Examining Despair and Hopelessness in the Poetry of Mazaher Mosaffa, Contemporary Iranian Poet

Abstract

This study investigates the themes of despair and hopelessness in the poetry of Mazaher Mosaffa, a contemporary Iranian poet. Considering the role of literature, particularly poetry, in reflecting the spiritual and social states of human beings, this research seeks to analyze the ways despair and hopelessness are represented in his poetry. The central question is: how have social, political, and personal conditions influenced the formation of these concepts in contemporary poetry, and in what style and language has each poet expressed these emotions? The main objective is to identify the common aspects in addressing despair and hopelessness and to examine the historical and individual causes influencing them. The research method is descriptive–analytical, and through the examination of selected poetic samples, themes related to hopelessness have been extracted and compared. Findings indicate that Mosaffa, with a mystical–melancholic approach, reflected hopelessness in a unique manner. The results reveal that despair in his poetry is not merely an individual feeling but also a reaction to the social and historical disorders of his era. This study further demonstrates that despite stylistic differences, common motifs such as loneliness, death-consciousness, and a sense of defeat appear in his works, reflecting the spirit of a generation of intellectuals and contemporary Iranian literati.