ABSTRACT
If we consider that the word anāshīd is not synonymous with the word aghānī [“songs”] then there is nothing wrong with allowing it for consideration first as a translation of the word “sonnets” and second as a translation of the word “songs.” 2 Anāshīd, then, is the demarcation we will utilize hereafter. However, we prefer a literal translation, and so it pleases us to speak of Shakespeare’s sūnītāt, because the sonnet is ordered according to a special pattern and has various alternating rhymed couplets not exceeding fourteen lines. Fourteen lines, though, is the length for which it is best known, as well as for its basis in love and high, emotional themes, which attract to it litterateurs and cultured people. While ughniya [“song”] is usually a small musical form formulated to please the tuned ear, it is not often intended to provoke thought, but for recreation and general musical interest. 3 Therefore, song is beloved by the masses, while the sonnet is the joy of the educated.
