===
1650,
1
===

 

{1650,1}

kyā kahye myāñ ab ke junūñ meñ sīnah apnā yak-sar dāġh
hāth guloñ se gul-daste haiñ shamʿa namat̤ hai sar par dāġh

1) what can I say, my friend?! --in the madness this time now, my breast is entirely a wound
2) my hands, by means of 'roses', are small-bouquets; like a candle, on my head is a wound

 

Notes:

S. R. Faruqi:

There's nothing special in the opening-verse, but in the second part of the first line, through the omission of the verb, power has been created in the poetry. That is, in saying apnā sīnah yak-sar dāġh hai there's not the same effect as there is in apnā sīnah yak-sar dāġh . For example, this expression is better: maiñ apnā ḥāl kyā kahūñ , sīnah figār , garebāñ tār tār , as compared with this one: maiñ apnā ḥāl kyā kahūñ , sīnah figār hai , garebāñ tār tār hai . Mir and Ghalib both had a special skill in the omission of verbs. In my view, this special feature is shared by Persian and Prakrit.

In the second line, for there to be a wound on the head, like a candle, calls to mind the sarv-e chirāġhāñ ; it's mentioned in the following verse,

{1650,2},

as well. Because of [self-inflicted] wounds, for the hands to be given the simile of small bouquets-- on this see

{12,4}.

FWP:

SETS == INEXPRESSIBILITY
MOTIFS == CANDLE; MADNESS
NAMES
TERMS

There's also the body-parts imagery-- the breast, two 'head' references, two 'hand' references. But Mir does this kind of thing so often that it almost becomes invisible. (He has no monopoly on it, of course.)

And all these physical stigmata are reported not for their own sake, but because the speaker's current state of madness is inexpressible ('What can I say?!'). The physical signs are the outward tokens of a radical inner disintegration-- and/or a reintegration, in pursuit of an ideal passion that looks 'mad' only to the worldly.

 

 
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