SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
Ad § 27 In this paragraph it is stated that the vazn e motaqareb "is probably the rhythm most frequently met with in Persian poetry". This is of course a perfectly subjective judgement. How often a particular reader meets with this or that rhythm, depends upon what type of poetry and which authors he reads. It is therefore not possible to say which rhythm is the one most frequently met with. One could have recourse to statistics. Elwell-Sutton (pp. 145-167) has an interesting Statistical Survey o.f Use o.f Metres. According to him the twelve commonest metres are: 1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. II. 12.
4.1.15 4.7.14 2.4.15 3.1.15 4.5.11 2.1.16 3.3.14 2.1.11 2.4.11 5.1.10 4.7.7(2) I LUI
(bahr e mojtass §§ 228-229) (bahr e mozareli §§ 237-238) (bahr e ramal e mosamman §§ 199-200) (bahr e ramal e maxbim §§211-212) (bahr e xqlfl§§230-232) (bohr e hazaj e mosamman §§ 191-193) (bahr e hazaj e axrab e makfof e mohzul §§ 220-222) (bahr e hazaj e mosaddas §§ 194-196) (bahr e ramal e mosaddas §§ 201-203) (bohr e hazaj e axrab e maqbuz e mahzuJ §§ 252-253) (bahr e mozareli e axrab va salem § 240) (bahr e motaqareb §§ 178-183)
It is seen that vazn e motaqareb occupies only the twelfth position. According to Elwell-Sutton (p. 162) it accounts for only I.g:~ of the total. However, in Elwell-Sutton's statistics a poem is a poem and length does not count. sahniim~ does not carry more weight than any short qazal. Interesting though they be, these statistics cannot tell us which rhythm is most frequently met with. In a statistical analysis of the entire Persian poetic literature, counting the actual number of lines occurring of each rhythm, the masnavi-metres would certainly move up and vazn e motaqareb would probably top the list, but this too would not decide which rhythm is the one most commonly met I Elwell-Sutton has 4.7.15, obviously a misprint.