The Ghazal

A form for longing and loss

I want to start these lessons on poetry by getting far away from the staid forms of secondary school English classes.

Poetry is in every language. And forms vary significantly. Though all poetic forms are

The ghazal is a poetic form that originated in 7th-century Arabic poetry and has been embraced by Persian, Urdu, and even English. Some well-known English-language poets like Adrienne Rich have mastered this form.

Then ghazal has a really intricate structure (meaning it is a real pain to write - particularly if you try and keep the rhyming structure) and tends to be focus on themes of love, longing, pain, and spirituality.

You don’t have to stick to those themes of course. You can write about anything you like.

But the disconnected couplets seem easier to write when you have a theme like that - so they portray together the overall situation.

Structure of a Ghazal

A ghazal consists of a series of couplets (called sher), each of which is a complete thought. Here are the key elements:

• Matla: The first couplet, where both lines end with the same word or phrase (the radif), and have a preceding rhyme (the qafia).

• Maqta: The final couplet, which often includes the poet's name or a reference to it.

• Beher: The meter, which should be consistent across all couplets.

• Kafiya: The rhyme pattern before the radif.

• Radif: The repeated word or phrase at the end of each couplet's second line.

The rhyme scheme of a ghazal is typically AA, BA, CA, DA, and so on, where A represents the radif and the preceding rhyming word.

How to Write a Ghazal

1. Choose a theme

Ghazals traditionally explore themes of love, longing, and spirituality. But here at The Poetry School we prefer to test the boundaries a bit. Don’t feel constrained.

Decide on a central theme that can be viewed from multiple perspectives. If your theme can work in this form, then try it.

2. Select a radif

The radif should be a word or phrase that ties the couplets together. It should be versatile enough to fit various contexts related to your theme.

As it is at the end of the line you will probably choose a noun. Be wary of nouns that normally stand on their own. But some ghazals relish this - adding qafias to create new expressions. See Patricia Smith below!

3. Develop the qafia

Choose a rhyme that will precede the radif in the first couplet and the second line of each subsequent couplet.

So it needs to have lots of possible words that will rhyme with it. It can make sense to brainstorm a ton of words that rhyme that are vaguely connected with your theme.

Actually that’s quite fun to do! After you have done a few choose the rhyme that goes best with your radif.

4. Write the malta

Craft the first couplet with both lines ending in the radif and qafia. This sets the pattern for the rest of the ghazal.

You can use any line length or meter but it then has to be the same throughout the poem. A good game is to see how short you can get the line length.

5. Compose additional couplets

Each couplet should be a standalone thought, exploring different facets of the theme. The second line of each couplet must end with the qafia and radif.

I’m never that sure about the impact of varying the order of each couplet on meaning. Does it matter? If they are stand alone truly then it shouldn’t. But I notice a fair few English ghazals run over the couplets. So order matters.

When reading a ghazal, read the couplets in random order. Does it change the meaning? Or the feeling you have?

6. Conclude with the malta

Incorporate your name or a reference to yourself in the final couplet, maintaining the established rhyme and refrain.

This is a bit weird to me and the thing I normally drop. I tried making a veiled reference to myself but it felt forced.

Still, it is something to try and a proper ghazal will have this.

Some Ghazal Examples in English

Before you write your own have a read of some English language ghazal poets. You will get a feel of the form. Pay attention to how they navigate the form’s restrictions. The three below show such a range in both theme and how they approach the form.

What do you notice? You can find full versions of these poems through the links.

1. "Tonight" by Agha Shahid Ali

Agha Shahid Ali brought the ghazal form to American poetry. In this ghazal, you can see how he gets around the limitations of English by having an adverb as the radif allowing a much broader range of rhymes for the qafia - both nouns and verbs are used here.

Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell tonight?
Whom else from rapture’s road will you expel tonight?

Those “Fabrics of Cashmere—” “to make Me beautiful—”
“Trinket”—to gem—“Me to adorn—How tell”—tonight?

I beg for haven: Prisons, let open your gates—
A refugee from Belief seeks a cell tonight.

2. "Hip-Hop Ghazal" by Patricia Smith

Patricia Smith's "Hip-Hop Ghazal" merges contemporary culture with the traditional form, reflecting on the vibrancy and struggles of urban life.

I love the way her single syllable radif and qafia add power and rhythm to the end of each line.

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,
and hem that joint like cooks do collards. Gotta love those low hips.

3. "Ghazal of the Better-Unbegun" by Heather McHugh

Heather McHugh's ghazal respects the traditional form while exploring themes of identity and existence.

The combination of radif and qafia here create neologisms. A stirred person? A word-person?

A great example of how using form forces more creativity - creating new words and ideas.

Too volatile, am I? too voluble? too much a word-person?
I blame the soup: I’m a primordially stirred person.

Two pronouns and a vehicle was Icarus with wings.
The apparatus of his selves made an absurd person.

Something Extra

Some interesting thoughts on the ghazal:

Are You Ready to Write?

I hope you found this useful. The point of My Poetry School is to help you both get pleasure from both reading and writing poetry in form.

Read as many ghazals as you can find. Then try and write one. Next week I’ll write about the challenges and issues I face when writing and how the great poets overcome those challenges.