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Parallels of Love in Rumi and Donne
Abstract
In this article, we compare certain aspects of the love poetry of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (1207-1273), the most distinguished Sufi mystic and poet of the Persian language, and John Donne (1572-1631), the leading English poet of the Metaphysical school. Despite the cultural and age difference between the 13th century Persian Sufi and the English Christian poet of the Renaissance, there are striking similarities in their experience of love as revealed in their poetry. For both, love stands unique in the universe, creates a new status of self, engages lover and beloved in perfect union, obliterates temporality, integrates both body and soul and climbs to the heights of Divine jealousy. The two poets are worlds apart but the world of love to which they take their reader is essentially the same.
Keywords: Rumi, Donne, love, comparative literatureFull Text:
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