ELEVEN == NOTES TO EXERCISES

Ghazal 1 Ghazal 7 Ghazal 13 Ghazal 19
Ghazal 2 Ghazal 8 Ghazal 14 Ghazal 20
Ghazal 3 Ghazal 9 Ghazal 15 Ghazal 21
Ghazal 4 Ghazal 10 Ghazal 16 Ghazal 22
Ghazal 5 Ghazal 11 Ghazal 17 Ghazal 23
Ghazal 6 Ghazal 12 Ghazal 18 Ghazal 24

 

GHAZAL ONE by Vali Dakhani, p. 92:

METER: #26, - = = = / - = = = / - = = = / - = = =

In this ghazal word-grafting occurs at the start of the radiif [radiif] every time it appears: for example, aab aahistah is scanned as though it were aabaahistah [aa-baa-his-tah]. See Section 3.1. Technical terms like radiif are explained in the Ghalib index of terms, and by Barker in volume 1, in "Appendix I: Urdu Poetics," pp. xxiii-lxiv. Barker also discusses Urdu meter in some detail, in a relatively traditional manner. This ghazal contains a number of Dakhani forms like mujh [mujh] for mere [mere], kuu;N [kuu;N] for ko [ko], suu;N [suu;N] for se [se], mane;N [mane;N] for me;N [me;N]. Their frequency decreases in later ghazals.

VERSE 1: mujh [mujh] is scanned (=), since the do-chashmii he of aspiration does not count as a letter. See Section l.l.

VERSE 2: aatish-e ;Gam is an i.zaafat [i.zaafat] construction, and is scanned [aa-ti-she-;Gam], (= - x =). See Section 3.2.

VERSE 3: ((ajab [((ajab] and lu:tf [lu:tf] are both three-consonant Arabic words; in this case the first is scanned (- =) and the second, more typically, (= -). See Section 1.4. Word-grafting: ;xi:taab aahistah is treated as ;xi;taabaahistah [xi-:taa-baa-his-tah].

VERSE 4: adaa o naaz [a-daa o naa-z] involves a construction with o ; see Section 3.3. jyuu;N [jyuu;N] is scanned (=); see Section 2.1.

VERSE 5: a;Nkhyaa;N [a;Nkh-yaa;N] is archaic; it is scanned (= =). ;xvaab [;xvaa-b], scanned (= -), is an irregularly spelled Persian word; see Section 4.2.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL TWO by Mir Dard, p. 122:

METER: #11, = - = = / = - = = / = - =

VERSE 1: li))e [li-))e] is scanned (- x), for )) counts as a full consonant; see Section 1.1.

VERSE 2: ko))ii [ko-))ii] is a uniquely flexible word, scanned (x x); see Section 2.2.

VERSE 4: uudhar [uu-dhar], scanned (= =), is spelled in a manner now archaic to signal the intended scansion. Note the contrast with the normal spelling, and scansion, of idhar [i-dhar] (- =). Word-grafting: kaam in is treated as kaamin [kaa-min].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL THREE by Mir, pp. 127-128:

METER: #25, = - - = / - = - = // = - - = / - = - = Has caesura.

VERSE 1: der der [de-r de-r], is scanned (= - = -), so it would seem not to fit the meter. But in meters with a caesura, like this one, an extra unscanned short syllable may occur just before the caesura; see the discussion in Section 6.1. The final r in the second der thus need not count in the scansion.

VERSE 2: Since the verse contains several special features like [i.zaafat] and word-grafting, here is its breakdown into syllables and feet: [buu-e gu-lau/-r ran-ge gul// do-no;N hai;N dil/-ka-shai na-sii-(m)] [le-k ba-qad/-re yak ni-gaa(-h)// de-khi-ye to/ va-faa na-hii;N]. Note that an extra unscanned syllable can be present before the caesura, like the (-h) at the end of nigaah , and/or at the end of the line, as in the case of the (-m) at the end of nasiim . See Section 6.1.

VERSE 3: ;xvaastah [;xvaa-s-tah] is an irregularly spelled Persian word, scanned (= - x). See Section 4.2.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL FOUR by Mir, pp. 128-129:

METER: #14 =* - = = / - = - = / = = *This syllable, while normally long, may occasionally be replaced with a short, at the poet's pleasure.

VERSE 2: ik [ik] by its spelling signals a scansion of (=); see Section 2.4.

