Poetry of Protest: A Pillar of Struggle in Iran and Around the World S. Rouzbeh ۱۴۰۴/۰۶/۱۶ From classical poets to modern voices, Persian poetry has given expression to protest, resistance and solidarity, and has played a central role in Iran’s social movements. S. Rouzbeh – More than any other art in Iran’s history, Persian literature has entered the hearts and minds of the people. Since ancient times, poetry has served not only as an art of beauty and lyricism, but also as a medium for expressing ideas, protest and solidarity. From Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh to Hafez’s ghazals and Bahar’s odes, Iranians have expressed their sorrow and hope, anger and resistance through poetry. Thanks to its rhythm, metre and concision, poetry strikes the heart more than any other form of language. The moment words become music, speech becomes bound to collective memory. When a group cries out a poem or slogan together, ‘individual fear’ gives way to ‘collective courage’. That is why, in every social movement in Iran, poetry and slogans have been the beating heart of protest. Why did poetry become political in Iran? Persian poetry has always carried messages on two levels: romantic and social, mystical and political. Its rhythm and ambiguity made it possible to convey the central message to its audience even under the shadow of censorship. In Iranian culture, the poet is a respected figure; their words carry legitimacy and are quickly etched into people’s memories. For this reason, poetry has been a low-cost yet effective weapon: a language of protest and a tool for solidarity. A historical look at protest poetry in Iran A) From the classical era to the Safavids • In the Golestan and Bustan, Saadi warned rulers against tyranny: ‘A king who lays the foundations of oppression / uproots the foundations of his own realm.’ • Hafez mocked religious hypocrisy: ‘The preachers who make such a show in the pulpit and the prayer niche / do something quite different when they are alone.’ • With biting satire in ‘The Mouse and the Cat’, Ubayd Zakani exposed political and religious corruption. B) The Constitutional Revolution and the dawn of political modernity • Aref Qazvini turned his songs into a call for freedom: ‘From the blood of the young of our homeland, tulips have sprung.’ • Malek al-Shoara Bahar wrote odes against despotism: ‘O white demon, with your feet in chains / O dome of the world, O Damavand.’ • Farrokhi Yazdi was imprisoned for his fierce words and died there. • Mirzadeh Eshqi, poet and journalist, was assassinated because of his political poetry. C) The Pahlavi era • By breaking with traditional forms, Nima Yushij made poetry a language of social expression. • The poetry of Ahmad Shamlou and Mehdi Akhavan-Sales became protest manifestos. • By breaking gender taboos, Forough Farrokhzad brought poetry into the arena of women’s struggle. (c) The Islamic Republic • Saeed Soltanpour, poet and director, was executed in 1981. • During the 1998 chain murders, Mohammad Mokhtari and Mohammad-Ja‘far Pouyandeh lost their lives. • Simin Behbahani became a symbol of resistance through her socially engaged ghazals. • Baktash Abtin, a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association, died in Evin Prison. • Poets of the new generation, including Fatemeh Ekhtesari, Mehdi Mousavi and Yaghma Golrouei, were arrested. • In the 2022 uprising, Shervin Hajipour, with “Baraye”, and Mehdi Yarrahi, with “Rusari To”, turned poetry into a collective anthem. Tomaj Salehi, too, became the voice of the streets through his raps. Protest slogans: street poetry Street slogans in Iran are, in effect, short protest poems: simple, rhythmic and easy to repeat. Their metre and rhythm mean that they quickly lodge in people’s minds and can be sung in unison by a crowd. It is this quality that turns a slogan into a kind of living, collective poetry. Poetic features of protest slogans 1. Metre and rhythm: most slogans are composed in patterns of six to ten syllables, like lines of poetry. 2. Rhyme or repetition: the presence of a refrain and rhyme (“No… no…”, “My life be sacrificed for…”) draws listeners into joining in. 3. Brevity and a direct message: like a line of poetry, a slogan is short but carries great weight of meaning. 