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Abstract:

Poetry, carpet weaving and miniatures are outstanding arts of Iranian (Persian) culture, known all over the world. One of the main representations of these three arts is the Persian gardens. These are closed areas where plants, water and buildings are combined together. The Pasargad Garden, built by order of the Great Cyrus in 546 year BC, is considered a model for all subsequent Persian gardens. The garden occupies a special place in both classical and modern Persian poetry. The image of the garden has two meanings — material and spiritual (epistemological). Modern Iranian poets (Parvin Etesmi, Sohrab Sepehri, Mehdi Akhavan Sales, Saeh, Shafi Kadkani, etc.) use the natural garden to express mystical, romantic, socio-historical and political ideas. In the poem “My Garden” by M.A. Sales (1957), the description and symbolism of the autumn garden serves to comprehend the 1953 coup d’état in Iran. In this work, the garden is a symbol of the country and its intellectual community, the gardener is the government, the clouds are the public suffocation, the fallen leaves are the poverty and hardship of the Iranian people, the wind and rain are the unfortunate events, the spring is the hope for improvement, the destroyed fruits are the dead young men, and the yellow-horse is the army. The leafless Garden of Sales reflects the poet’s sociopolitical point of view on the situation in Iran in the 1950s. However, the patriotic poet loves his garden and continues to see its beauty. In Persian poetry of the 20th century, even a ruined garden traditionally remains a symbol of motherland and a beautiful undying life.