Semantics of “Love” in Sa’di’s and Hafez’s Lyrics within the Framework of Cognitive Semantics and Perceptual Critics

Present research is an attempt to take a semantic look at the concept “love” in the writings of two great Persian poets; Sa’di and Hafez within the framework of conceptual literary critics. Authors have been trying to find answers for these questions: What is/are difference(s) of Sa’di and Hafez’s look at the concept “love”, and what is the justification for this(these) difference(s) in the framework of literary critics? To find answers for these questions, authors have examined conceptual metaphors and similes in the investigated lyrics of these two poets. Authors have also tried to find answers for these questions: which poet’s lyrics contain more fancy? And what is/are the difference(s) of mappings which each poet has used in his lyrics due to diversity of conceptual metaphors and similes and their emotional meaning? To find answers for these questions, one percent of Sa’di’s and one percent of Hafez’s lyrics have been gathered accidentally in order to investigate conceptual metaphors and similes used in them and in order for the authors to be able to investigate the lyrics from a structuralist point of view in the first step. Investigations have shown Sa’di’s lyrics contain more fancy and he has had a positive look at “love” compared with Hafez who has had a negative look at this concept. These findings have been justified in the article.