Analysis of My Friend has fled

Shams al-Din Hafiz 1315 (Shiraz) – 1390 (Shiraz)



My friend has fled! alas, my friend has fled,
And left me nought but tears and pain behind!
Like smoke above a flame caught by the wind,
So rose she from my breast and forth she sped.
Drunk with desire, I seized Love's cup divine,
But she that held it poured the bitter wine
Of Separation into it and fled.

The hunter she, and I the helpless prey;
Wounded and sick, round me her toils she drew,
My heart into a sea of sorrow threw,
Bound up her camel loads and fled away.
Fain had I laid an ambush for her soul,
She saw and vanished, and the timid foal,
Good Fortune, slipped the rein and would not stay.

My heart was all too narrow for my woe,
And tears of blood my weeping eyes have shed,
A crimson stream across the desert sped,
Rising from out my sad heart's overflow.
She knew not what Love's meanest slave can tell:
''Tis sweet to serve!' but threw me a Farewell,
Kissing my threshold, turned, and cried 'I go!'

In the clear dawn, before the east was red,
Before the rose had torn her veil in two,
A nightingale through Hafiz' garden flew,
Stayed but to fill its song with tears, and fled.


Scheme ABBACCA DEEDFFD GAAGHHG AEEA
Poetic Form Tetractys  (20%)
Metre 1111011111 0111110101 1101011101 1111110111 11010111101 1111110101 101001101 0101010101 1001110111 1101011101 1101010101 111111101 1101000101 1101010111 1111110111 0111110111 0101010101 101111110 1111110111 111111101 101110111 0011010111 0101110101 010011101 1111111101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 1,079
Words 215
Sentences 11
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7, 4
Lines Amount 25
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 210
Words per stanza (avg) 53
Font size:
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:04 min read
87

Shams al-Din Hafiz

Khwāja Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمس‌‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی‎), known by his pen name Hafez (حافظ, Ḥāfeẓ, 'the memorizer; the (safe) keeper' and as "Hafiz", was a Persian poet who "lauded the joys of love and wine but also targeted religious hypocrisy". more…

All Shams al-Din Hafiz poems | Shams al-Din Hafiz Books

0 fans

Discuss this Shams al-Din Hafiz poem analysis with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "My Friend has fled" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/34673/my-friend-has-fled>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    More poems by

    Shams al-Din Hafiz

    »

    April 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    17
    hours
    56
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    The poet of the line: "I should be glad of another death." Is...
    A Sylvia Plath
    B Walt Whitman
    C T.S. Eliot
    D Emily Dickinson