Beloved’s hair in “Ghazals” of Hafiz and Petrarch’s “Canzoniere”

Abstract

The Ghazals of Hafiz (Shiraz, c. 1315-1389) and Petrarch’s Canzoniere (1304-1374) have at least three common characteristics: both are contemporary; they contain a similar number of lines, and both are the top of the medieval love poetry, one in the Persian literature and the other in the European literature. The description of the beloved’s hair is one of the principal commonplaces of these two poets: Petrarch mentions it 57 times in the Canzoniere and Hafiz 249 times in the Ghazals. This paper shows, with the comparative-contrastive method, the common and different characteristics and symbolism of the beloved’s hair in Hafiz’s and Petrarch’s poetry.