The Poetics of Shalva Amirejibi’s Dedicatory Poems

Abstract

Most dedicatory poems by the Georgian émigré poet Shalva Amirejibi employ established European and Eastern forms. Poems from Enamels (Blue Enamels) are addressed to his muse and wife, Veriko Anjaparidze. The ghazal Hazal comprises seven stanzas in high shairi (4/4, 2/4/2). The sonnet Manana Orbeliani, written in classical Besiki meter (5/4/5), uses abab/abba rhyme schemes and concludes with a sonnet key again invoking Veriko, possibly prompting Lado Asatiani’s pairing of names. On the Death of Kote Afkhazi reshapes the sonnet form through three quatrains and a three-line key, affirming Amirejibi’s role in modern Georgian poetic reform.