About Ahmad Shamlu

Ahmad Shamlu (1925-2000) is one of the most influential figures in contemporary Persian literature, and his poetry collection Fresh Air is said to be one of the seminal texts of the post-revolution generation in Iran. A popular poet in every sense of the word, Shamlu had a major role in modernizing Persian poetry; in his work, traditional imagery and archaic language encounter ordinary people and daily life for the first time. The social and personal spheres reunite in the figure of Aida, his third wife, whose name appears in many of his poems—and to whom this poem is dedicated.