[Jean L. Kreiling]

Colleagues—

Despite my initial resistance to the ghazal, I recently found myself inclined to try it—but my first stab at it has raised questions that my research hasn’t quite answered. And I guess I’m looking not so much for right answers, but for the opinions of informed readers like yourselves.

1. Much of what I read about the form, and most of the examples I’ve seen, suggest that a ghazal has to have a serious, possibly even sentimental tone. Would a light, or even flippant, ghazal be disrespectful to the tradition?

2. I understand that each couplet should be “independent,” but to what extent, and how essential is that restriction to the integrity of the form? Most, but not all, of the ghazals I’ve seen are non-narrative and non-linear, nearly meditative, and I wonder if my inclination to create a sense of forward movement, an almost-narrative momentum, would meet with resistance among informed readers.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Best,
Jean