Hi Everybody!
2. Choose one of themes Darwish presents and discuss it.
Due Dates:
Initial blog: Before class on Monday, October 8 .
Response to peer: Before class on Wednesday, October 10
Feedback:
I will be posting feedback randomly to one-third of the class. Next time I will post feedback to another third and so on.
Well, maybe it's time to give you a break. I thought this time around we would do a different type of text that is shorter but very meaningful As you are told in the headnotes, Darwish is considered as a Palestinian national poet. His poem then speaks of his homeland, Palestine. You will have the option of two types of writing here. Choose one of these. Then reply to one of your peers and provide feedback. Choose someone that has not received feedback.
1. Write a poem similar to Darwish's in which you tackle one similar problem using metaphors. It does not have to be long. You should talk about your homeland and discuss something with which you have issues. You do not have to be a poet to write this. Just spill out what you feel in a different form from the one we have been dealing with.2. Choose one of themes Darwish presents and discuss it.
Due Dates:
Initial blog: Before class on Monday, October 8 .
Response to peer: Before class on Wednesday, October 10
Feedback:
I will be posting feedback randomly to one-third of the class. Next time I will post feedback to another third and so on.
I decided to write a poem and here it is. It's pretty straightforward unlike the original poem. I felt the original poem had too many metaphors and can become slightly confusing, so I focused on one metaphor mainly:
ReplyDeleteShisha Clouds
There is a storm arising from the calm
And yet the wind only sways the palms
And gently stirs our shisha clouds
While the earth shakes and trembles
The ignorant youth only fumble
And enjoy their shisha clouds
While dark clouds rumble with revolution
The murky skies of Beirut offer no solution
And they linger, our shisha clouds
While the night’s ink black wings cover the skies
Remnants of the sun, the ripened orange, glint and make us strain our eyes
And it is bathed in the shisha clouds
My mind is made heavy by the billowing shisha clouds
The cries for a decent world are lost in them
The laziness of our generation, how we fail to make a sound
Silenced by television, silenced by our indecision
How long before we break our innate vow of silence?
Maybe when the night comes
For the sky is falling and the wind is calling
Either live for something or die in the morning
Indecision is the devil and it courts us like a mistress
Nehme obviously you write poetry in your free time? This is very nicely written. It puts into words much of what many of us feel when we see people glued to their chairs sucking away at their suck away at their shishas and waste their lives away. I enjoyed reading this. Could you tell me whether this was an earlier creation? Do you write often?
DeleteIs the shift in style in the last stanza intentional?
Well done Nehme! :)
Wowwww Nehme! That really was an amazing poem! I love the metaphors you used, they're so clever! All the ideas in the poem are amazing and your language and structure makes it that much better.
DeleteWhat an inspiring poem... I've never actually looked at our situation that way. We are the hope of the future, but yet, many of us are wasting their time, not showing any sign of productivity and thus not being beneficial to our society in any way. Shisha might be a very strong example of a factor playing an evil role, but there are so many, our generation is so easily distracted it's sad! Hopefully, us minority, will be able to make a change...
DeleteWe can discuss many subjects concerning Mahmud Darwish’s poem, but the most obvious one , in my opinion is “Patriotism”.
ReplyDeleteKnowing that he is a Palestinian author we could expect him to express hatred or anger against Israel but his patriotism is expressed more in a way that there is mostly nostalgia and melancholy in his words and I find this very interesting. He used a lot of metaphors and emphasized his “mother’s handkerchief” which could symbolize a part of his “motherland” , Palestine. And this “handkerchief “ is all that he needs. In his poem, his country is presented under many forms “which fell out of the window train”, “country of the daggers and nightingales”, “that’s forgotten the speech of the distant ones”, “the joy of being in chains”; these different representations mostly mean the same which is the disparition of Palestine , and don't give such a positive image of it .
One of the themes is indeed Patriotism as you said Nour, but patriotism doesn't always mean to express hatred against the enemies, it's more of a love of the country and the willingness to sacrifice for it. Yeah the poet didn't really express his hatred for Israel, because his sorrow for his loss is enough pain for him. His patriotism is signaled by nostalgia and melancholy as you mentioned. I really like how you thought that his mother's handkerchief could be a part of his motherland and that's what he needs, to have his motherland back.
