Unfortunately, It Was Paradise (selected Poems)

By (author) Darwish Mahmoud; Edited by Antoon Sinan; Edited by El-Zein Amira; Translated by Akash Munir; Translated by Forché, Carolyn; Foreword by Joudah, Fady
Short description/annotation:
The author is a literary rarity: at once critically acclaimed as one of the most important poets in the Arabic language, and beloved as the voice of his people. A legend in Palestine, his lyrics are sung by fieldworkers and schoolchildren. This collection spans his entire career, nearly four decades, revealing a range of expression and form.
Description:
Mahmoud Darwish is a literary rarity: at once critically acclaimed as one of the most important poets in the Arabic language, and beloved as the voice of his people. A legend in Palestine, his lyrics are sung by fieldworkers and schoolchildren. He has assimilated some of the world''s oldest literary traditions while simultaneously struggling to open new possibilities for poetry. This collection spans Darwish''s entire career, nearly four decades, revealing an impressive range of expression and form. A splendid team of translators has collaborated with the poet on these new translations, which capture Darwish''s distinctive voice and spirit. Fady Joudah''s foreword, new to this edition, addresses Darwish''s enduring legacy following his death in 2008.
Table of contents:
Acknowledgments Munir Akash Introduction Munir Akash and Carolyn Forche FROM Fewer Roses (1986) I Will Slog over This Road Another Road in the Road Were It Up to Me to Begin Again On This Earth I Belong There Addresses for the Soul, outside This Place Earth Presses against Us We Journey towards a Home We Travel Like All People Athens Airport I Talk Too Much We Have the Right to Love Autumn The Last Train Has Stopped On the Slope, Higher Than the Sea, They Slept He Embraces His Murderer Winds Shift against Us Neighing on the Slope Other Barbarians Will Come They Would Love to See Me Dead When the Martyrs Go to Sleep The Night There We Went to Aden Another Damascus in Damascus The Flute Cried In This Hymn FROM I See What I Want to See (1993) The Hoopoe FROM Why Have You Left the Horse Alone? (1995) I See My Ghost Coming from Afar A Cloud in My Hands The Kindhearted Villagers The Owl''s Night The Everlasting Indian Fig The Lute of Ismael The Strangers'' Picnic The Raven''s Ink Like the Letter "N" in the Qur''an Ivory Combs The Death of the Phoenix Poetic Regulations Excerpts from the Byzantine Odes of Abu Firas The Dreamers Pass from One Sky to Another A Rhyme for the Odes (Mu''allaqat) Night That Overflows My Body The Gypsy Woman Has a Tame Sky FROM A Bed for the Stranger (1999) We Were without a Present Sonnet II The Stranger Finds Himself in the Stranger The Land of the Stranger, the Serene Land Inanna''s Milk Who Am I, without Exile? Lesson from the Kama Sutra Mural (2000) Mural Three Poems (before 1986) A Soldier Dreams of White Tulips As Fate Would Have It Four Personal Addresses Glossary
Review quote:
"Darwish''s complex linguistic negotiations of deeply contested places, on the earth and in the mind, demand and sustain serious reading and discussion.  . . . [Forché''s] fluid and precise approach to translation is everywhere apparent here."
Review quote:
“These translations of Mahmoud Darwish’s marvelous poems reveal the lifelong development of a major world poet. The book is a gift to other poets and lovers of poetry. It’s also an important contribution to current and future discourse on culture and politics.”
Review quote:
"This book is a beautiful rendering of beautiful verse. It is an important contribution in making accessible an important figure in modern Arab culture. Unfortunately, It Was Paradise demonstrates that Darwish is a poet of our time as well as a poet of all times."
Review quote:
"This book—perhaps the most impor