Symbolism and Symbols of Resistance Movement in Mahmoud Darwish’s Poetry

Abstract

Mahmoud Darwish, a great poet and a skilled literary figure, composes poems in both traditional and modern styles and demonstrates extraordinary talents in both styles. He employs the two poetic styles to defend causes of Palestinian people.  

Darwish also employs different poetic forms and benefits from mythologies, legends, tales, Quranic stories and even holy books and scriptures of the pre-Islamic period such as Bible to compose poems and create beautiful technical images and sublimate his poetic texts. Such techniques also help him enrich his poems intellectually through the embodiment of beauty.   

Darwish is regarded as the most prominent symbolic poet in the resistance literature. He is also known as the best exemplar of a humanistic poet in the world of symbols and secrets. He does not compose mundane poems but those which are replete with subtle concepts and filled with utmost beauty. His poems have been composed with extreme creativity and innovation. Besides, his poetic styles are glaring with gorgeousness. Given the use of elegant, profound, and pervasive symbols in Darwish’s poetry, the present study attempts to explore some of the symbolic themes employed by him. Accordingly, as some of poems composed by Darwish rely upon symbolic styles and have reached perfection in their originality and innovation. It is of interest to find out if such poems and poetic style deserve to be equated with the world's greatest poems and odes.