This article is also available in:
Italiano
The last work of one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century, in “I Don’t Want This Poem to End: Early and Late Poems” we will get acquainted with the most intimate side of Darwish, reading those that de facto and his poetic testament. Unmissable book for all lovers of great poetry.
I Don’t Want This Poem to End: Early and Late Poems
I Don’t Want This Poem to End: Early and Late Poems it is the long poem that is part of the last book written by Mahmud Darwish “poet of Palestine” or “poet and Palestinian”, as he liked to call himself. Written in the two years preceding his death, the poems included in this collection are considered to be the crowning glory of Darwish’s work. Of clear autobiographical inspiration, the verses trace the life of a child born from a modest family in Galilee and all the ‘cases of history’ in which he managed to escape safe death by becoming a man who, having reached maturity, feels the end is near and faces it with clarity.
Last work
I Don’t Want This Poem to End: Early and Late Poems is the only partially unfinished work published by the author, due to his untimely death that year. In 2008 the author was dedicating himself to the drafting of this diwan (poetic collection) and it was death that prevented its conclusion. Precisely because of their “incompleteness”, he was discussed at length about the correct use of this material, since Darwish had left no will and at the same time would never have accepted a work he had not approved of.
We owe the great writer and critic Eliyas Khouri the opportunity to read his latest and greatest work. The Lebanese had always been a friend of Darwish and this allowed him to understand which of these poems could be said to have ended. This book, unique in its history, therefore represents the latest testimony of one of the greatest poets of the 1900s, the greatest of the Palestinians, a final farewell to the great Darwish.
A reflection of life
The latest poems perfectly reflect this sense of impending end, almost awaiting death. The reason is to be observed precisely in the author’s health, which operated in Paris in those years. Since then, Darwish’s themes will change profoundly, moving on to real reflections on being.
Precisely for this reason, “I Don’t Want This Poem to End: Early and Late Poems” is to be considered as a real poetic testament, in which the author tries a self-search in time “almost finished”. However, one should not imagine a monotonous reflection on life and death, on the contrary, the work retains its absolute originality, bringing both styles and different themes. In fact, we will move from texts such as “Here and now”, in which poetry reigns supreme, to others set up in the form of a theatrical script, even reaching a sort of “poetography” with “I Don’t Want This Poem to End: Early and Late Poems”. The author’s last diwan becomes a very important tool to get to know Darwish and himself, finding enlightenment from the reflections of one of the greatest Arab poets ever.
Follow us on our facebook, YouTube and Instagram page, every like, sharing or support is welcome and helps us to dedicate ourselves more and more to our passion: telling the Middle East.