DeleteI believe that one of the themes that Mahmoud Darwish conveys in his poem “A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn” is nostalgia. Overall, the poem expresses his sentimental longing for his country (Palestine). It shows his desire for his country that was stolen from him, and his misery for not being able to visit it.
ReplyDelete“All I want from my country which fell out of the window of a train is my mother’s handkerchief”. This theme is conveyed through the mentioning of his desire for his mother’s handkerchief. The handkerchief, in some way, has a connection to his country. I think that the poet’s longing for his mother’s handkerchief, shows how the smallest object is capable of creating a bond between him and his country. I also think that he shows confusion between his mother and his country. In my opinion, the poet mentions his mother to portray the importance of his country. In other words, he is trying to express how his country is as important to him as his own mother.
Thus, this poem is about the poet’s desire for a connection with his country. This signifies nostalgia, which, in my opinion, is the main theme.
I like the theme you chose Riad. The metaphors that Darwish used are a bit confusing. By "my mother's handkerchief" he may designate the bonding between him and his country as you said, but what I thought of at first when I read the poem is maybe he means that he misses his country so much that he even misses the saddest moments spent there, since the handkerchief is used for wiping the eyes.
DeleteThe theme is indeed nostalgia and longing for the motherland.
Darwish in his poem talks about many themes, but the most apparent one is the theme of the attachment to the homeland.
ReplyDeleteOne's homeland isn't only the country where he was born as dicitonaries state, but also the country where his spirit and soul belong, the country of origin, the motherland. A person may be live in hundreds of countries, but his homeland remains one and only one.
A thoughtful sadness, mourning and sorrow through the loss of Palestine dominate Darwish's poem, and his longing for the past is obvious by all the descriptions and comparisons he made : "my face was like the evening" , "the country of daggers and nightingales" ... For Darwish, Palestine is the lost Eden, the homeland where his memories , spirit and soul belong.
A good example for this situation is the spread of the Armenian diaspora around the world as a direct outcome of the Armenian genocide in 1915. But these Armenians, even though they got raised in foreign countries, they never forget their country of origin, the land of their grand-grandparents.
This is where lies the importance of setting the difference between the country where we live and the country where we belong. One should never undervalue the country where he lives, but he should also never forget to stay faithful to his country of origin, the land where his spirit belongs.
Walking through my dreams
ReplyDeleteI dream of a shelter, so cozy and secure
I dream of a street, so tranquil and cool
I dream of a home, so loving and kind
Heaven on earth is what I’m trying to find..
I dream of a nature, so green and bright
I dream of a land, so stunning and grand
I dream of a country, so beautiful, so warm
Oh Lebanon it’s you, how could I have been so blind..
Underneath the clamour, the fights, the crusade
The crowd, the struggles, and the hate
My dreams can be unlocked, by only one key
The key of love that reveals my dreams,
My dreams of Lebanon, the heaven on earth.
Fatima Khalife
I really liked your poem because it shows us how much your country means to you and how much you love it. I too share this same love for Lebanon. I also liked how you never lost hope, that despite all the problems and the fights in Lebanon you still dream of a Lebanon where we can all live together in peace as brothers and sisters.
DeleteI agree with Jad. Showing your love for Lebanon is really touching. I think we can all agree that everybody has such high hopes for this land, but are disappointed that Lebanon isn't living up to its full potential. Lebanon could easily be heaven on earth if we just tried harder.
DeleteIn his poem, Darwish presents different adjectives to the same season “autumn”. He asks for the same thing throughout the poem, which is his mother’s handkerchief and reasons for new death. From his poem, it seems like he was disappointed by his country and all he asks for his mother’s handkerchief and reasons for a new death. Throughout his poem, he repeatedly asks for the same things. Although I am not sure what does he mean by “mother’s handkerchief”, I presume that it refers to the handkerchief that his mother used when she used to cry. The significance of his mother’s handkerchief might be to point out the sadness he is experiencing. Also, he asks for “reasons for a new death”. This may be that he is asking for his country to justify the increasing death rate in the country. In my opinion, these two things, which Darwish is asking for, “mother’s handkerchief” and “reasons for a new death”, might have different meanings so it is kind of ambiguous to me.