VERSE 3: Word-grafting: baar baar us is treated as baarbaarus [baa-r baa-rus]; ;haalat ab is treated as ;haalatab [;haa-la-tab].

VERSE 4: aavaaz [aa-vaa-(z)] contains the extra short "cheat syllable" permitted at the end of the line in almost all meters. The second line begins with the less common but permissible short syllable, rather than the official long syllable shown in the pattern.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 5 by Mir, p. 130:

METER: "Hindi" meter; see Section 6.2. In order to help you get used to this meter, here is a breakdown into syllables. Long syllables are shown in bold:

((ish-q ha-maa-re ;xi-yaa-l pa-;raa hai // ;xvaa-b ga-))ii aa-raa-m ga-yaa
jii kaa jaa naa ;The-r ga-yaa hai // .sub-;h ga-yaa yaa shaa-m ga-yaa

((ish-q ki-yaa so dii-n ga-yaa ii- / maa-n ga-yaa is-laa-m ga-yaa
dil ne ai-saa kaa-m ki-yaa kuchh // jis se mai;N naa-kaa-m ga-yaa

haa-))e ja-vaa-nii kyaa kyaa kah-ye // sho-r sa-ro;N me;N rakh-te the
ab kyaa hai vuh ((ah-d ga-yaa vuh / mau-sam vuh han-gaa-m ga-yaa

Note that in the first line of the second verse, and the second line of the third verse, word overlaps prevent the lines from having a true caesura break after the eighth syllable.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 6 by Mus'hafi, p. 178:

METER: #26, - = = = / - = = = / - = = = / - = = =

VERSE 1: aur [aur] is here scanned as (=) rather than (= -) as it normally would be; it is scanned again this way in Verse 4. This is one of its possibilities; see Section 2.1.

VERSE 2: Word-grafting: ;xiraam us is treated as ;xiraamus [;xi-raa-mus].

VERSE 4: divaanii [di-vaa-nii] has replaced the normal spelling diivaanii [dii-vaa-nii], in order to permit and suggest a scansion of (- = x). This is now archaic. See Section 2.4.

VERSE 5: tirii [ti-rii] has replaced the normal spelling terii [te-rii], in order to change the scansion to (- x). See Section 2.4.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 7 by Jur'at, p.191:

METER: #10 = - = = / = - = = / = - = = / = - =

VERSE 2: kyaa [kyaa] is almost always (=); see Section 2.1. For pha;Nstaa [pha;Ns-taa] see Section 1.2.

VERSE 3: For rang [ran-g] see Section 1.2. The word aur [aur], normally (= -), is here scanned (=); see Section 2.1.

VERSE 4: jur))aat [jur-))at] is scanned (= =); see Section 4.4.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 8 by Jur'at, pp. 193-194:

METER: "Hindi" meter; see Section 6.2.

VERSE 2: pyaar [pyaa-r] is an irregularly spelled Indic word, scanned (= -); see Section 4.3.

VERSE 3: ;xvushaamad is really [;xu-shaa-mad]; see Section 4.2.

VERSE 4: jahaaN likhaa ho [ja-haaN li-khaa ho] contains an example of the rare scansion pattern (- = -), in [ja-haaN li-], rather than (= - -) as is the norm in this meter. See Section 6.2.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 9 by Atish, p. 218:

METER: #18, =* - = = / - - = = / - - = = / = =
#19, =* - = = / - - = = / - - = = / - - =
These two closely related meters are often used together. *This syllable, while normally long, may occasionally be replaced with a short, at the poet's pleasure.

VERSE 3: The first line of this verse is the only one in this excerpt that is composed in meter #18 rather than its more common companion #19. Word-grafting: bar andaaz is treated as barandaaz [ba-ran-daa-z].

VERSE 4: Both lines of this verse begin with a short syllable, rather than the more common long syllable shown in the official pattern. Word-grafting: qaraar ai is treated as qaraarai [qa-raa-rai].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 10 by Atish, p. 218:

METER: #34 - = - = / - - = = / - = - = / = =

VERSE 1: Word-grafting: ham aur is treated as hamaur [ha-mau-r].

VERSE 2: The writing of mahah [mahh], "moon," with two h's in sequence is merely an orthographic convention, like that used with kahah , the root of kahnaa , to distinguish it from kih [kih]. It does not affect the scansion, which remains [ma-ho mah-r].

