Lyric Poem · Grief
The Song of the Reed (opening lines)
by Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) · translated by E. H. Whinfield
Hearken to the reed-flute, how it complains,
Lamenting its banishment from its home:
“Ever since they tore me from my osier bed,
My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears.”
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“The Song of the Reed (opening lines)” by Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī) — quilloak.com/poems/rumi-song-of-the-reed
Quick facts
- Poem
- The Song of the Reed (opening lines)
- Poet
- Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)
- Length
- 4 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Grief, Life, Inspirational
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 4 lines · one 4-line stanza
- Line length
- Lines run 10-12 syllables (median 11). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
The translation is treated as a separate work and reviewed from the cited historical edition.
- Author record
- Rumi (Jalāl al-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī)1207–1273
- Source record
- Cited historical translationThe Song of the Reed (opening lines); Masnavi-i Ma'navi (abridged translation), 1887
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- Masnavi-i Ma'navi (abridged translation), 1887
- Translation
- E. H. Whinfield
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 af423bed5d18561d…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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