ReplyDeleteElie Broumana
It's ambiguous to you but you didn't make effort to clarify it. It seems to me that you stressed on two terms given by the Author and gave only assumptions about them. I think you took the term "mother's handkerchief" in a literal way and gave more of a definition to it. But I do like your explanation of "reasons for a new death", I think it's creative and explanatory.
DeleteSummer heat
ReplyDeleteSummer comes, summer goes
Summer comes, summer goes
Happy faces around me
Preparing a show.
Telling me its okay
Telling me its right
Deep in my heart
I know its not.
Summer comes, summer goes
Standing under the sun
Tired, sad, bereaved
My expectations are none
The worst has just begun.
My beloved Lebanon
They poisoned your body
With terror, violence and war
Always wanting more.
Summer comes, summer goes
Under the sun here I stand
Fighting for my future
Fighting for my land.
i love how your poem gives off a melody and even more i love the ideas it portrays. It is true that they are ruining our country Lebanon, and it is good to know that you are fighting for you land, cause nowadays it seems that everyone is giving up on their own country. I look up to that.
DeleteYoung child, you climb up on your stool
ReplyDeleteTo reach the window with your little hands
In hopes a certain boy in green
Will fly you off to Neverland.
Young child, in a land quite far from here
They’ve never heard of magic; alas
The only things that fly through their windows
Are pieces of shattered glass.
Young child, a song of beauty and faith
Is planted into your mind
You sing it every morning
You don’t know why your mother cries.
But now, as the smile lines grow deeper
You realize the loss;
Trade in the daisies in the lawn
For guns and bombs
And watch the souls turn into dust.
This is a really great poem you got here. I like the Peter Pan reference because it symbolizes a childish paradise. I like how you showed the polar opposite of the wonderland with typical warfare background actions. Kudos
DeleteYes i agree with Amir, this should be also done as a song. I read it several times :)
DeleteI really enjoyed reading this. I thought it was great how you moved the poem from fantasy to reality suttlely and were still able to deliver such a strong message. Amazing!
DeleteI would like to talk of two aspects of Darwish’s poem that I have felt while reading it.
ReplyDeleteOne is the importance of the mother figure in the poem. “All I want from…is my mother’s handkerchief”: only a mother can really comfort a child’s sorrow, pain, despair, let alone when grieving for big problems. What a stronger image than that of a mother’s handkerchief to wipe tears especially when the grieving for the loss of one’s country. Also the repetition of the sentence and the mother figure presence in the poem describes the attachment of a man to his country like the visceral attachment of a human being to his mother. To me, it also symbolizes the longing for a nice smell belonging to a dear person. Here I feel Darwish is longing for the smell of his country, especially that of the citrus fruits which Palestine was famous for, but also the smell of the rain and the jasmine.
The blue birds, the white windows, the yellow sun, the green promises, the earth is a feast: all those colorful images of the lost Eden perpetuate the nice memories of the land and helps in giving strong incentives for the long fight of the Palestinian people to own back their land. Darwish’s and the Palestinians strong attachment to their land and the importance of the land to its people is powerfully described in “From the country which slaughtered me”. The Palestinians have been killed once when their land, and with it their freedom, were taken away from them. But they are ready “for a new death”: they are ready for martyrdom for their cause.
I like the theme you chose Yumna. I agree that one of the obvious metaphors Darwish used was his "mother's handkerchief". I like how you interpreted it and i think it makes a lot of sense. The only person one can really relate to in life is their mother, especially in times of need and hurt.
DeleteLiars, deceivers and bluffers alike
ReplyDeleteCan be crushed under my fist of might
Tall tales were spoken
To deceive me like I was childlike
Repeatedly, their trust was broken
All I ever wanted was to find excuses not to hate
Liars, deceivers, and bluffers alike
No longer do I desire them in my sight
They can cheat all they want
Spit out claims that have empty meanings
All were told without haste or nonchalant
All I ever wanted was to find excuses not to hate
Liars, deceivers, and bluffers alike
The charade will always remain
As long as I reside in the place that I am now
Surprisingly the offenders stand out like a uni-brow
That is because they are all the same
All I ever wanted was to find a reason not to hate.
