Kabir: Ecstatic Poems

Only a poet could translate another poet. Bly makes the 14th century Indian poet come alive in English!

Check out his "Ecstatic Poems" translated by Robert Bly. They will make the spirit more refined and fun to be around.

Poetic evocation of personal experienceConcisely and beautifully writtenHighly inspirational to discoverers of inner treasureA gem among books

A thought-provoking read with incredible philosophy behind it, filled with beautiful poetry and art. I read it for a university class, and I wish my university offered more classes on Hindu and other Indian beliefs. Something everyone in the world needs to read at least once.

The versions are okay. Not as good as Tagore. Also, this is not a translation, but a rewrite of Tagore's work, so Bly's arrogance hurts the poetry.

This is my first introduction to Kabir's poetry and I enjoyed it very much.

His poems are short and enigmatic. They bear repetition and pondering. Like Rumi, he is able to pierce to he heart of a deep subject with humor, beautiful metaphor and keen insight. He sometimes like to be a bit shocking, poking fun at established (and perhaps sacred) icons. For me his playfulness lightens up things.

I can practically hear Robert reading these aloud in his inimitable way... Very cool book

I bought this knowing it was a new edition of Robert Bly's translations of Kabir. The old edition had 44 poems in it, and they are ones that I love, speaking of a joyous spirituality that loves life and warns against excessive asceticism, and even fundamentalism stating:"when deep inside you there is a loaded gun, how can you have God?"Kabir's message to judge from these poems is about being true to yourself rather than being wrapped up in others.The book here is an expanded edition of Robert Bly's previous book of Kabir versions. They are based on Rabindranath Tagore's English translations (that are, in fact, translations of Hindi originals translated into Bengali) which Bly found to be "hopeless" and so tried to rearrange. As he states there may be distortions, but these are poems that offer a certain types of spiritual and emotional consolation rather like the poems of Rumi- which Bly played a major part in publicising in the USA.Readers who have enjoyed those and the Rumi translations by Coleman Barks will surely enjoy the poems here. Bly has also written a forward explaining who Kabir was. However, there is also a critical essay at the end of this book by John Stratton Hawley comparing these versions with the originals and linking them and Bly into the American transcendental tradition of Emerson. Thus those of us, including me, who know little about Kabir are well served in getting an introduction. The poems themselves are a delight that I return too often.

Kabir has interesting poetry. The translation wonderful, and book is wonderful but I just don't seem to connect with Kabir as I did with Rumi. If you love Rumi you might be disappointed in Kabir. Kabir does have brilliant moments but I didn't find his poetry as inspiring or uplifting as Rumi. The book also is surprisingly short, I could also easily read all the poems in an hour ... I was looking for something more extensive like Rumi essentials, that has a fair bit of material in it.