Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
10.22034/perlit.2026.70791.3907
Abstract
In the view of classical literary scholars, meter was the distinguishing feature of poetry from prose. Shahriar, in his interviews, has demonstrated his adherence to this perspective, not considering un-metered speech as poetry. This article aims to examine the dimensions of the issue of meter in Shahriar's poetry. The primary question is: what is the frequency of metrical usage across the entire Divan and subsequently within each individual genre? Addressing this question reveals the breadth of the metrical repertoire in his work. Excluding his free verse poems, which fall outside the scope of this study, he employed thirty-four distinct classical meters. The highest frequency of these meters is found in his ghazals, and the lowest in his masnavis. Our second question is: how does metrical variety manifest within each genre? In accordance with the specific exigencies of each genre, Shahriar utilized certain meters more frequently than others, a situation we have examined for each genre separately. The third question is whether there exists an inherent connection between meter, thematic content, and genre. In other words, can it be claimed that each genre and each meter is suited for expressing a specific and definite theme? Our analysis indicates that no such inherent connection exists. It is poets who, through the revelation and exploration of the latent potentials of meters, employ them in diverse and varied semantic-affective fields. The task of poets is precisely to discover these potentials of meters and actualize them.
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