Roses are red,
ReplyDeleteViolets are blue,
We can't find good jobs here with you
Lebanon raised Her children well
But is now a childless mother
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
They can't find good jobs here with you
Families and brothers split apart
Nothing but burdens in one's heart
Lights are black,
People are blue,
We can't see who is near whom
Something ticks
What is that? The " disjoncteur "
Why? It's the lousy " moteur "
Good poem. I really like how you described Lebanon as a "childless mother". It is really the case as most people nowadays just leave the country in search for better jobs and more money. For me, most poems are hard to understand but your poem is actually not difficult to interpret, unlike other poems that may seem vague to me.
DeleteIt's funny how you sum up the electricity problem just by two lines that are in our everyday life
DeleteQuite funny actually, and unfortunately I'd have to agree with you Jihad, this is the life we're living here in Lebanon. Your poem is a way of the sarcasm us Lebanese choose to use to criticize our government and even ourselves.
DeleteI have been reading some good poetry here. I really like what I see. Would you as a class like to go somewhere with this and make something of it? There is a celebration of writing event at the end of the academic year. I would be proud of presenting a booklet version of some of the semester's work. What do you say?
ReplyDeleteThat's a nice idea!
DeleteThat would be great!
DeleteYes, it is a nice idea, especially that I think talents should not be neglected.
DeleteYour poem touched my heart deeply. Our happy moments are never complete because deep inside we know that our brothers are living in the darkness. It is a shame how all the Arab governments are aware of all the terror that's going on and no one ever had the courage to take a stand. However, we can support them by reminding people about them throughout our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteFatima Khalife
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn his poem, Mahmoud Darwish expresses his homesickness and yearning to go back to Palestine. Autumn itself has a gloomy weather and he adds to that by describing Autumn with doleful adjectives to show his misery. By mentioning his mother's handkerchief repeatedly he's presenting the child within who's longing for a reunion with his grief struck family and country.
ReplyDeleteHe states that his country has "forgotten the speech of the distant ones" to make it clear that it's been a very long time since he and similar immigrants went back to Palestine, that Palestine has forgotten their own features.
Darwish also asks for "reasons for a new death" possibly to question the reason for all the deaths of children, women and men in his country and also to show that they're ready to give sacrifices till the very end.
In his poem, Mahmoud Darwish talks about his country and how much he misses living in it. He expresses his sadness for being so far away from his country. In some phrases he gives the metaphor of the birds who have left Palestine and who aren't coming back. He is referring to himself in this metaphor, because he has left his country and he is never coming back due to war, and because for him his country is dead because it is occupied by another country.
ReplyDeleteWhen he talks about a gentle rain in a strange autumn he is referring to the tears that he shed because he is very far away from his country. Plus he mentions autumn because it symbolizes sadness and death, so this shows us that he is suffering a lot because he is far from his home.
I mainly liked the way Mahmoud Darwish expresses the nostalgia he feels towards his country, Palestine. The metaphor that refers to Darwish's mother was really interesting from my point of view. Darwish longs to see his mother whom he seems to have lost in what he perceives as a useless war. As a matter of fact no one can ever provide love and comfort as a mother would.
ReplyDeleteDarwish shows a major sadness in his poem. "A gentle rain in a distant autumn" refers I think to the hope he still has in seeing his nation at peace once again. Palestine started having problems with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 and has been suffering since.
Furthermore, all the suffering and the violence mentioned in the text reveal Darwish's repugnance towards his country nowadays.
The lute is breaking the sunset silence,
ReplyDeleteWith its serene melody.
The water is crackling on the stove,
Filling the air with the smell of Turkish coffee.
My heart starts beating to this familiar feeling,
In fact, it reminds me of my native country.
My pensive eyes focus on the foam,
Suddenly my spirit roamed,
To the fishermen village where I once belonged.
Gentle waves dancing on the sea
Tell me to bring my spirit back to reality.
Oh how I miss my native country.
My reality is I am now Happy,
For I have found a new family.
Embraced by my loyal friends,
Always ready to hold my hands,
I feel strong enough to struggle with Life,
Thank you my new hosting country.
I had a very sweet image of a small seaside cafe in Turkey when I read this. You managed to depict the warmth that comes from the simple things in life; the things you miss the most about whatever you leave behind. :)
DeleteI really liked your poem. Although you wrote it in 2009, it reminds of the situation most of the arab countries are facing actually, like Syria for example, or even the 2006 war lebanese people had to face.
ReplyDeleteYou really show the repercussions of a country's political decisions on its population and how war is more of a burden to a civilization, and yet judged elementary to leaders.
