Coleman Barks: Rumi poems, a great voice and a cello
I was sad to hear this week of the death of Coleman Barks earlier this year. An American teacher and poet, he is best known for his translations and interpretations of Rumi poems.
I already loved Rumi poems before I came across Barks’ work. And some of you may have noticed that the title of this website is a play on the first words of Rumi’s ‘The Guest House‘.
In her post-death tribute to Barks, author Elizabeth Lesser recalled how another poet (Robert Bly) introduced him to Rumi’s poems in 1976 and encouraged him to ‘release them from their cages’. That is, make them more accessible and available. He certainly did all that.
Barks’ ‘Bridge to the Soul: Journeys into the Music and Silence of the Heart’ was a collection of 90 new poems to mark the 800th anniversary of Rumi’s birth. Published in 2007, and dedicated to Bly, I was given a copy by a friend in 2018.
On the inside cover, Barks writes: ‘Rumi quickens the grief and the delight of being alive. He celebrates the glory and the indignity’. The double-sidedness of life. Which we HSPs can relate to – the joys and the challenges.
My happiest memories of Barks’ work are of sitting in the early morning sun at the top of Braid Hill, drinking in the view over Edinburgh, across to Fife and along to East Lothian. Waking up with the day.
And listening to one of his poems called ‘A Holiday Without Limits’. It’s from a CD collection called ‘Just Being Here: Rumi and Human Friendship’. Poems written and read by Barks, accompanied by a cello played by his friend, David Darling.
A sonorous voice and a sonorous instrument. A really beautiful combination.
I particularly love this line from the poem: ‘I felt a holiday without limits where once was just a person’. It’s a celebration of friendship and its capacity to bring joy. Infinitely.
At this moment in history, it’s poignant to reflect on the fact that Barks, an American, was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2006 by Iran’s University of Tehran in recognition of his contributions to the field of Rumi translations.
But back to Rumi and Barks and Darling. Reading off the page is pleasing , hearing it beautifully spoken and played is delightful. Aesthetic pleasure for this HSP’s senses. And calming too.
So thanks for what you’ve left with us, Coleman. I will keep letting it land.
