a sestina and put the non-negotiables in place first (then play with them and switch them out if need be).
So that the beginning of my ghazal, if I were to write one might look something like this…
1. …. inane soliloquy
…. urbane soliloquy
2. ….
….insane soliloquy
3. ….
….quite plain soliloquy
4. ….
….to rain soliloquy
5. …. L.L…..
….complain soliloquy
Donna says
Wow… very cool. Our approaches are very similar! I have literally pages of lists that I started last week… paired words that would go at the ends of lines… 🙂 After that… stuck stuck stuck! But not giving up. Letting it roll around inside my head some more 🙂 After reading the post here am focused on longing… what do I long for… trying to use that to motivate and inspire…
L. L. Barkat says
Great minds 😉
Why do you suppose you are stuck? Is the presence of the words too confining? What if you wrote the longing poem the way you wanted to, then dropped it into one of your lists and began to fiddle?
Maureen Doallas says
Do finish this one, L.L. Can’t wait to read it.
Donna says
Yes, please… 🙂 DO!?
Donna says
I am trying to write about the type of letting go that has to happen as children grow (because it is juxtapositioned against longing)… maybe that’s what’s hard. Maybe my topic is too close…. BUT I like what you say… that’s an interesting idea… I may just give it a whirl because I think it’s a good topic – one I need to work out – writing poetry helps me do that. 😉
Then again, maybe I’ll just write about chocolate! 😀 I almost always long for chocolate!
Maureen Doallas says
Donna, thank you for your generous comment. I was exhausted after writing that one. For me, one of the harder aspects of it was containing the thought in a couplet, as I’m used to using a lot of enjambment. I think it’s important to challenge ourselves to write to form; the result if not so important, it’s what you can learn through use of the language in the form that I appreciate. I’m going to try to write another.
You have a start with “I almost always long for chocolate!” Would love to hear more about that. You could make it very sensual or funny or a combination. You could also use “long for” for the rhyme or just “for”.
Donna says
Can’t wait to see your next one, Maureen! Yes, the challenge of form is a very good thing!
Good idea … for chocolate … more chocolate … adore chocolate… it rolls right off the tongue (for now) 😉 I will have to give it a try! thanks!
Donna says
Okay…. Here we go! Dedicated to all those out there who have endured (are enduring) the trials of raising kids! I was going for sentimental, but then something shifted and… well… poetry is like that!
Mom used to say I SHOULD HAVE RAISED CHICKENS!
At least you will get EGGS if you’ve raised chickens!
…and you can be a star at the county fair
with first place, blue ribbon, highly praised chickens!
Have you ever seen a farmer losing sleep at night
waiting up for a new driver, teen crazed chicken?
…or sobbing deep rivers of guilty mother’s tears
After cooking and enjoying a delicious braised chicken?
Yeah, my mother said there’d be days like this!
(Last night I dreamed of chocolate glazed chicken!)
Donna says
I guess I broke a rule by dropping the ‘s’ half way through…. at least is symmetrical… three of each plural and singular chick….
L.L. Barkat says
Breaking rules is perfectly fine. And in sestina writing, it is pretty standard to break the rules in ways like you did, so why not in the ghazal? (If it becomes standard to break rules in certain ways, does that establish a new set of rules? 🙂 )
I *love* this ghazal! It is perfectly fun and showcases your gift of humor.
Donna says
Thank you! I’m going to send a copy of this to my mother! She’ll get a kick out of it! And yes, I think “rule bending” must be the new rule that I must get used to 😉 (mind you I have trouble even driving against the arrows in empty parking lots!)
Maureen Doallas says
Donna,
This is terrific. Such fun, and I love how you got the chocolate in.
Dolly@Soulstops says
fun, Donna…I could imagine you saying your ghazal 🙂
Maureen Doallas says
Like a Bird ~ A Light Ghazal
A moth drinks tears of a sleeping bird.
A woman wails like a weeping bird.
A child delights in a beeping bird.
A cat consumes a creeping bird.
A dancer takes lessons from a leaping bird.
A cuckoo pretends it’s a time-keeping bird.
A foul nest’s cleaned by a sweeping bird.
An egg, cracked, reveals a peeping bird.
A scarecrow flaps at a reaping bird.
A garden’s unseeded by a depleting bird.
A plea is made by a beseeching bird:
Just end this poem, you bleeping bird.
———-
It’s freeing to just be silly. And to be able to use near-rhymes.
And for those who might not know, there really is a moth that drinks tears of sleeping birds. It lives in Madagascar.
Donna says
LOL! I love it! So much fun… and the image of a sweeping bird just cracked me up! I’m still giggling at all of these birds you’ve brought to mind!
L.L. Barkat says
now Maureen broke the rules too, by putting rhymes in both lines of every couplet instead of just both lines of the first couplet.
And rhymes, when pushed to the limit, have such comic possibility. How I love this! 🙂
Donna says
Maureen, you mentioned that rhyming doesn’t come easily to you. Did this one come easier than the first? You are rhyming all over the place! Until LL mentioned it I didn’t notice the rule bending at first because it just rolled so easily off the tongue!
Maureen Doallas says
Donna, I didn’t even think about the rule-breaking while I was writing this. I just forgot about the form and where the rhymes are supposed to be, or not. I was up late last night, thinking of how I might read aloud a ghazal to a child in a way that would appeal as a poem and help the child understand the form, and this was what came out. (I used to do this kind of thing with my son when he was a wee lad.) I also wanted to make a connection between the subject and the object (dancer…leaping, etc.), and that lent to the rhyming in both lines.
