188_04x

Notes:

bahār : 'Spring, prime, bloom, flourishing state; beauty, glory, splendour, elegance; beautiful scene or prospect, fine landscape; charm, delight, enjoyment, the pleasures of sense, taste, or culture

surūr : ''Making glad'; pleasure, delight, joy, cheerfulness; exhilaration (caused by wine, &c.)'. (Platts p.657)

paimān : 'Measuring; — agreement, compact, convention, treaty, stipulation, pledge, promise; security; confirmation; asseveration, oath'. (Platts p.301)

gużarnā (of which guzarnā is a variant): 'To pass, go, elapse; to come to pass, to happen, to befall; to pass (by or over, - par ); to pass (through, par se , or se ); to pass (before, or under, or in review, - se ), to be put or laid (before, - se ), be presented; to pass (over, - se ), to overlook, to omit; to abstain (from), desist (from); to decline; — to pass (beyond), to surpass; to pass away, to die'. (Platts p.901)

paimānah : 'A measure (for dry or wet goods); measure (of length, or capacity, &c.); a plane-scale (in land-measurement and mapping); a cup, bowl, goblet'. (Platts p.301)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

FWP:

SETS == MUSHAIRAH; WORDPLAY
SOUND EFFECTS: {26,7}
SPRINGTIME: {13,2}
VOWS: {20,2}
WINE: {49,1}

For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices. This verse is NOT one of his choices; I thought it was interesting and have added it myself. For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}.

Here's a classic mushairah verse. The first line is broad and bland; it's so conventional as to be almost meaningless. Even when (after of course a suitable delay) we are allowed to hear the second line, not until the last possible moment does the 'punch-word' appear, so that the semantic crystallization, the closural effect of the rhyming elements, and even the special delight of an echo effect that goes beyond mere internal rhyme, all explode at once in our ears and minds. And then, also in classic mushairah-verse style, the verse has burst like a balloon, and we feel no need to revisit it or devote further thought to it.

The main feature of the verse is a special, particularly explicit kind of wordplay: paimān and paimānah both have the root meaning of 'measuring' (see the definitions above). Philologically-- and phonetically-- speaking, they are variants of each other; but they're so cleverly framed within the verse that we experience them as semantically quite different.

There's also the remarkably wide range of se guzarnā (see the definition above). To pass by, pass over, pass through, pass beyond-- as we hear the second line, these various possibilities jostle in our minds and distract us. Thus we're all the more unprepared for the final sudden hit of paimānah .

Ghazal 188, Verse 4x

{188,4x}

Notes:

Asi:

Zamin:

Gyan Chand:

FWP: