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The Butterfly's Burden
Mahmoud Darwish was the most acclaimed poet in the Arab world. The Butterfly’s Burden presents three recent books in a single volume, each translated into English for the first time and presented side by side with the Arabic: The Stranger’s Bed (1998), Darwish’s first collection of love poems; State of Siege (2002), a terse, politically charged sequence written in Ramallah; and Don’t Apologize for What You’ve Done (2003), a song “green like the phoenix” after the daily horrors in Ramallah.
These poems provide continual contrasts, balancing old literary traditions with new, highlighting lyrical, loving reflections alongside a bitter longing for the Palestine that was lost when Israel was created. Although each work stands alone as a dialogue within and among its poems, one can see the larger conversation Darwish conducts with language, and with self, from one book to another.
These poems provide continual contrasts, balancing old literary traditions with new, highlighting lyrical, loving reflections alongside a bitter longing for the Palestine that was lost when Israel was created. Although each work stands alone as a dialogue within and among its poems, one can see the larger conversation Darwish conducts with language, and with self, from one book to another.
348 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2007
217 people are currently reading
4355 people want to read
About the author
Mahmoud Darwish
211 books12k followers محمود درويش
Mahmoud Darwish was a respected Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.
The Lotus Prize (1969; from the Union of Afro-Asian Writers)
Lenin Peace Prize (1983; from the USSR)
The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (1993; from France)
The Lannan Foundation Prize for Cultural Freedom (2001)
Prince Claus Awards (2004)
"Bosnian stećak" (2007)
Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings (2007)
The International Forum for Arabic Poetry prize (2007)
محمود درويش هو شاعرٌ فلسطيني وعضو المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني التابع لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية، وله دواوين شعرية مليئة بالمضامين الحداثية. ولد عام 1941 في قرية البروة وهي قرية فلسطينية تقع في الجليل قرب ساحل عكا, حيث كانت أسرته تملك أرضًا هناك. خرجت الأسرة برفقة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في العام 1948 إلى لبنان، ثم عادت متسللة عام 1949 بعد توقيع اتفاقيات الهدنة، لتجد القرية مهدمة وقد أقيم على أراضيها موشاف (قرية زراعية إسرائيلية)"أحيهود". وكيبوتس يسعور فعاش مع عائلته في قرية الجديدة.
بعد إنهائه تعليمه الثانوي في مدرسة يني الثانوية في كفرياسيف انتسب إلى الحزب الشيوعي الإسرائيلي وعمل في صحافة الحزب مثل الإتحاد والجديد التي أصبح في ما بعد مشرفًا على تحريرها، كما اشترك في تحرير جريدة الفجر التي كان يصدرها مبام.
أحد أهم الشعراء الفلسطينيين والعرب الذين ارتبط اسمهم بشعر الثورة والوطن. يعتبر درويش أحد أبرز من ساهم بتطوير الشعر العربي الحديث وإدخال الرمزية فيه. في شعر درويش يمتزج الحب بالوطن بالحبيبة الأنثى. قام بكتابة وثيقة إعلان الاستقلال الفلسطيني التي تم إعلانها في الجزائر.
Tras una juventud dentro de la Palestina ocupada, años salpicados por numerosos arestos, se trasladó a Egipto y después al Líbano para realizar su sueño de renovación poética. Será en su exilio en Paris, tras tener que abandonar forzosamente el Líbano, donde logre su madurez poético y logre un reconocimiento ante los ojos occidentales.
En 1996, tras los acuerdos de Oslo para la autonomía de los territorios de Gaza y Cisjordania, dimite como ministro de Cultura de la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina y regresa a Ramallah. Allí dirige la revista literaria Al Karmel, cuytos archivos fueron destruidos por el ejército israelí durante el asedio a la ciudad en el año 2002.
Mahmoud Darwish was a respected Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile.
The Lotus Prize (1969; from the Union of Afro-Asian Writers)
Lenin Peace Prize (1983; from the USSR)
The Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (1993; from France)
The Lannan Foundation Prize for Cultural Freedom (2001)
Prince Claus Awards (2004)
"Bosnian stećak" (2007)
Golden Wreath of Struga Poetry Evenings (2007)
The International Forum for Arabic Poetry prize (2007)
محمود درويش هو شاعرٌ فلسطيني وعضو المجلس الوطني الفلسطيني التابع لمنظمة التحرير الفلسطينية، وله دواوين شعرية مليئة بالمضامين الحداثية. ولد عام 1941 في قرية البروة وهي قرية فلسطينية تقع في الجليل قرب ساحل عكا, حيث كانت أسرته تملك أرضًا هناك. خرجت الأسرة برفقة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في العام 1948 إلى لبنان، ثم عادت متسللة عام 1949 بعد توقيع اتفاقيات الهدنة، لتجد القرية مهدمة وقد أقيم على أراضيها موشاف (قرية زراعية إسرائيلية)"أحيهود". وكيبوتس يسعور فعاش مع عائلته في قرية الجديدة.
