tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Fri Sep 29 14:23:41 2006

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<<bomDI' 'IwwIj qaqaw>>

Steven Boozer ([email protected]) 

I was doing some research for work when I came across this paragraph from 
the WikiPedia's article on the *ghazal" (an Islamic 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//wiki/Poetic_form>poetic form; cf. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghazal):


   The *ghazal* is always written from the point of view of the lover
   who is unable to attain his beloved, because either the beloved is
   just playing with the poet's feelings, or because the societal cir-
   cumstances do not allow it. The lover is aware and resigned to this
   fate, but continues loving nonetheless. It is not important to the
   lover that the beloved does not echo the same feelings towards him.
   The beloved is often portrayed in exaggerated terms, with extended
   metaphors about the "arrows of her eyes", or referring to the beloved
   as an assassin or a killer. Take for example the following couplets
   from Amir Khusro's Persian *ghazal* "Nami danam chi manzil bood shab":

Nami danam chi manzil bood shab jaay ki man boodam;
Baharsu raqs-e bismil bood shab jaay ki man boodam.
Pari paikar nigaar-e sarw qadde laala rukhsare;
Sarapa aafat-e dil bood shab jaay ki man boodam.

I wonder what was the place where I was last night,
All around me were half-slaughtered victims of love, tossing about in agony.
There was a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form and tulip-like face,
Ruthlessly playing havoc with the hearts of the lovers.
   (<http://www.alif-india.com/love.html>translated by S.A.H. Abidi)


I was particularly taken by the Klingonesque imagery of "the beloved as an 
assassin or a killer" and "half-slaughtered victims of love".  Except for 
the line about the "a nymph-like beloved with cypress-like form and 
tulip-like face", this could have come from a description of the {bang bom}:

   The {bang bom}, or love song (though a more literal, and perhaps
   telling, translation is "beloved's song") plays an important role in
   Klingon courting behavior, though exactly how it fits in depends on
   the particular tradition being followed, and this depends, for the
   most part, on the region in which one or the other of the partici-
   pants in the courtship ritual grew up.                     (KGT 78)

   Poetry plays a prominent role in Klingon mating behavior. The female
   typically roars, throws heavy objects, and claws at her partner. The
   male reads love poetry and, as Worf put it, "ducks a lot". (TKW 17)

An example of a {bang bom} was in the script for TNG "Up the Long Ladder":

   I hunt in darkness.
   The stars my guide.
   The memory of you sings in my blood.
   I seize the gift.
   Carry it to your bower.
   And lay at your feet the hearts of my enemies.

Unfortunately, we never heard Worf recite it on-screen.  One line of this 
poem has been translated:

   bomDI' 'IwwIj qaqaw
   The memory of you sings in my blood
   ("When my blood sings, I remember you"). (TKW p.17)



--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons

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