When reading this poem, I feel like It gives the people that are seeking for security, shelter and food, the strength to stay strong. But at the same time it makes me realize how fortunate right now for all the things that are normal and natural to me that some people dream of having. Thank you for that!
I decided to write a poem and here it is:
ReplyDeleteI grew up hearing about a country
Ravaged by the bloodshed of three decades
I see its ruins even today, the scares still remain
As people still divide, as the country still collides
The same errors are made, the country drifts away
I come with the dream of unity,
Lebanon my home, my country, my culture
Hope still remains, voices will be heard
Bringing order and peace back
The sun will shine, people will understand
As they are blind today but never again
Unity shall prevail, Lebanon will remain
We all belong to same homeland
He was born into her warm arms
ReplyDeleteShe promised him unconditional love
She promised him a place to call home
He grew up
He grew up to be as her other children were
Never appreciating her warm arms
Never appreciating her promise of unconditional love
Never appreciating her promise of home
Never appreciating her
Their words were knives stabbing her
She bled
She loved them still
Their actions were a gun held to her head
She cried
She loved them still
Years pass
They harm her yet
And yet
They wonder why her arms have grown weak
They wonder why her eyes have turned cold
They wonder why
To be hurt by the ones you love
Is to die the slowest death
And her children are standing by her deathbed watching
And her children harm her yet
Wow lama, your poem is very touching.
DeleteI love how it grows in intensity making it hard not to be captivated.
Also, your poem reflects Darwish's idea about the communal mother. He views his country as his mother, your poem can be interpreted similarly. A country, loving unconditionally its children who continuously destroy it with wars, not appreciating it.
Wow! That poem touched my heart, my soul, my conscince and my eyes as well.....Had I had a fight with her today, I would have felt really guilty right now and I'm sure that I would have cried because I was close to that right now! I really loved it; it's really touching and the topic you chose to write about is one that I consider of great significance. GOOD JOB!!!
DeleteI loved your poem Lama, especially when you wrote
Delete"They wonder why her arms have grown weak
They wonder why her eyes have turned cold ",
that's why we shouldn't take people for granted..
Divided we fall,
ReplyDeleteOne against another.
Fighting until the death,
The killing of our brothers.
Unity is the only solution.
Lebanon is a single land,
Yet different sects take their stand.
One flag, to represent us all.
Flying high, while bodies fall.
Unity is the only solution.
Red is for the blood,
Shed throughout the wars.
White is for the peace,
That we can only pray for.
Unity is the only solution.
I really like your poem. I think it perfectly portrays the situation in Lebanon in general and what particularly impressed me was the way you expressed your desire for a united country. What I liked most was that your poem wasn't hard to understand yet it was very touching.
DeleteThe theme that touched me the most in Darwish’s poem was the theme of nostalgia and patriotism towards his country. It is clear that he is enormously attached to Palestine, which he considers as his mother earth. He even uses the metaphor of his “mother’s handkerchief” repetitively to show us how much his native country means to him and how much he yearns to go back to Palestine.
ReplyDeleteNostalgia can be a very strong emotion which is really powerful when you’re away from your country and the people you love. Nostalgia puts the individual in misery and it is obviously the case of Mahmoud Darwish in his poem “A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn”. He uses words such as “sad”, “death”, “distant” and “strange” to express his immense sorrow and nostalgia towards his country.
Also, the “handkerchief” mentioned so frequently symbolizes the power of his motherland and its capacity to dry his tears and console him. The rain mentioned in the poem might also refer to the tears he cried because of what his country has become and of how much he regrets it.
To be honest, when I first started to read Darwish’s poem I found myself a bit confused. I did not clearly understand what he was trying to say; I mean, how could he begin with descriptions of what seemed to be symbols of hope such as blue birds, a prospering earth, white colors…etc and then end up drawing a picture of a lost, chained, sad place? But soon enough I realized, that this poet, was a man taken away from his country. He views his homeland with desperation, a place that has become locked up in a far away land.