بعد إنهائه تعليمه الثانوي في مدرسة يني الثانوية في كفرياسيف انتسب إلى الحزب الشيوعي الإسرائيلي وعمل في صحافة الحزب مثل الإتحاد والجديد التي أصبح في ما بعد مشرفًا على تحريرها، كما اشترك في تحرير جريدة الفجر التي كان يصدرها مبام.
أحد أهم الشعراء الفلسطينيين والعرب الذين ارتبط اسمهم بشعر الثورة والوطن. يعتبر درويش أحد أبرز من ساهم بتطوير الشعر العربي الحديث وإدخال الرمزية فيه. في شعر درويش يمتزج الحب بالوطن بالحبيبة الأنثى. قام بكتابة وثيقة إعلان الاستقلال الفلسطيني التي تم إعلانها في الجزائر.
Tras una juventud dentro de la Palestina ocupada, años salpicados por numerosos arestos, se trasladó a Egipto y después al Líbano para realizar su sueño de renovación poética. Será en su exilio en Paris, tras tener que abandonar forzosamente el Líbano, donde logre su madurez poético y logre un reconocimiento ante los ojos occidentales.
En 1996, tras los acuerdos de Oslo para la autonomía de los territorios de Gaza y Cisjordania, dimite como ministro de Cultura de la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina y regresa a Ramallah. Allí dirige la revista literaria Al Karmel, cuytos archivos fueron destruidos por el ejército israelí durante el asedio a la ciudad en el año 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 107 reviews
September 5, 2025
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One of the most vivid and evocative poetry collections of modern history. The Butterfly’s Burden, through magical, wistful language, explores exile and displacement, belonging, identity, love, and memory. It is an ode to Palestine, for the bittersweet memories of those removed from its riverbanks, for the love and longing of one’s homeland. It is a haunting account of the forever effects of genocide and erasure of history. It is also an ode to falling in love, to recording one’s past experiences, for imagining a future where innocence is once again protected, where peace is again pure. The flow of this poetry is an enchantment, a comfort, an appeal, to witness, to remember, to join voices that challenge oppression.
One of the most vivid and evocative poetry collections of modern history. The Butterfly’s Burden, through magical, wistful language, explores exile and displacement, belonging, identity, love, and memory. It is an ode to Palestine, for the bittersweet memories of those removed from its riverbanks, for the love and longing of one’s homeland. It is a haunting account of the forever effects of genocide and erasure of history. It is also an ode to falling in love, to recording one’s past experiences, for imagining a future where innocence is once again protected, where peace is again pure. The flow of this poetry is an enchantment, a comfort, an appeal, to witness, to remember, to join voices that challenge oppression.
March 12, 2017
I have waited for this book like a nomad in the desert longs for a night to set off for his journey, like the sea aches for its returning wave, like a poet who wants the reader to embrace his poem. Now I have it in front of me "The Butterfly's Burden", a journey of, and through, voice.There is an "I" that overflows from "you", a dialogue between masculine and feminine, prose and poetry. There is a question how to carry the "I" of the "we" without betraying one perception for the other. It's singing about love as a private exile.
Low Sky
by Mahmoud Darwish
There's a love walking on two silken feet
happy with its estrangement in the streets,
a love small and poor made wet by a passing rain
that it overflows onto passerby:
My gifts are larger than I am
eat my wheat
and drink my wine
my sky is on my shoulders and my earth is yours...
Did you smell the jasmine's radiant blood
and think of me
then wait with me for a green-tailed bird
that has no name?
There's a poor love starring at the river
in surrender to summoning: Where do you run to
seahorse?
Soon the sea will suck you in
so walk leisurely to your chosen death,
O seahorse!
Were you as two embankments for me
and was the place as it should be
light-footed on your memories?
What songs do you love
what songs? The ones
that speak about love thirst,
or about a time that has passed?
There's a poor love, one-sided
and quite serene it doesn't break
your select day's crystal
and doesn't light a fire in a cold moon
in your bed,
you don't sense it when you cry from an apprehension,
which might replace it,
you don't know what to feel when you embrace
yourself between your arms!
Which nights do you want, which nights
and what colour are those eyes that you dream
with when you dream?
There is a poor love, and two-sided
it diminishes the number of those in despair
and lifts the pigeons' throne on both sides.
You must, then, by yourself lead
this swift spring to the one you love.
Which time do you want, which time
that I may become its poet, just like that: whenever
a woman goes to her secret in the evening
she finds a poet walking in her thoughts.
Whenever a poet dives into himself
he finds a woman undressing before his poem...
Which exile do you want?
Will you come with me, or walk alone
in your name as an exile that adorns exile
with its glitter?
There's love passing through us,
without us noticing,
and neither it knows nor do we know
why a rose in an ancient wall makes us fugitives
and why a girl at the bus stop cries,
bites on an apple then laughs and cries:
Nothing,nothing more
than a bee passing through my blood...