VERSE 4: :taali((ii is scanned [:taa-li-((ii]. Remember that (( is a full, regular consonant in metrical terms; see Section 1.3.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 11 by Zauq, p. 297:

METER: #27 - = = = / - = = = / - = =

VERSE 1: Word-grafting: khoj apnaa is treated as khojapnaa [kho-jap-naa].

VERSE 4: Word-grafting: na:ziir us is treated as na;ziirus [na-:zii-rus].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 12 by Zauq, pp. 298-299:

METER: #5 = = - / = - = - / - = = - / = - =

VERSE 1: ;xvushii is really [;xu-shii]; see Section 4.2.

VERSE 3: bavaqt-e marg is [ba-vaq-te mar-g]. It could also be written bah vaqt-e marg , of which it's just a shortened form.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 13 by Momin, p. 307:

METER: #14 =* - = = / - = - = / = =
#15 =* - = = / - = - = / - - =
These two closely related meters are often used together. *This syllable, while normally long, may occasionally be replaced with a short, at the poet's pleasure.

VERSE 1: Word-grafting: a;sar us is treated as a:sarus [a-;sa-rus]; this verse begins with the variant short-syllable opening.

VERSE 2: The first line is in meter #15. huu))e is really [hu-))e], (- x); see Section 4.3.

VERSE 3: The first line is in meter #15.

VERSE 4: ko))ii is to be considered (x x). See Section 2.2.

VERSE 5: Word-grafting: mu.z:tar ai is treated as mu.z:tarai [mu.z-:ta-rai]; .sanam aa;xir is treated as .sanamaa;xir [.sa-na-maa-;xir]. The second line begins with the variant short-syllable opening.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 14 by Momin, p. 312:

METER: #38 - - = - = / - - = - = / - - = - = / - - = - =

VERSE 1: Note the scansion of tumhe;N [tu-mhe;N], which is (- x) in accordance with its pronunciation, though it is more often spelled with h than with [do-chashmii he]. See Section 4.3. Both kih [kih] and nah [nah] are virtually always short; see Section 2.1.

VERSE 2: Word-grafting: har ek is treated as harek [ha-re-k].

VERSE 3: huu))e [hu-))e] is an irregularly spelled Indic word, scanned (- x); see Section 4.3. Note that the doubled letter created by the tashdiid [tashdiid] on the t in ittifaaq counts as fully as any other letter in the scansion: [it-ti-faa-q].

VERSE 4: The protean word ko))ii is always to be scanned (x x). Note that tumhaare is scanned [tu-mhaa-re], (- = x); see Section 4.3.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 15 by Ghalib, p. 319:

METER: #18 =* - = = / - - = = / - - = = / = = *This syllable, while normally long, may occasionally be replaced with a short, at the poet's pleasure.

VERSE 2: Note the way the vowel- ii turns into a consonant before an [i.zaafat]: diivaanagii-e shauq becomes [dii-vaa-na-gi-ye shau-q], (= = - - = = -); see Section 3.2. In this case the [i.zaafat] syllable has to be long, to avoid having the forbidden three shorts in a row. Also note the double word-grafting: udhar aur aap is treated as udharauraap [u-dha-rau-raa-p].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 16 by Ghalib, pp. 319-320:

METER: #37 - - = - / = - = = // - - = - / = - = = Has caesura.

VERSE 1: Word-grafting: agar aur is treated as agaraur [a-ga-rau-r].

VERSE 2: ;xvushii is really [;xu-shii]; see Section 4.2. Word-grafting: agar i((tibaar is treated as agari((tibaar [a-ga-ri((-t-baa-r].

VERSE 3: ko))ii [ko-))ii] is, as ever, (x x).

VERSE 4: Word-grafting: ;Gam agarchih is treated as ;Gamarchih [;Ga-ma-gar-chih].

VERSE 5: masaa))il-e ta.savvuf is [ma-saa-))i-le ta-.sav-vuf].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 17 by Ghalib, p. 321:

METER: #19 =* - = = / - - = = / - - = = / - - =
#18 =* - = = / - - = = / - - = = / = =
These two closely related meters are often used together. *This syllable, while normally long, may occasionally be replaced with a short, at the poet's pleasure.

VERSE 1: vajah-e tasallii is [vaj-he-ta-sal-lii].

VERSE 2: The first line is in #18.

VERSE 4: The first line is in #18.