4. The ability to be chanted collectively: a slogan must work when shouted in unison, like a hymn or a two-line poem. Street slogans are, in fact, a short and immediate form of poetry: • “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon / My life be sacrificed for Iran” is a two-line poem with a clear rhyme. • “Death to the dictator” is a forceful line of complete brevity. • “Woman, Life, Freedom” is a rhythmic three-part phrase. • “All these years of crimes / Death to this rule” — a protest couplet. • “Independence, freedom, Iranian republic” — a reworking of the 1979 slogan. • “I’ll kill, I’ll kill / the one who killed my brother” — a slogan with the structure of a lament. These slogans show that people instinctively shape their protests in a poetic, rhythmic form so that they resonate more deeply with individuals and the crowd. Why does poetry inspire courage? 1. Cultural roots: The Iranian mind is nurtured by poetry from childhood. From a mother’s lullaby to school songs, Iranian children hear everything in poetic form. As a result, their unconscious minds grow accustomed to rhythm and rhyme. 2. Musical power: Rhythm and rhyme create passion and excitement. The metre and melody of poetry affect emotions directly; like music, they bring the heartbeat into time. Protest slogans are poetic for the same reason: when a crowd chants them, rhythm acts like a war drum and raises the intensity. 3. Concision and imagery: Poetry conveys a complete meaning in just a few words. It is brief and creates a complete image in a few words; this makes it easy to memorise and quick to spread. A couplet or slogan can distil an entire ideology or protest (“Woman, Life, Freedom”) or (“Man, Homeland, Prosperity”). 4. Layered meanings: Poetry can be read as love poetry and as political verse. It can carry several meanings: romantic on the surface, political underneath. This very ambiguity both evades censorship and draws the audience in further. When readers discover the hidden meaning for themselves, they feel greater solidarity and courage. 5. Psychological and social function: Singing together transforms individual fear into collective courage. In difficult moments, poetry dispels the feeling of “loneliness”. When a group recites a poem or slogan together, it creates a sense of solidarity. This psychological bond turns individual courage into collective courage, because each person sees that they are not alone. A global example of the success of protest poetry Protest poetry is not confined to Iran. In Portugal (1974), the song “Grândola, Vila Morena” signalled the start of the Carnation Revolution, and the dictatorship fell. In Poland in the 1980s, the anthem “The Walls” became a slogan of the Solidarity movement. In South Africa, the poetry of Dennis Brutus formed part of the culture of resistance to apartheid. In the Philippines, the poem-song “Bayan Ko” became an anthem of protest against the Marcos dictatorship. In Tunisia in 2011, a verse by Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi inspired the squares. In Sudan in 2019, a poetry reading by Alaa Salah became a symbol of the revolution. These examples show that when poetry is accompanied by organisation and media, it can help bring down dictators. Conclusion Throughout Iran’s history, poetry has been a pillar of protest and solidarity. From Saadi and Hafez to Shamloo and Simin Behbahani, and from Aref Qazvini to Shervin Hajipour, poets and slogans have been able to bring people into the streets and plant courage in their hearts. Poetry has also remained a pillar of protest and a key to unity. Street slogans, too, continue this tradition: living poems born in the streets that strengthen solidarity. Today, more than ever, Iranian society needs poems that can become collective slogans, whether in the form of satire and metaphor or in direct songs. For poetry, more than any other language, touches people’s hearts, creates hope and inspires courage. A song, too, requires a poem to be written and then set to music. Just as poems once became the voice of the people, today they must keep the feeling of unity and hope alive by creating new poems and slogans. For liberation is near, and the end of tyranny depends on this very solidarity and collective voice. Sources: * Encyclopaedia Iranica — entries on Farrokhi Yazdi and Mirzadeh Eshqi * Reports by PEN America and Iran Human Rights on the repression of poets (Saeed Soltanpour, Baktash Abtin) * The New Yorker, British Council and PBS on the role of poetry in global protests * Reputable news sources on the 2022 protests and protest songs (Shervin Hajipour, Mehdi Yarrahi, Toomaj Salehi) * Poems by Saadi, Hafez, Obeyd Zakani, Iraj Mirza, Aref Qazvini and Malek-o-Shoara Bahar Source: https://srouzbeh.com/en/posts/archive-5f31c781-9a87-c360-2f36-ed628db5327d Please credit the author and link to this edition.