Definition:
Like the pantoum, the ghazal arose in another language (in this case, Urdu) and has recently come to life in English despite the difficulties of technical translation. A ghazal is a short lyric poem composed of a series of about 5 to 15 couplets, each of which stands independently on its own as a poetic thought, but is linked through a rhyme scheme established in both lines of the first couplet and continued in the 2nd line of each following pair of lines. The meter is not strictly determined, but the lines of the couplets must be of equal length. Themes usually are connected to romantic love and longing, and the closing signature couplet often includes the poet’s name or an allusion to it.
Like the pantoum, the ghazal arose in another language (in this case, Urdu) and has recently come to life in English despite the difficulties of technical translation. A ghazal is a short lyric poem composed of a series of about 5 to 15 couplets, each of which stands independently on its own as a poetic thought, but is linked through a rhyme scheme established in both lines of the first couplet and continued in the 2nd line of each following pair of lines. The meter is not strictly determined, but the lines of the couplets must be of equal length. Themes usually are connected to romantic love and longing, and the closing signature couplet often includes the poet’s name or an allusion to it.
Examples:
See our library of ghazal links for examples of ghazals written in English.
