Overview

A rich collection of poems inspired by the Persian lyric tradition. In The Khayyam Suite, acclaimed poet Charles Martin explores both the profound and the personal in verse that celebrates the spectrum of human experience. At the heart of this collection is a study of the Rubaiyat, the renowned poem cycle attributed to the Persian poet Omar Khayyam. Martin pays homage to Khayyam's classical Persian poetic form—the ghazal—by infusing it with contemporary sensibilities, creating a rich tapestry of contemplation and artistry. By seamlessly blending Eastern and Western poetic traditions, Martin offers a unique and thought-provoking perspective on timeless questions that have captivated philosophers and poets throughout the ages. Each long poem consists of forty quatrains mirroring those of Khayyam's. Martin's verses reflect on modern existential dilemmas, environmental crises, and the intricacies of personal relationships. From the haunting feeling of ""On the Coming Extinctions"" to the stark socioeconomic commentary in ""On Capital,"" each poem invites the reader into a contemplative dialogue with the self. Martin's poems are both a mirror and a window to the soul, reflecting personal histories and illuminating the universal human condition. This collection, imbued with the lyrical charm and intellectual depth of Martin's writing, is a profound commentary on love, loss, and the fleeting nature of life.

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9781421450711

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Reviews

Charles Martin is a poet of dazzling formal dexterity. Deep realizations flow through his fluent lines and stanzas, in which our present condition is clarified by allusions to our past. --Daniel Hoffman For readers still enamored of the craft as well as the art of poetry, there is no better exemplar of either from my own generation than Charles Martin. --B. H. Fairchild Like an expert cellist in full control of phrasing and intonation, Charles Martin can make a line of metrical verse sonorous or playful, tenebrous or scintillating, elegiac or mercurial. --David Yezzi

Author Information

Charles Martin is the Pushcart Prize–winning author of seven books of poetry, most recently Future Perfect. His verse translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses received the 2004 Harold Morton Landon Award from the Academy of American Poets.

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