VERSE 5: The first line is in #18. .sadmah-e yak-junbish-e lab is [.sad-ma-he yak-jun-bi-she lab].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 18 by Ghalib, pp. 321-322:

METER: #10 = - = = / = - = = / = - = = / = - =

VERSE 1: laalah o is [laa-la-ho]; see Section 3.3.

VERSE 2: Word-grafting: bazm-araa))iyaa;N is treated as bazmaaraa))iyaa;N [baz-maa-raa-))i-yaa;N].

VERSE 3: Word-grafting: dimaa;G us is treated as dimaa;Gus [di-maa-;Gus].

VERSE 4: muva;h;hid is scanned [mu-va;h-;hid]. Note the presence of the extra unscanned "cheat syllable"--the m of rusuum [ru-suu-m]-- at the end of the first line.

VERSE 5: yuu;Nhii is scanned as [yuu;N hii], (x x).

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 19 by Ghalib, pp. 324-325:

METER: #5 = = - / = - = - / - = = - / = - =

VERSE 1: The spelling ;xaamushii , rather than the usual ;xaamoshii , points to the scansion [;xaa-mu-shii]; see Section 2.4. ;xvush is really [;xush]; see Section 4.2.

VERSE 2: aa))inah , a remarkably flexible word, is here scanned (= x x), and spelled accordingly; see Section 2.2. ((u;zr-;xvaah is scanned [((u;z-r-;xvaa-h]; see Section 4.2.

VERSE 3: na;xvaastah is scanned [na-;xvaa-s-tah]; see Section 4.2.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 20 by Ghalib, p. 331:

METER: #8 = = - / - = = - / - = = - / - = =

This ghazal should be considered to have the optional "cheat syllable" at the end of every verse, in the form of the r in aur [au-r].

VERSE 1: Word-grafting: har ik [har ik] is treated as harik [ha-rik]; note that the spelling of ik [ik] points to its scansion as (=) rather than (= -).

VERSE 2: Word-grafting: dil un is treated as dilun [di-lun].

VERSE 3: huu))e is really [hu-))e]. shikanii is [shi-ka-nii].

VERSE 5: Word-grafting: bahut achchhe is treated as bahutachchhe [ba-hu-tach-chhe].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 21 by Dagh, p. 367:

METER: #4 = = - / = - = = // = = - / = - = = Has caesura.

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 22 by Dagh, pp. 371-372:

METER: #37 - - = - / = - = = // - - = - / = - = = Has caesura.

VERSE 1: Word-grafting: ((ajab apnaa is treated as ((ajabapnaa [((a-ja-bap-naa].

VERSE 2: Word-grafting: phir aashkaar is treated as phiraashkaar [phi-raa-sh-kaa-r].

VERSE 3: Word-grafting: baraabar aag is treated as baraabaraag [ba-raa-ba-raa-g].

VERSE 4: Word-grafting: agar apnii is treated as agarapnii [a-ga-rap-nii].

VERSE 5: tumhe;N is [tu-mhe;N], (- x).

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 23 by Akbar Ilahabadi, pp. 396-397:

METER: #27 - = = = / - = = = / - = =

Strictly speaking, this is not a ghazal but a qi:t((ah [qi:t((ah]. See Barker vol. I, pp. xxvi-xxvii. Note that yaas [yaa-s], paas [paa-s], and all the other rhyming words end in the short "cheat syllable" permitted at the end of a line.

VERSE 1: ;xvush is really [;xush]; see Section 4.2.

VERSE 2: Word-grafting: em ai , "M.A.," is treated as emai [e-me].

VERSE 3: For faura:n [fau-ran] see the [tanviin] part of Section 4.4. byaah [byaa-h] is an irregular Indic word, scanned (= -); see Section 4.3.

VERSE 4: Word-grafting: dil apnaa is treated as dilapnaa [di-lap-naa].

[back to top of page]

 

GHAZAL 24 by Iqbal, p. 425:

METER: #38 - - = - = / - - = - = / - - = - = / - - = - =

VERSE 1: Word-grafting: na:zar aa is treated as na:zaraa [na-:za-raa].

VERSE 2: aa))iinah is scanned (= x x); see Section 2.2.

VERSE 3: In the word ((afv [((af-v], the v is a consonant, and so receives a normal consonant [i.zaafat], becoming [((af-ve].

VERSE 5: huu))aa is really [hu-))aa].

[back to top of page]

 


 
 -- meter book index -- Ghalib sitemap -- Mir sitemap -- FWP's main page --