ReplyDeleteOne of the many major themes that Darwich emphasized on was distance and this was shown throughout the terms “distant autumn” “stolen orange” “running away” “distant ones” “kiss sent in the post” (Darwich, 2007). And when I say distance, it does not only imply physical distances, it shows as well a sign of emotional, spiritual distance. And as he ended his verses with two simple demands from his country, it showed that his homeland had changed a lot in his mind; it had nothing else left. He wanted to go back and get a hold on the old simple but meaningful things such as his mother’s handkerchief, but he knew that if he did, he will have to face the new tragedies that had overcome his homeland, and it would “kill” a part of him, all over again.
After reading the poem for a first time I was a bit confused. I didn't really understand what Darwish was trying to tell us. But, after several readings, i noticed that Darwish's poem is very deep. The theme that particularly touched me is the theme of mother hood.
ReplyDeleteMother hood is a predominant theme in his poem and mentions it at the end of every verse: 'Mother's handkerchief'. This metaphor can have a lot of meanings whether it's his biological mother, the communal mother or even mother earth.
This shows us that Darwish longs for his long lost country. He's not letting go of the memory of his homeland and still experiences feelings of sorrow and sadness.
You seem like a deep thinker yourself; i thought it was an interesting interpretation concerning what the word "mother" could mean
DeleteMahmoud Darwish wrote a poem to express his feelings towards his country that’s under the Zionist colonization. What’s really touching is that he is unable to visit it, that’s why the only way to show his sympathy towards what his country has been through his poems. This distance between him and his country was clear once he said “A kiss sent in the post”. In fact, the most tormenting thing is watching our country’s people suffering from death and not being able to help them.
ReplyDeleteThrough history, humanity has always fought for gaining its freedom that’s why it’s really agonizing to be under an enemy command that is taking advantage of our land but also killing us. So in this case death can be worse than ever. Every day the people of Palestine are being killed without any reason. Pure souls from varied ages vanish. Darwich cannot act on his own by his patriotic status.In fact he needs our help. All Arab countries must stand together against this enemy so they can bring back joy to every Palestinian; not only for the one’s living in Palestine but also for the one’s like Darwich who are missing so much their country and maybe separated from their families and friends.
A wild scream,
ReplyDeleteIn hearts, trapped.
Wanting to dream,
To get out from the crap.
Even if it goes out,
And spread in the space,
There is no ears,
No leaders to hear.
Lebanon, my dear,
My home, my identity,
I have no fear,
On your capability
To break the chain
Of dark zionists
Who set the rain
In your clear atmosphere
I truly enjoyed reading your poem because of both the main idea and your style of writing. You displayed your obvious love and pride of Lebanon and at the same time expressed that you can love your country without loving your government. It is clear that the political leaders in this country are the main problem because of their selfishness and greed.
DeleteThat was a great poem Selma. The imagery of the poem was particularly vivid and it helped to highlight the point you were trying to make. I felt like your poem was a statement for brotherhood and unity, something we very much need in the Arab world. Nice job, even if it was from 2009!
ReplyDeletealright guys please be gentle
ReplyDeletehere goes nothing
I never thought it would end like this.
My life, stripped away before jumping off that cliff.
It all started a mere while ago .
As we were riding together, in the snow.
Your smile numbed me in place.
Then your frown took over at a very fast pace.
I had promised to keep you safe from this wretched world.
But was too slow to react as the bullets hurled.
I could not live here anymore, no matter what they say.
They took half my life away.
But I will not let them take it all.
And that is why, I took the fall.
-Fouad Hayek
Wheels for a car or truck or plane
ReplyDeleteBut never to express the pain
Of a lebanese desire
For a better country as he lights the fire
The streets filled with clouds
But not of rain, but those of crowds
As they pass the burning torch
And light up the wheels on their fellows front porch
Is this the way for a better life
Or just an easier way than the knife?
For murder is murder, a knife for a head
But burning tires for a better country they said
In the end, who says they aren't the wise
Enough they said when the government ignored their cries
But even for that notion
As there a need for such commotion?
All we need is each other
Hand in hand, sister and brother
To walk up to the government's porch
And with our voice, light up the scalding torch
Your poem is more than great! It is relevant to one of the themes Darwish discussed. I loved the solution you provided in the last stanza, that is indeed what we are supposed to do. I also related to the third stanza because I, like you, believe that this is not a solution for our problems. Again, great job!
