100 Forms of Poetry: #34 Ghazal Poetry

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Fit like a glove

When I was young I found true love
A love so strong it fit like a glove

My mind was happy as can be
With nothing wrong, it fit like a glove

And even now, my second time
Like a favorite song it fit like a glove

My hope is that my daughter finds
Love lasting long and fit like a glove

If everyone in the world could see
Love in this throng can fit like a glove

©2023 CBialczak

The lines of a ghazal are all the same length but there is no single rhyme scheme, in English, that has to be used. In the first couplet, the writing brings in a rhyme scheme with both lines rhyming. this is then followed by every other couplet in which the second line rhymes with the lines of the first couplet. Each couplet ends with the same word or phrase (known as the radif) in some versions. This word or phrase is preceded by the rhyming word, known as the qafia. (This is the word that appears twice in the first couplet and then once in every couplet after).

6 comments

  1. I listened to ghazals in Urdu a long time ago. And the audience kept going bwah bwah at key lines. Think you have explained this to me now! Poetry and poets were very important in Pakistan and India with incredible Urdu literary geniuses.

    Liked by 1 person

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