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9th out of 57 books
—
34 voters
The Soul of Rumi: A New Collection of Ecstatic Poems
by
Rumi,
Coleman Barks
The Soul of Rumi is renowned poet Coleman Barks' first major assemblage of newly translated Rumi poems since his bestselling The Essential Rumi.
Coleman Barks presents entirely new translations of Rumi's poems, published for the first time in The Soul of Rumi. The poems range over the breadth of Rumi's themes: silence, emptiness, play, God, peace, grief, sexuality, music, t...more
Coleman Barks presents entirely new translations of Rumi's poems, published for the first time in The Soul of Rumi. The poems range over the breadth of Rumi's themes: silence, emptiness, play, God, peace, grief, sexuality, music, t...more
Paperback, 425 pages
Published
September 17th 2002
by HarperOne
(first published 2001)
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he's so damn popular in the world of poetry it is sort of cliche to like the darn guy, but what the heck, I do.
Children Running Through
I used to be shy.
You made me sing.
I used to refuse things at table.
Now I shout for more wine.
In somber dignity, I used to sit
on my mat and pray.
Now children run through
and make faces at me.
Children Running Through
I used to be shy.
You made me sing.
I used to refuse things at table.
Now I shout for more wine.
In somber dignity, I used to sit
on my mat and pray.
Now children run through
and make faces at me.
8 likes · like · see review
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This is not a book you can ever say you "Read" as if you actually finished it and then put it on the shelf. This book is a bible, a companion, a map to the soul, to life and all the Universe. You will carry it with you around the house, keep it on your desk, in your bathroom, in your backpack - wherever it is you may need quick access to enlightened poetry and guidance. If you are up, this book will provide confirmation. If you are down, this book will give you answers and reasons to keep search...more
8 likes · like · see review
13th Century Persian poet.
Austere, profound, beautiful, essential.
"We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee;
we are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee.
We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat:
our victory and defeat is from thee, O thou whose qualities are comely!
Who are we, O Thou soul of our souls,
that we should remain in being beside thee?
We and our existences are really non-existence;
thou art the absolute Being which manifests the perishable....more
Austere, profound, beautiful, essential.
"We are as the flute, and the music in us is from thee;
we are as the mountain and the echo in us is from thee.
We are as pieces of chess engaged in victory and defeat:
our victory and defeat is from thee, O thou whose qualities are comely!
Who are we, O Thou soul of our souls,
that we should remain in being beside thee?
We and our existences are really non-existence;
thou art the absolute Being which manifests the perishable....more
He have not a nationality,country or adress...He had come from a unknown macrocosm and went to eternity(şeb-i arus)..
during his last hours his wife pleaded with Mevlana to not died and ask God to let him stay here a little longer. Mevlana's reply was thus:
Am I a thief?
Have I stolen someone's goods?
Is this why you would confine me here and keep me from being rejoined with my love?
therefore we see his opinion of death. It is the time of release from this cage of the body and Soul has become purifi...more
during his last hours his wife pleaded with Mevlana to not died and ask God to let him stay here a little longer. Mevlana's reply was thus:
Am I a thief?
Have I stolen someone's goods?
Is this why you would confine me here and keep me from being rejoined with my love?
therefore we see his opinion of death. It is the time of release from this cage of the body and Soul has become purifi...more
Another of my favorite Persian poets. Sadly this book did not come with the poem in original Persian and there is perhaps a little too much of the translators own story. All I wanted was the poems of Rumi but those that I got were exceptional. Rumi's poems speak to the very soul and in many cases advice can be found in his words.
2 likes · like · see review
Apr 30, 2008
Tony duncan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
interested in sufism , spiritual poetry
Shelves:
literature
Rumi got me started writing poetry. Someone gave me a book of his. Just gave it to me because they thought I could use it. Boy were they right. I was so taken by the clear simple attention to an idea of God that I could relate to if not necessarily wholeheartedly embrace.
And his impetus, allowed this dam of repressed fear and anxiety and frustration to come out in a torrent of poems over the next couple of years.
Then jaki got me three books of Hafiz, the modern Translations by Landinsky. And t...more
And his impetus, allowed this dam of repressed fear and anxiety and frustration to come out in a torrent of poems over the next couple of years.
