A Cup of Sin

by Behbahani, Simin; Milani, Farzaneh; Safa, Kaveh

• ISBN13: 9780815605546
• ISBN10: 0815605544
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-01
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr

Summary

As a Muslim woman writing in Iran, Simin Behbahani's collections contain some of the seminal work of twentieth-century Persian literature. Written over almost half a century, much of her work reflects the traumatic experiences that have shaped recent Iranian history: revolution and war. In a balance of artful inquiry and shocking realism, Behbahani's language and imagery probe the depths of political, cultural, and moral oppression. In the traditional verse of the qhazel, she improvises with meter to echo and provide new interpretations.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi	(4)
Michael Beard
Acknowledgments	xv	(2)
We Await the Golden Dawn	xvii	(8)
Simin Behbahani
An Interrupted Speech (Untitled)	xxv
Simin Behbahani
The Poems	3	(130)
His Master's Voice	3	(2)
A Thousand Golden Butterflies	5	(2)
Oh, I Made Love!	7	(1)
The Child Trailed Behind	8	(1)
I Gave My Face to the Scalpel	9	(1)
I Am So Full of Light	10	(1)
I'm an Old Sanctuary	11	(2)
Has the Game Ended?	13	(1)
A State Beyond Words	14	(2)
Whirl, Whirl, My Friend	16	(1)
I Write, I Cross Out	17	(1)
If the Snake Is Domestic	18	(1)
The Perfume of Coffee and Thoughts of You	19	(1)
Orange-tressed Sun	20	(1)
Caduceus	21	(1)
Bring Me the Palette	22	(2)
Footsteps	24	(1)
Two Rows of Acacia Leaves	25	(1)
Necklace	26	(1)
Fossil	27	(1)
Our Tears Are Sweet	28	(1)
I Sing in Your Voice	29	(1)
The Ants' Leftover	30	(1)
A Man with a Missing Leg	31	(1)
It's the End of the Line	32	(1)
From the Street (6)	33	(1)
A Lily, Like a Smoke Ring	34	(1)
Heart, You Are So Restless	35	(1)
The Windows Are Closed	36	(1)
You Won't Believe It	37	(1)
In My Necessary Silence	38	(2)
"I Swear on the Fig, I Swear on the Olive..."	40	(1)
Glass-like Snow	41	(2)
Twelve Fountains of Blood	43	(1)
And Behold	44	(1)
Raining Death	45	(1)
Thump, Thump, Thump, Echoed the Drum	46	(1)
Morse	47	(2)
When the Hand of Darkness	49	(2)
Thorned Fruit	51	(1)
From the Street (3)	52	(2)
From the Street (1)	54	(2)
It Was the Pulse Flying	56	(1)
The World Is Shaped Like a Sphere	57	(1)
Mind: Smoke Rings	58	(1)
Flog!	59	(2)
It's Time to Mow the Flowers	61	(1)
Ears, Ears of Gold	62	(2)
A Bat or Some Other Creature	64	(1)
You Said, It's Only Grapes	65	(1)
I Used to Tell You	66	(1)
Must Write Something	67	(1)
My Country, I Will Build You Again	68	(1)
Sounds of Blossoms	69	(1)
My Heart Is Heavy, Friend	70	(1)
Song (5)	71	(1)
Song (4)	72	(1)
Song (3)	73	(1)
Gypsiesque (15)	74	(1)
Gypsiesque (13)	75	(1)
Gypsiesque (14)	76	(1)
Gypsiesque (1)	77	(1)
Tick Tock, Tick Tock	78	(1)
Love Came So Red	79	(1)
You Leave, I'll Stay	80	(1)
Dry, Lifeless, Dry	81	(1)
O Child of Today	82	(1)
Time, It Is Dream Time	83	(2)
Barren Desert	85	(1)
Doubts, Doubts, Doubts	86	(1)
Can You Really Fly?	87	(2)
I Can't Look	89	(2)
What a Cold and Somber Silence	91	(1)
So Long in This Old Land	92	(1)
I Sell Souls	93	(2)
Metamorphosis	95	(1)
O Box Within Box	96	(1)
Laws of Lead	97	(2)
I Want a Cup of Sin	99	(1)
Don't Read	100	(1)
The Dead Are Silent	101	(2)
Workshop	103	(1)
Lead Insulation	104	(1)
Lead Dust	105	(1)
Apples, Crimson Lanterns	106	(1)
Maybe It Is the Messiah	107	(1)
Mind Blister	108	(1)
Dialogue	109	(1)
Limestone Branches	110	(1)
"Ours" -- An Image	111	(1)
Opium of False Promises	112	(1)
My Little World	113	(1)
The Last Leaf	114	(1)
The Rabbit's Garnet Eyes	115	(1)
Green Blood	116	(1)
Ignorance	117	(1)
Wine of Light	118	(1)
Rival	119	(2)
Nightmare	121	(2)
Tombstone	123	(1)
Inheritance	124	(2)
Dead Man's Tooth	126	(2)
The Prostitute's Song	128	(5)
Afterword	133
Translating Simin Behbahani
Kaveh Safa