The Homeland's an Ocean

‘Like the whirlpool, still center of a giddy circling,

the homeland’s an ocean that scatters us in all directions.’
Mir Taqi Mir (1723–1810)

Mir, one of the greatest Urdu poets, lived through extraordinarily turbulent times in a Delhi besieged by marauders, and in exile elsewhere in North India. By the time he died, aged eighty-seven, he had witnessed a long era of violence and chaos. Yet, through it all, he crafted the most exquisite poetry, shaping the Urdu language from the resources of Khari Boli, Persian and Brajbhasha. A thoughtful selection of 150 of his asha’ar or couplets by Ranjit Hoskote, The Homeland’s an Ocean reveals a far more political Mir than we know, a many-sided poet of melancholia, irreverent humor, love and audacious social vision. Hoskote’s fresh, contemporary translation brings Mir’s poetry back to a world that needs such a passionately urgent voice. Framed by the translator’s substantial introduction to Mir’s life and his literary, linguistic and political contexts, this book invites readers to look through a unique eighteenth-century lens at our current crises of homeland, identity and belonging.