6. The metrical principles of classical Gūrānī poetry
6.1 Introductory issues to meter in classical Gūrānī poetry
6.1.3 An analysis of the arrangement of cola and feet
vowel /ā/ in naw-wahār ‗new spring‘ was pronounced extremely long by AM (0.431 seconds as measured in Praat) in comparison to other long vowels in that line (ī in zamīn is 0.130 seconds and ū in zargūn is 0.167 seconds). The same is true of ā in all other lines where it occurs. In lines where there is more than one ā vowel, one of them has a longer realization;
for example, in the word bārxāna in line 5, the first ā is pronounced shorter (0.060 seconds) than the second ā (0.419 seconds). But in lines where there is no ā, another vowel will be especially lengthened; for example, in line 2 where there is no ā vowel, the ū in zargūn is pronounced longer than normal (0.496 seconds). We will discuss the role of long vowel ā more in the section Figures of Sound in Gūrānī Poetry.
Finally, let us consider the issue of stress in relation to light (U) versus heavy (-) syllables in our above poem. Tabibzadeh (2013) claims that stressed syllables are always heavy, except when a stressed syllable occurs in word-final position. In other words, in word-final position, a stressed syllable can be either light or heavy. Our analysis of the lines in Poem No. 1 above show that the claims of Tabibzadeh hold true.
To summarize, our study of our performed poems shows that stress does exist in classical Gūrānī poetry, and that its placement is predictable in one or possibly two positions.
However, the other possible stresses in the line do not have any consistent metrical value since their positions are neither stable nor predictable.
3. Half-line 4. Colon 5. Foot
He also believes that all West-Iranian languages use the following type of feet:
1. - 2. U - 3. - - 4. U U -
For the two modern West-Iranian languages, Hawrāmī and Kalhorī, he assumes five principles as well:
1. ―Each line consists of some cola and feet.
2. Each foot has an ictus on its final syllable.
3. Ictus syllables are usually heavy.
4. When an ictus syllable is light (CV), it is necessarily the final syllable of a word.
5. The non-ictus syllables may be equally [that is, ―either‖] light or heavy.‖
Based on these principles, we will examine whether or not cola and feet should really be counted as metrical principles in Gūrānī poetry. We should keep in mind that a constituent can be counted as a metrical principle if it realizes two conditions: 1) it should be predictable;
and 2) it should make a regular recurrence.
6.1.3.1 The arrangement of hemistichs into cola and feet
Below we will give more complete evidence why the colon does not have any true metrical value in classical Gūrānī poetry. Nevertheless, in a natural reading, we typically find short pauses within the hemistichs, which we have called ―colon pauses‖. With Praat we can clearly identify the placement of such colon pauses and measure their duration.
We mentioned before that Tabibzadeh (2013) assumes for West-Iranian poetry that in the cases of Kalhorī and Hawrāmī ―Each foot has an ictus on its final syllable.‖ If this were true, then we should expect to find a regular ictus in each hemistich, and that a correct reading would depend on the position of the ictuses and consequently on the position of feet and cola
in the lines. Their positions would also be predictable and regular. But in fact a correct reading of poems does not depend of the positions of ictuses, feet and cola.
However, for the sake of the argument, we will assume for the moment that, hypothetically speaking, each line could contain some regular cola and feet. In such a case, the colon pauses would mark the boundaries of the cola and the ictuses would mark the boundaries of the feet.
As a notation for this study in the examples below, we have marked the border of the cola with |, the border of the feet with / and the caesura with //. Main stress is indicated by ('), which is placed before a stressed syllable:
6.1.3.2 Different kinds of cola
In order to analyze our poems, it is important as a first step to assume different kinds of colon pauses that are used in classical Gūrānī poetry.
Because each line in Gūrānī poetry is divided into two hemistichs and each hemistich contains five syllables, the shape of a colon can only be of one to five syllables. Therefore we can assume the following possible types of cola:
one-syllable cola two-syllable cola three-syllable cola four-syllable cola five-syllable cola
Our assumption is that in most cases each hemistich has five syllables without any regular division into cola. However, a normal (traditional) reading will still naturally involve pauses within the hemistichs, which we have called ―colon pauses‖. In the following section we explain where these pauses occur.
6.1.3.3 One-syllable and four-syllable cola
It is theoretically possible to have a one-syllable colon together with a four-syllable colon, and we believe that they occasionally occur, but in our data we have no cases.
6.1.3.4 Two-syllable and three-syllable cola
Cola composed of two and three syllables are more common than cola of one and four syllables. Since each hemistich contains five syllables, whenever a colon consists of two syllables, the other will necessarily have three syllables.
Consider the following examples that are from Poem No. 2 as read by AM (the complete poem is presented a bit later with translation):
(141)
5 tā kay hanāsam ba siyā tam bo?
- '- | U - '- // U U '- | '-/ -
6 tā kay kunǰ-e dił xazēna-y xam bo?
- '- | - U' - // U - '- | '-/ - 6.1.3.5 Five-syllable cola
A hemistich itself can comprise a single colon. In fact, hemistichs without division into cola are very common in Gūrānī poetry. For example, in Poem No. 2, there are lines in which each hemistich is composed of a five-syllable colon and there are no further colon divisions.
Examples include the first hemistich in line 3 performed by AM and all four hemistichs in lines 3 and 4 performed by AA:
(142) AM AA
3 tā kay na ǰamīn // lung-e xam pošū?
