Drunkenness

In using figurative language in poetry, instead of direct and precise words, an author is able to help the reader in visualizing what they mean as well as understanding the feeling and point they are trying to get across in certain lines of their work. In Hafez’s poem, ‘Ode 487’, the line that stood out to me the most was the line, “If you would reach your daily destination, /The holy city of intoxication.”. This metaphor creates the feeling that the act of getting drunk, resembles a journey. He also adds to the metaphor by stating that intoxication is a ‘holy city’, which to me gives the impression of a glorious and heavenly place, which is what he is insinuating being drunk is. By stating ‘holy city’ he only refers to the positive connotation of being drunk, which allows the reader to see his perspective on intoxication and prevent us from missing his point of the fact that he believes drunkenness is something positive. This start of the poem makes one realize that the whole poem is about Hafez and his drunkenness. Yet the other metaphor that stands out to me is where he states “Well, HAFIZ, Life’s a riddle – give it up: /There is no answer to it but this cup.” He uses a metaphor about life, insinuating life is confusing and hard to comprehend, but at the ends, claims the answer is in ‘this cup’. This poem starts off by insinuating that drinking is this wonderful journey, by using positive connotation, yet ends with a shift to claim that it is the only answer in life. In the end Hafez makes it seem like drinking is something he must do, in order to find the understand his own life.

Emily Mayo