Poetry

Literature

The Rise of Poetry Therapy in Eleventh Century China

How did literati manage their mental health in middle period China? Melancholy, depression, and down moods were as common among them as among us today. In the absence of antidepressants and therapists, how did they get out of low spirits and regain mental balance?

Jiyan Ilbrink • 19-09-2025

Cultural History · Art History · Literature

Verdwenen Mongoolse paleizen en Perzische poëzie: tegels van de Ilkhanieden

Verspreid over musea wereldwijd vindt men versierde tegels uit Iran, waarvan vele afkomstig zijn uit Mongoolse gebouwen. Op de tegels zien we vaak verzen in het Perzisch. Wat is de context van de tegels en wat betekende het Perzisch voor de Mongolen?

Gabrielle van den Berg • 30-05-2025

Cultural History · Literature

Where is Gogo? Friendship and poetry at the Austrasian court

In a poem, Venantius Fortunatus wonders where his friend Gogo could be. The answers reveal the activities and friends of an Austrasian magnate in sixth-century northern Gaul.

Jip Barreveld • 24-07-2020

Literature

There was a Door to which I found no Key

The quatrains of Omar Khayyam, in Edward FitzGerald’s adaptation, have a special appeal worldwide. In this blog, the English adaptation of one of the most popular quatrains is compared to the original Persian. How has Khayyam’s worldview been translated?

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • 31-08-2018

Literature

The Moving Finger: Glimpses into the Life of a Persian Quatrain

How did the Rubáiyát attributed to the medieval philosopher Omar Khayyam find its way on board of the R.M.S. Titanic, into a parody of Mark Twain, and even into a speech of President Bill Clinton?

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • 13-04-2018

Cultural History

#MeToo in Persian poetry

#MeToo may be seen as a new phenomenon, but there are many examples in medieval Islamic literature of sexual harassment and women who defend their rights and personal integrity.

Asghar Seyed Gohrab • 24-11-2017

Blogs

The Rise of Poetry Therapy in Eleventh Century China

Verdwenen Mongoolse paleizen en Perzische poëzie: tegels van de Ilkhanieden

Where is Gogo? Friendship and poetry at the Austrasian court

There was a Door to which I found no Key

The Moving Finger: Glimpses into the Life of a Persian Quatrain

#MeToo in Persian poetry