Poem-Song Project
By: Kevin Yent
Poem
• Fakhraddin Gorgani was a 11th century Persian poet. He
was an influential poet who is considered to have
written Vis and Ramin which is considered the first epic
Persian romance between 1050 and 1055. The poem at
the heart of the story is Vis, daughter of the queen of
Mah and promised to Mobad, King of Marv. Against a
background of court intrigue, broken promises, and
open conflict, Vis finds herself escorted to her future
husband by his brother, Ramin—an impetuous prince
who cannot help falling in love with his charge and
jeopardizing the fate of two realms. This poem is
believed by scholars to be the inspiration for Tristan
and Isolde. (Source-Barnes and Noble)
Song
• Slightly Stoopid (Band Started in 1995 and is still around today) is an
American band based in Ocean Beach, San Diego, California, who
can describe their music as "a fusion of acoustic rock and blues with
reggae, hip-hop, and punk". The band was originally discovered and
signed by Bradley Nowell from the band Sublime to his record label
skunk records. The band was started by childhood friends Miles
Doughty (Guitar, Bass, Vocals) and Kyle McDonald (Guitar, Bass,
Vocals). They together gathered musicians Ryan ‘RyMo’ Moran
(Drums) and Oguer 'OG' Ocon (Congas, Percussion, Harp, Vocals), CMoney (Trumpet, Keyboard) and Dela (Saxophone). Miles explains
“The most important thing is you can be playing in front of zero
people or 20,000 people, and you’ve still got to rock the show.
When we were first starting out, literally, we played in front of
nobody…But after you play that show, they tell some of their
friends and their friends tell some friends.” Through this they kept
on writing and singing songs and eventually wrote mellow mood.
(Source-Wikipedia)
Poem:
The conclusion to Vis’s letter to Ramin
By: Fakhraddin Gorgani
Greetings to that tall tree whose leaves conceal
Within its shape a center formed from steel,
Greetings to that red jewel whose facets hide
Thirty unblemished pearls arrayed inside,
Greetings to those narcissus eyes whose light
Deprives me of my sleep throughout the night,
Greetings to that full moon whose course has made
My fortune's moon eclipsed by sorrow's shade,
Greetings to that fair garden which has left
My house of patience ruined and bereft,
Greetings to that green fir tree branch, which shows
How fruitlessly my withered branch now grows,
Greetings to that sweet rose whose smiles ensure
My constant weeping here for evermore,
Greetings to that wild, wanton tulip who
Has brimmed my weary eyes with morning dew,
Greetings to that brash rogue whose ruses keep
My mind from any kind of restful sleep,
Greeting to that brocade's bright mysteries,
To that pale moonlight, and the Pleiades,
Greetings to that fair, flower-like cypress tree
Whose beauty wounds my heart continually,
Greetings to those sweet curls whose scent has made
Merchants of musk give up their pointless trade,
Greetings to those bewitching eyes whose glance
Has made me look on food and sleep askance,
Greetings to those bright cheeks whose charming fire
Has filled my soul with trouble and desire,
Greetings to that full moon whose loveliness
Has left me weak and senseless with distress,
Greetings to that renowned deceiver who
Deprives my heart of all it might pursue,
Greetings to that sweet rose whose heady scent
Has filled my months and years with discontent,
Greetings to those tight curls whose antics shame me
So much that even in Shiraz they blame me,
Greetings to that coy grace, that charming chin
That's made my life a tale of shame and sin,
Greetings to glory, to that radiance
That's left me with this sallow countenance,
Greetings to that resplendent treasury
That's made a pastime of oppressing me,
Greetings to that refulgent sun that's given
The world more beauty than the sun in heaven,
Greetings to that sweet rose which is so fair
That roses shed their petals in despair,
Greetings to that tall cypress tree whose scent's
Stronger than jasmine's in its vehemen
…
Greetings to one I wish success forever
Without whom both my eyes flow like a river,
…
I wish you joy for all eternity
And wish myself your love and loyalty.
May you find happiness, and may the light
That shines from you illuminate my sight;
A thousand times I wish, and wish again,
That great good fortune may be yours. Amen!
