Comparison of Seven Narrations of Vamegh and Azra

Vamegh and Azra" is the name of one of Onsori's lyrical verses whose characters are known as true lovers in the Persian Literature. This work had been lost and only a few decades ago some verses were found, and with the help of the scattered entries of lexicons and other sources some aspects of the tale became clear.From Onsori's work which is in the form of couplet, 26 imitations totally different from the original, have been rendered in Persian and Turkish either in poetry or prose. The origin of narration is Greek and except the names of lovers, all places and names are also Greek. In the Sassanian era this narration was translated into Pahlavi and Syriac and in the Islamic era it was translated into Arabic.The author here tries to analyze Onsori's narration and compares it with six other versions. He specifies the quantity of similarities and differences and shows how faithful the parodists are to the origin.This comparative study can be considered as an example for studying traditional narrations especially romantic verses.