Iranian Poetry and Poets during the Constitutional Revolution

The movements of the Constitutional Revolution that had started in the Qajar Dynasty were quite influential in changing the classical Iranian poetry. In the new environment formed during the Constitutional Revolution, the topics poetry represented changed. “Edebiyat-i Bazgeşt”, namely “flashback literature”, maybe the last cycle of the classical Iranian poetry was criticized by innovative poets in this period of time because they argued that it did not reflect the truth in the society. Therefore, poets during the Constitutional Revolution period dwelled on the problems of the society by writing poems reflecting the current situation of Iran, a country dominated by other states and where the central government had lost its power. The purpose of the poetry that gained a political aspect was to demonstrate the current situation and to protest against political powers. In this period, influenced by political and ideological developments in Western countries, the poetry was on a new path. Poets, as political fighters rather than being just a poet, often supported the revolution of constitutional monarchy in the newspapers they published. Published newspapers and journals have played an important role in the change of the country. The poets generally continued their literary, intellectual and political activities within the journal or newspaper that they published or the party that they supported. In this way, they became influential on the public by easily reaching them. Poets, who were political figures rather than poets, supported the constitutional reform against the current government. In this period, the poetry underwent a formal transformation as well as gaining a political aspect. The aim of the study is to present a general idea on the aforementioned period by briefly addressing the poems and lives of remarkable poets of the period. The target audience of a study is the researchers which work on poetry and poets of the Constitutional Period in Iran, also readers who are interested in this period.