A Theory of " Broken Verse," from Victor Hugo to

In 1301/1922, the first section of NimāYushij’sAfsāneh appeared in MirzādehʿEshqi’s weekly journal Qarn-e bistom. It came with a preface that showcased Nimā’s elaborate reflection on the modernization of Persian poetry. In his preamble, Nimā referred to the form of Afsāneh as a “drama” (namāyesh), a term foreign to the Persian poetic lexicon of the time. Where he dissented from theclassical rules of poetic composition, the author explained, it was to bring poetry closer to the pace of “natural” language. In his preface, Nimā vows to bring Afsāneh to the stage and to further engage in “drama” composition in the future. In practice, however, Afsāneh never made it to the stage, and was never considered theatre by the public. In his later work, Nimā himself only refers to Afsāneh as a “poem” (sheʿr or manzumeh) and drops the term “drama” altogether, in spite of his pledge. The present article aims to explore the composition of Afsāneh, Nimā’s initial reference to “drama” and the theory he advocates for this “new” form. On this issue, I establish the influence of the French romantic poet Victor Hugo on Nimā’s “modern” theory of “broken verse.” As I argue, the notion of “drama” mainly served the poet of Afsāneh as a medium to introduce the technique of “broken verse” into Persian.