For more classic poetry, we recommend The Oxford Book of English Verse – perhaps the best poetry anthology on the market. Continue to explore the world of poetry with our tips for the close reading of poetry, these must-have poetry anthologies, and these classic poems about horses. a b c d e The Conference of the Birds by Attar, edited and translated by Sholeh Wolpé, W. W. Norton & Co 2017 ISBN 0393292193 As an opening line for a nineteenth-century poem, ‘By what mistake were pigeons made so happy’ stands out for its directness, its sheer oddness, and its unusual choice of subject-matter (doves in poetry, why yes; pigeons? Um…). James Henry (1798-1876) was overlooked during his lifetime and it was only more than a century after his death that his work was discovered. ‘Pigeons’ offers something very different from Henry’s contemporaries, whether Keats or Tennyson or even Browning. Heilpern, John (1978)[1977]. Conference of the Birds. The Bobs Merrill Company, Inc. ISBN 0-672-52489-9

Masani, R. P. (tr.) (2001), Conference of the Birds: A Seeker's Journey to God, Weiser Books, ISBN 1609252233 .Farid Ud-Din-Attar, The Conference of The Birds - Mantiq Ut-Tair, English Translation by Charles Stanley Nott, First published 1954 by The Janus Press, London, Reissued by Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, 1961, ISBN 0-7100-1032-X Valley of Unity, where the Wayfarer realizes that everything is connected and that the Beloved is beyond everything, including harmony, multiplicity, and eternity. Wolpé further writes: "The book is meant to be not only instructive but also entertaining." [3] English translations [ edit ]

Sholeh Wolpe's stage adaptation of The Conference of the Birds was premiered by Inferno Theatre and Ubuntu Theater Project (now Oakland Theater Project), in Oakland California in November 2018. [6] Illustrations [ edit ] The Conference of the Birds or Speech of the Birds ( Arabic: منطق الطیر, Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr, also known as مقامات الطیور Maqāmāt-uṭ-Ṭuyūr; 1177) [1] is a Persian poem by Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar, commonly known as Attar of Nishapur. The title is taken directly from the Qur’an, 27:16, where Sulayman ( Solomon) and Dāwūd ( David) are said to have been taught the language, or speech, of the birds ( manṭiq al-ṭayr). Attar’s death, as with his life, is subject to speculation. He is known to have lived and died a violent death in the massacre inflicted by Genghis Khan and the Mongol army on the city of Nishapur in 1221, when he was seventy years old. [2] Synopsis [ edit ]

In the poem, the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their sovereign, as they have none. The hoopoe, the wisest of them all, suggests that they should find the legendary Simorgh. The hoopoe leads the birds, each of whom represents a human fault which prevents humankind from attaining enlightenment. Leaving aside Baudelaire's "The Albatross", a Dafydd ap Gwilym poem and some Scots, Armitage and Dee have chosen not to venture beyond English, which is a pity. Australia and New Zealand too might have been more richly represented. Where birds, not poets, are concerned, I was sorry not to see a poem on the bittern, an elusive enough bird as it is without it going missing from anthologies too: Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna's "An Bonnán Buí" ("The Yellow Bittern") is a beautiful song available in English versions by Seamus Heaney and others, and would have suited this book perfectly. Irish poet Caitríona O'Reilly's name is unfortunately misspelled throughout. In modern poetry, birds have been just as visible – and not simply as ornament. Ted Hughes found in birds the symbols of his own concerns, first in the shining, terrible, power of The Hawk in the Rain whose "wings hold all creation in a weightless quiet" and later going as far as to forge his own gospel story in Crow.