DeleteAll I want is my beauty
ReplyDeleteThe one that only few can see
She has been torn apart
By people who think they're smart
All they were looking for was power
But she was definitely not the answer
All they did was destroy
And there went all of my joy
She used to be my special flower
But they made her so much uglier
In the past I used to kneel
But disappointment is what I now feel
They assassinated her and so I depart
It was like a stab in the heart
I'm back trying to make her better
Because I will love her forever
My beauty is what I like to call my country.
I really liked the way Darwish expressed the situation in Palestine. When he described his country as fallen from the window of a train, he stressed the glory and grace it had and the damage the fall(Israel) had caused. He asked for reasons for a new death, in my opinion, the death he mentioned was him being estranged from his own land and his precious ones. He expressed the beauty of his hometown (nightingales) followed by the emphasis on how demolished it is now (daggers). Darwish expresses his never-ending love for his hometown. He is longing for Palestine, the land of promises intruders obliterated.
ReplyDeleteAsk the birds
ReplyDeleteAsk the butterflies
Ask whatever creatures their in this world
Where's the utopia of your world
All respond in different voices
Lebanon is for of course
Scan his land
All over you go
See that beauty
See that see
Washing the legs of his mountains
It's Lebanon...
It's Lebanon...
That point on the map
Holds every religion in this world
All living in harmony
Whatever problems he passes through
His comeback is always true
Coming better than it was
And harmony all over his parts...
I would like to write a poem about syria :
ReplyDeleteSyria, Syria, Syria
Everywhere's topic is syria
Some people wants to destroy it
and no one is trying to avoid it
Bashar might be a traitor
but the situation now is a disaster
Arabs are financing the Opposition
and have a really special position
I am just wondering how a royal family
where woman can't drive, and talk freely
seeks freedom and rights for the syrian population
that is watching its sons execution
Arabs, Arabs, Arabs
Stop supporting the opposition's army
because it's really hurting me
to see a country with a great history
taking alot to full recovery
from a "revolution"
that didn't bring any evolution
(Michel Khoury, 2012)
Mahmoud Darwish exhibits an outpouring amount of personal thoughts and sensations to which he profoundly engages with the reader. The poet shows emotional affection towards his beloved country Palestine, in addition to sending a meticulous thought to the poet-reading individuals. Darwish displays an indirect mourning over Palestine, “All I want from my country which fell out of the window train is..”, which reveals the writer’s grieving thoughts regarding his home-country. Darwish’s style is utterly vivid than one can envision the scenes right before his/her eyes due to the highly intense portrayal of emotions tightly knitted and related to the words in every verse. “A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn” is completely interweaved with the topic and the course of its flow, where Darwish is describing the day in which rain pours severely on the land of his distant country. This poem, in particular, carries vast and sheer sentiments penetrating through the fragile core of a reader sympathizing with Mahmoud Darwish and his estranged land.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this poem for the first time i didnt understand its direct meaning as it was masked by the vast amount of similies,metaphors and personification that Mahmoud Darwish incorperated.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major themes in this poem that caught my attention is the theme of sadness that he expressed towards his country. He is sad of what his country has become and what he has lost during its transition to how it is now, including its people and in particularly his mum. He expresses this sadness because they did not deserve to die and the country did not deserve what happened to it.He longs for it to return to its original state and feels helpless as he knows that he cant change the past or the current situation of his country, this can be seen as he repeats several times his cry for the musk of his mothers linen and new reasons for the death of his people.
I believe the central theme of this text is Palestine, Darwish's homeland. Just by reading this text, we could guess that Palestine is a memory to the author. We feel that it's a far and blurry memory because of the words he uses : ''distant autumn'', ''running away'', ''forgotten'', ''distant trees'' and '' the birds have flown''. He does not speak of Palestine in a meliorative way but rather negatively. He misses his country, how it was before it's political instability. He shows that with the antithesis : '' a gentle rain in a strange autumn'' he uses gentle which is a meliorative word and then uses strange to show what is sad of the palestinian situation. He uses words related to death : '' new death'', ''slaughtered'', ''killing'', ''chains''. All of these words show as if something was chocking him, we feel that there is a very dark side to the poem : '' made face was like the evening''. We feel he reminisces and wants his country to stop being chocked and wants freedom and a way out for Palestine.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you have written, it does represent a distant memory and his longing to return to his country, not the one we see today, but the one he once saw as paradise.
