In the long history of world poetry, a few poets—often because they were far ahead of their time—were neglected, ostracized, and even hated during their lifetimes, and the importance of their poetry was only belatedly recognized and appreciated. Walt Whitman is a notable case in point. While not properly appreciated in his lifetime, his poetry was received warmly in the twentieth century not only in the U.S. but also around the world, and his absorption into other languages and cultures—from Germany to Brazil to Italy to China to France and beyond—has been the subject of numerous books and essays over the past twenty-five years. Now we can add Iran to the list.
