The challenge of the relationship between form and content shows itself differently in poetry and prose. Regarding the poetry, the fans of the old poetry stressed the authentic rules of rhyme, rhythm, and rhetoric which were shaped through centuries
[T]hose whose conception of poetry was being violated began to frame the argument in terms of poetry as a highly cherished symbol of cultural purity being threatened by “foreign” influences and “alien” concepts. To them, the new poetry was a highly visible sign of cultural capitulation because it violated the “spirit” of the Persian language and Iranian culture. They saw the kind of poetry written by Nima and his young followers as evidence of their unfamiliarity with a glorious tradition which they imagined as embodying that spirit (Karimi-Hakkak