DeleteOnce a tadpole in the pond
ReplyDeleteSwimming and dancing everywhere
But now a frog under the sun
Jumping around from here to there
It used to feel like a safe-zone
It was my home, it was my lair
Now I’m left up here alone
And I see predators everywhere!
I never knew how big this was
Until we were no longer together
Now I know you’re a true love
And I promise it’ll last forever
And when I went back to our place
I felt the child that was inside
And my tears covered my face
I couldn’t hide it even if I tried!
All the memories over there
It seems so close but yet too far
They can’t disappear in the thin air;
Even a bad memory would leave a scar
And when I see your tombstone
I remember what you used to do
And I realize that you were my home
It wasn’t the house; it was you!
Note: I dedicate this poem to my grandmother; she passed away in 2007 and she was like a mother to me...(I thought it would be more interesting to write this note at the end instead of the beginning)
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DeleteI just forgot to say that, of course, she deserves much more from me; this can be considered as a short poem compared to the ones I usually write; but that's all I could write within the given time...
Deletethe issue Darwish tackles in this exquisite poem is something close to nostalgia, since he was an ex-palestinian living in Lebanon.He emphasizes in his poem on his eagerness to get something back of his homeland, but its worth mentioning that Darwish does not ask for any element, but the more sentimental, tender, and significant ones, as he mentioned "my mother's handkerchief", rather than the more violent ones which he also mentions " daggers and nightingales". In his nostalgic poem, he also mentions his strong belonging to his country (mentioned above) that he desbribes thoroughly that once was a paradise for him but now is in ruins, as he said "is the joy of being in chains".
ReplyDeleteSo for me,the whole selection is about Darwish's eagerness to go back home, or at least have something that would remind him of his country\mother living in Palestine, and not the Palestine we now see in the news, but the Palestine he once saw as paradise and wishes to return to.
As I was reading Darwish’s poem, two things stood out to me, “my mother’s handkerchief” and “reasons for a new death”. The repetition of both lines in every stanza indicates they have significant meaning. When one talks about his/her mother it is obvious the topic is important; Darwish could be talking about his mother, or by mother it could mean his motherland, Palestine. By talking about his mother’s handkerchief its obvious Darwish does not like the situation in Palestine. It seems as though he wants to take away his mother’s handkerchief; he wants to take away the hurt, pain and tears away from the people in his motherland. I think it was creative of Darwish to use this metaphor because he enabled us to have a clear idea of how he really feels.
ReplyDeleteThe second point about “reasons for a new death” could also fall under the issue of Darwish wanting Palestine to be a free and a happy nation. It could mean he wants there to be a new reason for death, instead of bombs, missiles, shootings etc. I found the poem a little complex but overall one can conclude the tone of the poem was a sad one and the author wants a better future for his country.
We can clearly see that one of the main themes of this text is sadness, well the author is thinking about his own country that got ripped from his people. He talk first about a gentle rain in the autumn, we all know the autumn symbolizes the death of nature, the death of his own country which he considers green Eden the he talk about a handkerchief; and his mother’s handkerchief precisely, by mother he might be referring to his actual mother or his country. And what do we use a handkerchief for? It is for wiping tears, tears refer to sadness and pain. Then he says: “a new death” he is obviously talking about a moral death, a reason to live and die for. Then he repeats all over the text these metaphors of sadness, this mean that he is really hurt by this matter. Then he talks about the country of daggers and nightingales, daggers refer to backstabbers and traitor whereas nightingales are the birds that migrate, just like his people who have been kicked out of their country.
ReplyDeleteThen he talks again about death he mentions a dead fetus well a fetus is baby before being while being in his mother’s uterus and its dead before having the chance to live which refers to a great deal of sadness. And to highlight this idea he finishes his text by talking about a slaughter, where many souls die.
Mahmoud Darwish was an active militant who fought against the Israeli occupation. He experienced jail by his enemy for his political views. Most of his poetry was used to serve the Palestinian cause.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, darwish used words and expressions that describe his melancholic state " reasons for a new death" , " strange autumn". It doesn't only reflect his state of mind but it applies to every expatriated person who feel the need to go back to the native country.
Even if economic, social and political condtions are not good in their own country, human beings tend to be attached to their memories, childhood period and relatives. And wherever they go, they can't find hapiness and peace of
mind . They also find themselves away from their culture and real identity