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Sohrab Sepehri
Poet / Painter
Iran
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1928, Born in Kashan, Iran
Education:
Khayam School and first part of high school "Pahlavi High School" in Kashan
Introduction college in Tehran
1946, Commenced with "Training and Education Culture Office", Kashan
1948, Resignation from "Training and Education Culture Office"
Finishing high school in "Literature" field
Faculty of Fine Arts, Tehran University
Commenced with "Oil Company", Tehran
1949, Resignation from "Oil Company"
1951, Published his first collection of poems "Color's Death"
Commenced with "Hygiene Cooperation Organization", Tehran, as designer
Collaborated in some painting exhibitions
Published his second collection of poems, "Dream's Life"
Commenced with "Fine Arts Office" in Museum Dept. and teaching in "Fine Arts School"
1955, Translated Japanese verses and published in "Sokhan" (Speech) magazine
1957, Traveled to Europe via land, Paris and London
Paris Fine Arts School: Lithography Field
1958, First Tehran Biennale
Two months travel, Rome to Paris
Venice Biennale
Returned to Iran
Commenced with "Agriculture Ministry"
1960, Second Tehran Biennale; First Prize of Fine Arts
Traveled to Tokyo to learn inlay; he visited cities and art centers of Japan
1961, He visited Agra (Taj-Mahal) in India, in his return to Iran
Individual Exhibition, Abbasi Hall, Tehran
Published collection of poems "Sun's Load"
Teaching in "Decorative Arts School", Tehran
Published collection of poems "Sorrow's East"
1962, March, Resignation from all his governmental positions
Individual exhibition in "Farhang Hall", Tehran
Again, individual exhibition in "Farhang Hall", Tehran
1963, Group exhibition in "Gil-Gamesh" gallery, Tehran
Individual exhibition in "Golestan Film Studio", Tehran
San Paolo Biennale, Brazil
Group exhibition "Iran Contemporary Art", French
Group exhibition in "Niala" gallery, Tehran
Group exhibition in "Saba" gallery, Tehran
1964, Traveled to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and returned to Iran
1965, Group exhibition in "Bourges" gallery, Tehran
Individual exhibition in "Bourges" gallery, Tehran
Published "Water's Foot Voice" poem in "Arash" magazine
Traveled to London and Munich and returned to Iran
1966, Traveled to France, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Austria and retuned to Tehran
Individual exhibition in "Seihoun" gallery, Tehran
Collection of poems "Green Volume"
"Sepehri Night Poem" in "Rozan" gallery, Tehran
1968, Group exhibition in "Mass" gallery, Tehran
"Roiane Festival", French
Iran Contemporary Art exhibition, "Goatee Institute", Tehran
Group exhibition in "Pahlavi University", Shiraz
1969, International Painting Festival, French; and won "Special Prize"
1970, Traveled to USA, Long Island
Group exhibition in Bridge Hampton City
Seven months in New York
Returned to Iran
Again, traveled to USA
1971, Individual exhibition in "Boston Gallery", New York
Retuned to Iran
Individual exhibition in "Lito Gallery", Tehran
1972, Individual exhibition in "Cyrus Gallery", French, Paris
Transferred the above exhibition to "Seihoun Gallery", Tehran
Individual exhibition in "Seihoun Gallery", Tehran
Traveled to Paris and stayed in "Arts International Hostel"
1974, Traveled to Greece and Egypt
Retuned to Iran
First Tehran International Art Exhibition
1975, Individual exhibition in "Seihoun Gallery", Tehran
1976, Iran Contemporary Art Exhibition, Switzerland
1977, Collection of poems "Eight Books"
1978, Individual exhibition in "Seihoun Gallery", Tehran
Reprinted "Eight Books"
Traveled to England for his blood cancer
Retuned to Iran
1979, April 20, deceased in Pars Hospital, Tehran
April 21, buried in Meshed Ardehal, Kashan
The Primeval Call
Translated to English by M. Alexandrian
Where are my shows?
Who was it who called Sohrab?
It was a familiar voice like the touch of the wind on the leave.
My mother is asleep
So are Manouchehr and Parvaneh* and perhaps all the townsfolk.
The June night passes gently over seconds like an elegy,
And a cool breeze from the corner of the blanket sweeps my sleep.
It smells of separation:
My pillow is full of the song of the swallow plumes.
Morning shall break,
The sky will migrate
With this cup of water.
I must go tonight!
I who spoke to the folk in this region through the widest window,
Never heard a word that matched time;
No loving eye stared at the ground;
Nobody was enchanted by looking at the garden,
Nobody took a magpie seriously at a farm.
I am dejected like a cloud.
When I behold Houri - the neighbor's full grown lass -
Studying theology
At the foot of the rarest elm tree on earth.
There are other things also - moments of exaltation
(For example I saw a poetess
So absorbed watching the horizon
That the sky laid eggs in her eyes;
And one night out of other nights,
A man questioned me:
"How long does it take to the rising of grapes?)
Tonight I must go!
I must take a suitcase
Big enough to contain my shirt of loneliness
And walk in a direction
Where epic-singing trees can be seen;
Towards the vast wordless expanse which keeps calling me.
Someone called me again: Sohrab!,
Where are my shoes?
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