Background

With the beginning of the Iranian constitutional movement, a new vision emerged, according to which a new era has arrived that is different from all periods of national history. The intellectuals of this period believed that the era of political tyranny was over and everyone felt that a similar change should take place in the field of culture. The poets and writers of this era were looking for a new aesthetic and wanted to write a new poem that was different from the previous Persian poetry.^[13]

One of the other influential factors in the literary developments of this period was the familiarity of Iranian intellectuals with European literature. They believed that the Constitutional Revolution was similar to the French Revolution and was able to create a new atmosphere in which prominent figures could be developed who could be compared to prominent European poets and writers. Intellectuals' interest in European literature, especially French literature, led to the translation of some of the works of the great European writers of the time, such as Victor Hugo, Lamartine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Alphonse Daudet, and Chateaubriand, which influenced on the writings of many Iranian writers.^[14]

Nima Yooshij, like other modern poets before him, recognized free poetry through French and familiarity with European poetry and used it in Persian. But the main difference between Nima and other modern poets was that others were not exactly aware of the philosophy of work and composed free poetry only out of variety and novelty and the possibility of freedom of expression and, most importantly, the hidden and overt charms and scents of the West. However, as can be seen in his theoretical discussions, Nima Yooshij is deeply aware of the formation and emergence of free poetry in Iran and the world, and for this reason, he has devoted part of his time to the historical explanation of modern art.^[15]

Publication of Afsaneh and reactions

When Nima Yooshij published the poem "Afsaneh", supporters of traditional Persian poetry, who saw their beliefs as being subjected to a full-blown onslaught, stated that Persian poetry, as Iran's most revered cultural symbol, had been influenced by foreigners. In their view, the poem "Afsaneh" was a sign of cultural surrender to foreigners and would soon destroy the spirit of Iranian culture.^[16][17] The traditionalists actually believed that Yooshij and his followers were unfamiliar with the tradition and even threatened to kill him.^[18] Academics were negative about She'r-e Nimaa'i until the 1960s and refused to accept it. But the view of academic traditionalists on Nima Yooshij's theories gradually changed with the efforts of some professors who were particularly familiar with modern literary criticism. Gholam Hossein Yousefi and Mohammad Reza Shafiei Kadkani were among those who played an important role in changing the prevailing attitude in the 1960s.^[19] One of the most important opponents of She'r-e Nimaa'i was Mohammad Taqi Bahar, who considered Nima Yooshij's views completely unacceptable and remained in his opinion until his death in 1951.^[20]

On the other hand, some mostly young and novice poets, who are considered modernists today, were among the first supporters of Nima Yooshij. Among these people were Ahmad Shamlou, Esmail Shahroudi, Houshang Ebtehaj and Mehdi Akhavan Sales.^[19]

She'r-e Nimaa'i after Nima Yooshij

She'r-e Nimaa'i became very popular from the very beginning, despite opposition, and a large number of young people turned to this style. One of Yooshij's first students was Ahmad Shamlou, Shamlou, who was not yet known as a novice poet, met Nima Yooshij. But the path that Shamlou's poetic life took reached a point where he once again returned to the old forms.^[22] One of Yooshij's supporters was Siavash Kasrai, who used She'r-e Nimaa'i to write poems in support of the Tudeh Party.^[23] Parviz Natel Khanlari believed that the variants written by Shamloo and Kasrai after Nima Yooshij were not She'r-e Nimaa'i.^[21]

On the other hand, some of Nima Yooshij's followers and students tried to improve his style, such as Sohrab Sepehri and Mehdi Akhavan-Sales. Sohrab Sepehri was very influenced by Houshang Irani, but he has many elements of Nima Yooshij's poems in his works. He was a naturalist, his poetry intimate, full of pristine and fresh images that he illustrates with a soft, gentle, clean and coherent language, like the works of Nima Yooshij, especially his final poems such as "The Bell" and "Quqnūs".^[24] Water, flowers, plants, trees, grass, desert, mountains and plains come to life and move in the poems of Sohrab Sepehri. The words are alive in his poetry and all the objects of nature are heard in his words. Nima Yooshij himself grew up in nature as a child. The natural components are the ones he has experienced and interacted with, reflecting his closeness to nature, plants, flowers and birds. He considers and reflects on the various manifestations of nature, from the most obvious to the smallest and most obscure. His attention to a variety of plants, birds, animals and insects and all creatures is reminiscent of a kind of care.^[25]

Mehdi Akhavan-Sales was very much inspired by Yooshij's other aspects of poetry, social criticism. The most important thing the two have in common is that they both have a social burden or the same social orientation. In the Credit Foundation, Nima Yooshij and Akhavan-Sales are more concerned with their social views. Both also made great use of symbolism. Nima Yooshij's approach to symbolism has been influenced by European symbolism with the aim of elevating the quality and promoting the artistic aspect of poetry. It focuses on both aspects of social commitment and symbolism. Much of this difference stems from their different social attitudes.^[4][26]