Ghalib Reading Questions

What connection do you see between the romantic and the divine in these poems? Why do you think Ghalib makes these connections?

How would you compare Ghalib’s descriptions of and relationship to the divine with Emily Dickinson’s?

These poems often address a “you.” Who is addressed in each of these poems? Does it shift throughout the course of the poem?

Read the description of the “ghazal” form in the introduction (589). “I’ve Made My Home Next Door to You,” “It Was Essential,” and “My Tongue Begs for the Power of Speech” are all written in the ghazal form. How does his use of this highly structured form influence the meaning of the poems?