Nima Yushij
نیما یوشیجThe father of modern Persian poetry, who loosened the rules of line and rhyme that had held for a thousand years.
- Known for
- Afsaneh (Legend), 1922
- Forms
- New poetry (she'r-e now)
- Places
- Mazandaranمازندران
- Tehranتهران
- Collection
- Contemporary
Born Ali Esfandiari in the village of Yush in Mazandaran, he took his pen name from it. His long poem Afsaneh (Legend), published in 1922, is usually taken as the beginning of modern Persian poetry.
Nima kept the classical metres but let line lengths vary and rhyme fall where the sense required. The new form, she'r-e now or new poetry, shaped every Persian poet who came after him.
Nima's poems are still in copyright in many countries. We will publish translations only with permission from the rights holders; until then we write about the work.
Booksکتابها
The principal works of Nima Yushij.
The Tale of the Pale One
قصهٔ رنگپریدهNima’s first published work, a long poem in the traditional rhyming couplet. Its melancholy, personal voice, that of a young man from the mountains lost in the city, already pointed away from the conventions of classical verse, and it drew sharp criticism from the literary establishment.
Afsaneh (Legend)
افسانهA long dramatic poem, a dialogue between a lover and Afsaneh, a figure of legend and longing. Its loosened stanza form and its turn to inner feeling and the natural world made it a starting point for modern Persian poetry.
The Phoenix
ققنوسA short poem often taken as the first full example of Nima’s new poetry, with lines of unequal length and rhyme used freely. The phoenix, singing alone on a branch before it burns, was read as an image of the poet himself.
Nima Yushij in Iranian history
Iranian historyAfsharids, Zands and Qajarsافشاریان، زندیان و قاجاریان
A soldier-king who sacked Delhi, a regent who rebuilt Shiraz, and a dynasty that made Tehran the capital and lived through Iran's Constitutional Revolution.