Then jaki got me three books of Hafiz, the modern Translations by Landinsky. And t...more
4 likes · like · see review
Sep 03, 2008
Maureen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Maureen by:
Vanessa Briscoe Hay
This book has a special significance for me, because Barks dedicated it to my friend John Ryan Seawright, one of the shining lights of modern Southern letters until his untimely death. These poems like all of Rumi's poetry, call out to the reader on a multiplicity of levels. One small example:
Not Here
There's courage involved if you want
to become truth. There is a broken-
open place in a lover. Where are
those qualities of bravery and sharp
compassion in this group? What's the
use of old and froze...more
Not Here
There's courage involved if you want
to become truth. There is a broken-
open place in a lover. Where are
those qualities of bravery and sharp
compassion in this group? What's the
use of old and froze...more
I like to read a few poems at a sitting. The blending of religions is fascinating; i.e. Jesus, Moses, Mohammed. I am not sure of how Rumi's Sufi roots fit into my world view though. It feels rather foreign and reads esoteric rather than poetic.
The other great Sufi writer, Doris Lessing, makes more sense to my world view in regards to how she breaks the atom so to speak in The Golden Notebook. This book changed my life the first time around in graduate school at American because the main characte...more
The other great Sufi writer, Doris Lessing, makes more sense to my world view in regards to how she breaks the atom so to speak in The Golden Notebook. This book changed my life the first time around in graduate school at American because the main characte...more
2 likes · like · see review
Not a book to be read cover to cover at once.
I pick this book up from time to time- sometimes just to hold - other times to read a few poems.
Sometimes I find Coleman Barks audio or videos online reading - and just listen to his interpretation in audio of a poem or two.
I pick this book up from time to time- sometimes just to hold - other times to read a few poems.
Sometimes I find Coleman Barks audio or videos online reading - and just listen to his interpretation in audio of a poem or two.
What can I say? I first met Coleman Barks at the Dodge fest in NJ in 02. He is a gentle soul and the authoritative Rumi scholar & expert. I am a huge fan of his Rumi translations and of his own poetry.
Always helps me out when I'm getting too depressed lol. I think my favorite part about Rumi is his subtle humor. Great translations from one of the greatest poets of all time.
While I enjoy Rumi, I prefer collections that have more than one translator. I find it gives the reader a better scope of his work and its interpretations.
Plenty of fabulous poetry by Rumi translated by Coleman Banks - each major section having a short introduction which places the verses in context.
Again, a lesson for me in true poetry. What did I know about love or poetry prior to this? My favorite poem " A Gift". It speaks so well of love.
After awhile, the poems seemed to be repeating themselves in just different formats. Rumi is best read in short amounts for short periods of time otherwise his lessons and beauty gets lost and becomes repetitive tediousness.
a great one to just pick up and read random parts of. rumi always has these beautiful ways of putting things...
How do you review Rumi? Quote Hafiz? As I write this, the sky is black, the moon is high and full, and pink. Yes, pink.
I picked this book up in a store while looking for Masnavi Ye Manavi, Rumi's word is so warm.
Very sweet read. I found thoughts and ideas that I understand more and more as I get older.
i cannot say enough of Rumi.
a must read...especially if you're a lover.
a must read...especially if you're a lover.
I had heard about this book on NPR, so checked it out of the library. I skipped around and read several good poems, but have to admit I am just not that much of a poetry reader. So I never finished the book.
Aug 09, 2009
Lori
added it
Excellent! Throughout the whole book I was in amazement - WOW!
Jun 27, 2011
Analu
is currently reading it
So far so good..I will post a full review later..
Sooth the soul, enrich the mind - read Rumi!
I felt transformed to a magical mystical place.
a foundational book in my life.
I LOVED this book! The poems of Rumi sing to my soul and fill my heart. Coleman Barks did a marvelous job on this book. Highly recommended!!
One of history's most amazing voices.
To be savored, slowly.
A complex and challenging set of poems. Rumi is sprawling, discursive, and undisciplined, sometimes switching gears halfway through his train of thought and often leaping from one set of metaphors to another. Sometimes parables, sometimes stories ending in non-sequiturs, sometimes little wise epigrams, sometimes bawdy fables, sometimes startling pieces of disjointed imagery, Rumi's poetry is demanding, but it also has a scriptural quality that seeps through the pores and crawls around the edges...more
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Farsi: مولانا جلال الدین محمد بلخی
Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Persian: مولانا جلال الدین محمد رومی), also known as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balḫī (Persian: محمد بلخى), but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi , was a 13th century Persian (Tādjīk) poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian. Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he lived most parts of his life in...more
More about Rumi...
Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (Persian: مولانا جلال الدین محمد رومی), also known as Mawlānā Jalāl-ad-Dīn Muhammad Balḫī (Persian: محمد بلخى), but known to the English-speaking world simply as Rumi , was a 13th century Persian (Tādjīk) poet, Islamic jurist, and theologian. Rumi is a descriptive name meaning "the Roman" since he lived most parts of his life in...more
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