Incorporates poems that trace the development of the relationship among the lover, the beloved, and love, in Shamlu's poetry. The selection includes poems that go back to the beginning of Shamlu's career when he was still experimenting with language and style in search of his own poetic voice. The chapters preceding the poems in translation, provide some insight into the life of Shamlu as well as his poetry. This work has valuable scholarly and pedagogic implications. While it is a contribution to the scholarship on the work of Shamlu, it also provides a concise translated collection that can be useful for students of Persian language and literature. This work can also serve as a textbook for courses in comparative and Persian literatures. Considering the growing interest in Persian poetry during the recent years, this book will further be of interest for audiences beyond speakers of Persian. Keeping these points in mind, Arthur Lane and Firoozeh Papan-Matin have translated the poems such that any reader, regardless of their language background, could grasp the original intent of the poetry and experience it as would a reader of Persian. The methodology has been to follow the original poetry as far as possible; where this proved awkward or obscure the translators have been guided by the rhythms and idiomatic usages of Modern English. Consequently a reader who is not familiar with the Persian language and its cultural intricacies will be nonetheless equipped to appreciate this poetry and its sublime qualities.