I realized, too, rhymes can come in many places: as end rhymes, as near rhymes, as double-rhymes, as multi-syllable rhymes, as two-word rhymes. That’s why depleting and beseeching work here.
There’s a poem on my blog, what I call a contemporary ghazal. It breaks all the rules. It’s called “Fault the Light” (Aug 23, 2011).
The ghazal up top is the closest I’ve ever come to the form.
I’m a rule-breaker at heart.
Grace Marcella Brodhurst-Davis says
I have to say this was hard, but fun 🙂 I tried to keep the count the same, but don’t like how one line looks longer (yep, I like the visual effect too). Here is my rough-draft attempt. Please let me know if I’m on the right track. Thanks!
On Recapturing Childhood Creativity
The child who’s lost her hold as age deludes her skeptic girl
Fate knows, and her dreams for you behold optimistic, girl
Where, pray tell, have you misplaced your wildly budding mind’s eye?
Where dreams no longer blossom and betray eccentric, girl
Never ordinary at play any given young day
Reaps older, though rounded spirit -the altruistic girl
The blaze of Life’s to-do lists lets Time’s miser furl its fists
Bares a soul who’s lost her magic –a veiled artistic girl
And I, Marcella, need just stop and look beyond the glare
It’s always been in your child’s eyes to be prolific, girl!
http://gracebrodhurstdavis.blogspot.com/2013/10/on-recapturing-childhood-creativity.html
Donna says
Marcella, I love it! And you used your name! Now you live inside a poem… how does it feel!!!?? 😀
Grace Marcella Brodhurst-Davis says
Thanks, Donna! I feel that placing my name in this poem gives it more strength. Strength in the sense that if my name wasn’t placed there, it would seem like just another poem about lost childhood creativity (like an empty feel –although this could be used to convey that longing, I didn’t as it would lose strength), but by putting my name there, it became specifically mine/about me, and which allows a reader to have a peek into my soul. It also makes it more genuine –coming from the heart. 🙂
Donna says
Yes, exactly… it does that! I want to try to write one with my own name, too. You have inspired me. 🙂 I think another thing about using your name is that, for me, it helps to give voice…not only to the poem, but to the poet and this poem is a lot about lost and re-emerging voice. Maybe that is what you meant by strength… I see both. It takes a certain kind of courage to put your name inside a poem that comes from such a deep place in the heart.
Grace Marcella Brodhurst-Davis says
Go for it, Donna! I can’t wait to read it! Loved your poem about raising kids (and chickens ;)), by the way 🙂
Maureen Doallas says
One Night Stand
A pencil of lines I drew quick to confound you.
None was broken; love’s arrows found you.
One night’s sweet magic the fates foretold.
Behind closed doors, strong arms bound you.
New stars and moon your heart soon desired,
so in sky’s brightest lights I re-gowned you.
Then morning came; in deep silence we parted.
Not one thought more had I to astound you.
Straight was the line you walked, no circle
made. Love, never again will I bed down you.
draksha says
awesome poems !!
just luved it !!!!! 🙂 🙂
Gurjyot Singh says
This is a superb article and you explained everything in such a subtle manner. Ghazal is beautiful form of writing and it always amazes me that how ghazal writers just steal your heart while narrating it.
ananthi says
Urdu word Iztiraar means– Helpless, Feeling helpless and powerless by the power of love is like a drug that they don’t sell over the counter. Iztiraar sings this tune beautifully in our ears.
Maqsood syed says
Hi! Here is my attempt to write English ghazal . How is it please comment.
When roses cease to bloom and leaves dry
Know it’s summer and recreant weather dry
When love fails to blossom and desires drift
In hearts desert tears flow and clouds dry
Seasons are four so are the moments in life
Some rainy other frosty not all fall dry
In anticipation sat looking through the night
Stars moon rocks aloofness and breeze dry
Maqsood’ set off at dawn so crisp and bright
Scars will soon heal and will deep wounds dry!
Maqsood syed
Ayaz says
i already written my own gazals but how to share?? can you please help me
Gabriella says
melancholy, you and i
one ‘mbittered sweet song sun in muted melancholy
contended love consumed in des’lated melancholy
depthless loch of despondency, dismal taut frost embrace
once the hallow refuge, now devoted melancholy
leisure explosion enveloping mellow inferno
no longer those, but flooding deserted melancholy
bond forged of vows to never become the fears ‘tween us
vows; glass rain from heaven. bond; met fated melancholy
we raced far astray, the hope we shared there no longer
place of you ‘n your amour, ‘lo, threaded melancholy
my brow beaten walls, behind of which a hidden covet
for you. your smile; an illusion. instead, melancholy
we’ve grown estranged, i cried. you denied. “we’re soulmates, still!”
fool; conceded. your open arms; beckoned melancholy
your pleaful song, which i am enslaved, captive to mem’ries
glimpses you, on blue moons, sirens calls, tuned melancholy
you were paradise, now agony. my hollow-hearted smile
you believed in place of neglected melancholy
yet readily Gabriella, would you give in ‘gan ‘n ‘gan
for scorching devotion. cost? perpetual melancholy.
L.L. Barkat says
Gabriella, this is such a rich ghazal. One of my favorite moments: “vows; glass rain from heaven”