About This Project
This website is a personal project dedicated to the cataloguing and translation of modern Iranian poetry. I felt that well thought-out English translations were rare, so decided to have a go myself.
Translation can often be destructive. It is often said that a sentence carries meaning over and above the aggregate of its words; this unspoken meaning stands outside the domain of words entirely. Rather, it is a quality of the direct experience of the sentence by its recipient who is already intimately familiar with a particular language and culture. Words can be translated, but the most important part of a sentence may be left behind. Of course, the nature of poetry amplifies this dilemma.