The Conference of the Birds

Why do you think the poem is structured the way it is? How would a different translation alter one’s reading of the poem (for example, if the poem was not translated in rhyming couplets)? How would this change your reading of the poem, particularly your ability to distinguish between the speaker in the story and the author of the poem? Why are heroic couplets used in a poem that is essentially about breaking social conventions? 

Attar uses the poetic device of anaphora, the repetition of a word or phrase over a few lines or passages, consistently throughout The Conference of the Birds. How is this device employed in each of the passages? How does Attar’s use of anaphora affect the passage where it appears, the story it appears in, and/or the poem as a whole?

As with many epic poems, several allegorical figures appear throughout the narrative. The most recurrent of these characters are Joseph, King Mahmoud, and the slave Ayaz. Choose one of these characters and make an argument for why they appear so often and in so many different contexts.