Review: The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing

The Book of Love: Poems of Ecstasy and Longing by Jalaluddin Rumi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read Rumi first in my Middle Eastern Literature class at Mercyhurst. I really loved his poetry and bought this then to read. It took a few (like 7) years, but I finally got around to it.

I liked it! I didn't love it as much as I remember loving his poetry (although I read a different collection so maybe I liked that one better), but it was still good. There were a few gems.

Here are a few of my favorites:

"People want you to be happy.
Don't keep serving them your pain!
If you could untie your wings
and free your soul of jealousy,
you and everyone around you
would fly up like doves."

"If you love love,
look for yourself."

"You left the ground and sky weeping,
mind and soul full of grief.

No one can take your place in existence
or in absence . . ." (This poem about grief really got to me. It was longer than I wanted to post, but this was the beginning of it).

And finally:

"The minute I heard my first love story
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.
They're in each other all along."

Much of Rumi is so good. However, I kept reading it in small doses because I wasn't really in the mood for it. Still, it was a great collection and I hope to read more by him in the future!

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