Ghazal

A ghazal is a poem of self-contained couplets that all end on the same refrain word or phrase, a form from Arabic, Persian and Urdu poetry.

A ghazal has no single public domain English model that fits in a few lines, so here is how it is built. Each couplet ends on the same refrain, and just before the refrain there is a rhyme. Poets such as Hafez wrote ghazals in Persian in the fourteenth century.

What it is

A ghazal is a run of couplets, usually five or more. The second line of every couplet ends with the same refrain, called a radif, preceded by a rhyme, called a qafia. Each couplet stands alone, so the poem moves by leaps rather than a story. The last couplet traditionally includes the poet's name or signature.

How the pieces fit

Take a refrain of two words, such as "tonight again". Every second line of every couplet ends on it. The word just before it rhymes across the whole poem, so a reader hears the same ending click into place each time. Because the couplets do not depend on each other, a ghazal can jump from grief to humor to a memory without a plot. If you try one, write the refrain and the rhyme list before anything else. Everything else grows from them.

Why it matters to a writer or editor

The ghazal is a good lesson in how a refrain can hold a poem together when nothing else does. Writing one in English is harder than it looks, because the rhyme and the repeat both have to feel natural.

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce ghazal?

Most English speakers say it to rhyme with "guzzle", with a soft gh from the back of the throat, though the sounds vary by language.