Hasht Ketab (Eight Books)

Sepehri’s most important book entitled Hasht Ketab or Eight books that is a compilation of his prior eight books of poetry. In Hasht Ketab or Eight books published in 1976, Sepehri laments the loss of traditional Persian beliefs regarding courtesy and deeper connection between people. Furthermore, there are streaks of naturalism and nature description in Sepehri’s poetry and this is notable in most poems of his books.

“Sepehri published his first poetry collection in 1951; entitled The Death of Color. In this Book, Sepehri is affected by Nima and his manner. What makes up the content of his poems in this collection is issues such as futility, waiting for better days, the inner dilemma of the poet and loneliness. In addition, what governs the mood of the poems of this book, including the poems’ name is sadness and depression of romanticism. Two years later in 1953, Sepehri’s second books, Life of Dreams published. The bitter mood of previous book is also visible in this book, but it has some signs of Sepehri’s independence from Nima. In this regard, independence of Sepehri’s style started from his second book and it continued in the other six books. Furthermore, following his independence from Nimaic poetry, the elements of surrealism were found in Sepehri’s second book and the other six books because of his familiar with Western theosophy and its literary schools.” (Translation from original Farsi reference)

Resources

1. Hassanzade mirali, A. Abdi, M. (2013).Negahi Gozara Be Jelvehaye Surreslist Hasht Ketab [Brief Review of Surrealism’s Effects of Hasht Ketab] Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 1, 77-95.