- '- / U U '- // '- / U '- | - - - '- / U U '- // '- / U '- / - - 4 tā kay čun kūra-y // āyir biǰošū?
- '- | - - '- // - '- | U - - - '- / - - '- // - '- / U - - 6.1.3.6 The division of hemistichs into cola and feet in the poems
Now we will look in detail at how the hemistichs were divided into cola and feet in the recordings of one of our poems. We have chosen a poem that was read by two of our Hawrāmī informants, AM and AA. The recordings of this poem were entered into Cool Edit and Praat in order to identify the major and minor pauses and cola.
Consider first the following poem, Poem 2, where in the scansion we have indicated the divisions of cola and hemistichs according to the ways that AM and AA each read (that is, performed) the poems.
(142) Poem No. 2 (Ms.Or. 6444.f30a)
AM AA
1 tā ba kay nošū?
'- / U '- / - - '- / U '- / - -
2 yā řab! ǰām-e xam // tā ba kay nošū? O Lord, the glass of sorrow // how long must I drink (it)?
'- / - | - U '- // '- / U '- / - - '- /- | - U '- // - U '- / - -
3 tā kay na ǰamīn // lung-e xam pošū? How long must I wear on my forehead the turban of sorrow?
- '- / U U '- // '- / U '- | - - - '- / U U '- // '- / U '- / - -
4 tā kay čun kūra-y // āyir biǰošū? How long must I boil as a fiery furnace?
- '- | - - '- // - '- | U - - - '- / - - '- // - '- / U - -
5 tā kay hanāsam ba siyā tam bo? How long must my breath be black (and) dusty?
- '- | U - '- // U U '- | '- / - - '- / U - '- // U U - '- / -
6 tā kay kunǰ-e dił xazēna-y xam bo? How long must the corner of heart be the store of sorrow?
- '- | - U '- // U - '- | '- / - - '- / - U '- // U - '- / '- / -
7 tā kay gard-e dił ba sitēza bo? How long must the dust particles of the heart be in conflict (with each other)?
- '- / - U/ '- // U U '- / U - - '- /- U '- // U U '- / U - 8 tā kay řēza-y ǰarg, řēza řēza115 bo?
116
How long must the heart (literally ‗liver‘) be (torn) in pieces?
- - - // - U - U - - - - // - U - U -
9 īsāfan, ħaddan, nīyāzmand-e dił (There should be) fairness, a border, necessity of heart.
115 The phrase řēza řēza as an attribute to the word ǰarg ‗liver‘ refers to how one has so many sorrows that it splits the person‘s liver into many pieces.
116 Neither AM nor AA read this line, so the scansion lacks stress marking.
- - '- | - '- // - '- / - U '- - - '- | - '- // - - - U '-
10 māza ħasratmand // dāx baro wa gił Do not let me take regrets to the grave.
'- / U - '- /- // '- | U - U '- '- /U - '- /- // '- | U - U '-
As mentioned above, Tabibzadeh (2013) assumes the following types of feet, which we have used in the analysis of Poem No. 2 above:
1. - 2. U - 3. - - 4. U U -
According to Tabibzadeh‘s assumption, we should expect that ―Each foot has an ictus on its final syllable‖, that is, each foot (marked by the symbol / in the above scansion) should end with a stressed syllable. But the scansion in our analysis of the above poem does not support this. In several lines, there are feet that lack a stressed syllable. For example, the two final syllables in the second hemistichs of lines no 1-4 only have unstressed syllables. These examples show that the division of lines into feet and cola does not follow a consistent pattern. Therefore, a division of the lines into cola and feet would be unsystematic. In most cases, in fact, there are not even any divisions of hemistichs into cola.
Furthermore, it is clear that AM and AA have different styles of performance. As can be seen in the scansion above, the two performers have two different ways of reading in terms of how they handle potential cola and feet. AA divided fewer hemistichs into cola. Nor does the division of cola by our informants reflect a regular pattern. For example, concerning the first hemistich in line 4, AM has divided it into a colon pattern of 2|3, but AA makes no division into cola. Or consider how in line 5, AM divided the first hemistich into 2|3 and the second into 3|2, but AA makes no division into cola in either hemistich.
Since the above discussion based on examples from these poems shows that the division of hemistichs into cola does not belong to the metrical system of Gūrānī poetry, it follows logically that the division of cola into feet cannot be part of the meter either. This is because the reading of these poems does not depend on the ictus within the lines. As mentioned before, only in one or possibly in two cases do we have regular and predictable stress. Since
the reading of lines does not depend on the ictuses, any division of hemistichs into feet is irrelevant to the metrical system of classical Gūrānī poetry.
It does not seem possible to predict when a hemistich should or should not be divided by pauses into cola. A reader is free to create additional cola by inserting or deleting pauses however he or she wants. Once again, this leads us to the conclusion that the division of hemistichs into cola is not part of the metrical system of classical Gūrānī poetry.
Although a correct reading of a classical Gūrānī poem requires the use of stresses and pauses, which then can be used to divide a poem into cola and feet, the presence of cola and feet is to a large degree arbitrary and unsystematic, and therefore they are not an essential element of the metrical system of classical Gūrānī poetry.
Nevertheless, later in the section on Kurdish and Gūrānī folk poetry, we will see that for Folk System 2, the division of lines into cola and feet is in fact part of the metrical system and that the rhythm of lines depends on the ictus that is found at the end of each foot.