Poem: Key Terms
•
•
•
•
Repetition
Tone
Imagery
Theme
Song: Mellow Mood
Slightly Stoopid
Hello little darling
Ain't no need to worry
Feels right in my arms now
Why go home, be all alone?
But if the sunshines know thats because of you
Just know thats true.
When all your moneys gone
Where will you be?
If your love is strong
Thats all you need.
[G-Love]
One time you know i love you
With your funky ass style
I love you twice a month since you had our first
child
Our love runs deep like the blood in my veins
I love you always, and always the same
Love remains.
Love your every change
Love your every phase
The passing of the day, plus when your away
Oh darling darling if you stay my love will never
change
Feel the power when our 2 hearts will combine
The power is yours and the power is mine
When love is born you know the sky must cry
Write you love letters till my pen runs dry
If you stay, good lovin make me wanna fly
If you go, rise and fall-dip and dive
You who I'm with so i shine so bright
I love you darling till the day that i die.
Darling darling I said now where'd you go?
I said I'll never know, the way you come and go.
When all your moneys gone
Where will you be?
If your love is strong
Thats all you need
Darling darling i said now whered
you go?
I said I'll never know, the way you
come and go.
When all your moneys gone
Call a 911 and its emergency
Where will you be?
But even in the 912 do you feel the urgent see
If your love is strong,
To people all around the world who never heard of me
Thats all you need.
Just leave another message please
Lord please guide and protect me
I got the love in my heart
I got fire in my soul
This no type of fire that nobody can control
But when I'm up on the mic
I got the mind overload
They never test me just because they dont rock and
roll
I'm singing oh my God Lord have mercy
Thought fools were gettin bad
But now they're even gettin worse see
Somethings cant be healed up by no doctors or no
nurses
It's time to stop the fussin' and the fightin' and the
cursin'
This world is hopeless,
But i love it anyway
Thats why they givin all the good love for free
And if u need love, with your lovin are you brave?
Come on and give a little good love to me
Thats what they want.
It's a long long way from home but
hold on.
It's a long it's a long long way but
hold on.
It's a long it's a long long way but
hold on.
It's a long it's a long long way but
hold on.
[fadeing out]
Call a 911 and it's emergency
Lord please guide and protect me
Call a 911 and it's emergency
Lord please guide and protect me
Song: Key Terms
•
•
•
•
Repetition
Tone
Mood
Theme
Comparison
•
American based band Slightly Stoopid’s song Mellow Mood and 11th century Persian poet
Fakhraddin Gorgani’s The conclusion to Vis’s letter to Ramin have the common theme of lost
love. Slightly Stoopid starts their song by first introducing the “little darling” of the song.
They progress through the song by hinting love and saying the “if the sun shines know that’s
because of you” referring to the little darling. In the first half of the song Slightly Stoopid
goes about the darling by talking about her personality and saying what they like about her.
They then go and say “love remains” inferring loss of their significant other. They use lyrics
to express remorse and guilt for the love the share with the person in the song. The then
close up the song by letting it go and saying that “love is hopeless, but I love it anyway” and
then going into inferring life goes on by saying “It’s a long long way from home but hold on”
meaning in time love will come again and that one lost love is not the end of the world.
Basically the whole song is about getting over the love a person shares for a lost love. Like
this though Fakhraddin Gorgani’s poem also obsesses on the common theme of lost love. He
starts of the poem using similar comparisons and telling about his love ones beauty and
what he loves about her. He then uses imagery and compares things that had lost something
significant to it like fir tree with withered branches. He then uses a ton of repetition to drive
home the fact of lost love with “constant weeping” and other comparisons of sadness for his
loss. At the end of the poem though Gorgani uses words that show the lover get over the
sadness and wish the best for the significant other saying “that great good fortune may be
yours”. With the poem and song expressing similar, implied topics of lost love and getting
over their feelings for their loved ones, I cannot almost distinguish the difference between
the two due to the basic similarities they share. Unlike Slightly Stoopids straight-forward
theme of a lost loved one compares to Gorgani’s poem of a lost lover by showing that
throughout life, love will take its toll and that people and that they are constantly falling in
and out of love and that although you don’t want it to end it might be better to let them go.