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Elizabeth Stearns
EH 111: Intro to Poetry
Pamela Dail Whiting
April 19, 2011

Love’s Confusing Joy

As a 13th century poet once said, “I am so small, how can this great love be inside me?

Look at your eyes, they are so small, yet they see enormous things.” This poet’s name is

Jelaluddin Rumi. [ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ] Rumi was an Islamic mystic who lived in what is now

modern day Afghanistan, and he wrote thousands of poems (12-14 poems a day), in the Persian

language. In the Interview of Coleman Barks, titled Love’s Confusing Joy, we find that Coleman

Barks was introduced to Rumi’s poems by another poet, Robert Blyth in 1976. Coleman Barks

ever since that day has found Rumi to be an inspiration, and has since then dedicated the last

seventeen years of his work to translating Jelaluddin Rumi’s poems into American English, in

order to share Rumi’s great works with American audiences.[ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ]

Rumi was a Mystic, and Coleman Barks briefly tries to explain what Mysticism truly is,

although he himself seemed hesitant to speak on the topic. Mysticism, he said, was a continuous

energy and we, as humans, are in the middle of the energy. It is something untold, unspeakable

secrets that surround our every being. [ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ] I found its’ meaning to be

something which cannot fully be embodied by our words or language. It reminded me of the

wind. Wind you can feel, hear its passion in the breeze that rustles the trees. You can feel the nip

of it when it’s billowy gust come upon you. However, how much you know about the wind, you

can never really grasp it. It is, as it is; an unparalleled thing.

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Coleman Barks made an excellent point when he said “Trying to Imagine the Islamic

World without Rumi would be like trying to imagine the Western World without

Shakespeare.”[ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ] The significance of Rumi to that Islamic Culture is what

Coleman stresses; trying to acknowledge and embrace the beauty it has to offer. I believe it is

vital for us Americans to understand this culture, and ideas from within the culture, in order to

influence our outlook on how we view the Islamic world. Barks also urged the reader or listener,

to look for the “presence” within the poem. This presence is what we feel when we listen to the

words being spoken by the poet. Barks seems to match this “presence” with “Joy”, and an

awareness that “we all have a core that is ecstatic”, and through a sense of community we are

joined together as one. [ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ] This idea of community is something Rumi was

very much conscious about, especially when he said: “If you think there is an important

difference between a Jew, a Muslim, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Hindu, and a Shamanist…Then

you are making a division between your heart, what you love with, and your ability to act in the

world.” Because the heart is the same in every person, the longing to worship and love is a

common ground. Barks clearly lays a foundation for Rumi’s poems to be cherished not only by

those within a certain set of divisions, such as religion, but by all human beings who share a

common core. [ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ]

Throughout watching the interview with Coleman Barks he also gives praise to Rumi’s

wry sense of humor and the strong underlying view of seeing the good in the bad. Rumi stated it

best in his words: “I saw grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out, "It tastes sweet, does it

not?" "You've caught me," grief answered, "and you've ruined my business, how can I sell

sorrow when you know it's a blessing?" [ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ] Rumi also makes sure to

remind us of the beauty of life. In his own words: “The morning wind spreads its fresh smell, we
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must get up and take that in, that wind that lets us live. Breathe before it’s gone.” Rumi through

the translation work of Barks has such imagery that evokes the imagination to even dig further

past just a memory flash of an idea or object, but to almost get lost in the mysticism which

surrounds our every essence as human beings. We are a mystery, and in the mystery of life there

is a beauty surrounding us, which calls out to be appreciated for what we can make of it, and also

of what is not so clear to us. Rumi stated: “There are a hundred ways to kiss the ground”, so each

person may not have the same experience, but each can experience the same idea through

different means.[ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ]

Poetry, does not have dividing lines, it has no worries about race, ethnicity, gender, or

religion. Poetry is free to all who embrace the beauty of truth in poems. “Poetry, I think is close

to madness”, said Barks during his interview.[ CITATION Bar95 \l 1033 ] By madness, I believe he

means the stretching of one’s ‘minds eyes’ through the deliverance of words so thought

provoking in the form of poetry. This video definitely brought to attention a poet I have never

heard of before, and increased my love of brilliance through words, imagery, and the mysticism

which surrounds us all.