There's a poor love, it contemplates
at length the passerby, and chooses
the youngest moon among them:You are in need
of a lower sky,
be my friend and the sky will expand
for the selfishness of two who do not know
to whom they should give their flowers...
Maybe it meant me,maybe
it meant us and we didn't notice
There is a love...
Low Sky
by Mahmoud Darwish
There's a love walking on two silken feet
happy with its estrangement in the streets,
a love small and poor made wet by a passing rain
that it overflows onto passerby:
My gifts are larger than I am
eat my wheat
and drink my wine
my sky is on my shoulders and my earth is yours...
Did you smell the jasmine's radiant blood
and think of me
then wait with me for a green-tailed bird
that has no name?
There's a poor love starring at the river
in surrender to summoning: Where do you run to
seahorse?
Soon the sea will suck you in
so walk leisurely to your chosen death,
O seahorse!
Were you as two embankments for me
and was the place as it should be
light-footed on your memories?
What songs do you love
what songs? The ones
that speak about love thirst,
or about a time that has passed?
There's a poor love, one-sided
and quite serene it doesn't break
your select day's crystal
and doesn't light a fire in a cold moon
in your bed,
you don't sense it when you cry from an apprehension,
which might replace it,
you don't know what to feel when you embrace
yourself between your arms!
Which nights do you want, which nights
and what colour are those eyes that you dream
with when you dream?
There is a poor love, and two-sided
it diminishes the number of those in despair
and lifts the pigeons' throne on both sides.
You must, then, by yourself lead
this swift spring to the one you love.
Which time do you want, which time
that I may become its poet, just like that: whenever
a woman goes to her secret in the evening
she finds a poet walking in her thoughts.
Whenever a poet dives into himself
he finds a woman undressing before his poem...
Which exile do you want?
Will you come with me, or walk alone
in your name as an exile that adorns exile
with its glitter?
There's love passing through us,
without us noticing,
and neither it knows nor do we know
why a rose in an ancient wall makes us fugitives
and why a girl at the bus stop cries,
bites on an apple then laughs and cries:
Nothing,nothing more
than a bee passing through my blood...
There's a poor love, it contemplates
at length the passerby, and chooses
the youngest moon among them:You are in need
of a lower sky,
be my friend and the sky will expand
for the selfishness of two who do not know
to whom they should give their flowers...
Maybe it meant me,maybe
it meant us and we didn't notice
There is a love...
November 4, 2015
"I am the second Adam. I learned to read / and write through my sins' lessons"--
It's really hard to describe Darwish's poetry. It's a little Lorca-esque in places, but not that extreme or loud. It's quietly surreal, and simple but also lyrical. There are so many lines I underlined and poems I need to go back to. A few excerpts:
"It's your bad luck that you chose the gardens
near god's borders,
where the sword writes clay's tale..."
"We store our sorrows in our jars, lest
the soldiers see them and celebrate the siege ...
We store them for other seasons,
for a memory,
for something that might surprise us on the road."
"we are in need of myth
to bear the burden of the distance between two doors..."
Not knowing Arabic, I can't comment on the accuracy/faithfulness of the translation, but like Borges, I'm not too worried about accuracy or the problematic notion of "faithfulness.". What matters is (and should be): Is it beautiful in English? Does it move me? Yes and yes. And as much as I would've liked to see how Fady Joudah—himself a Palestinian American poet (and doctor)—has rewritten Darwish (for every translation is a rewriting), that was good enough for me.
Highly recommended.
It's really hard to describe Darwish's poetry. It's a little Lorca-esque in places, but not that extreme or loud. It's quietly surreal, and simple but also lyrical. There are so many lines I underlined and poems I need to go back to. A few excerpts:
"It's your bad luck that you chose the gardens
near god's borders,
where the sword writes clay's tale..."
"We store our sorrows in our jars, lest
the soldiers see them and celebrate the siege ...
We store them for other seasons,
for a memory,
for something that might surprise us on the road."
"we are in need of myth
to bear the burden of the distance between two doors..."
Not knowing Arabic, I can't comment on the accuracy/faithfulness of the translation, but like Borges, I'm not too worried about accuracy or the problematic notion of "faithfulness.". What matters is (and should be): Is it beautiful in English? Does it move me? Yes and yes. And as much as I would've liked to see how Fady Joudah—himself a Palestinian American poet (and doctor)—has rewritten Darwish (for every translation is a rewriting), that was good enough for me.
Highly recommended.
July 29, 2017
A beautiful and painful compilation of three of Darwish's books: The Stranger’s Bed, A State of Siege, and Don’t Apologize for What You’ve Done. There is unmistakable hope, nostalgia, love, loss and longing for Palestine in every stanza. Each poem is anecdotal and slips from one form to the other clocked in soft imageries that can at times strike as disconcerting. Darwish takes you through the lovely scenes he so wonderfully recreates for his readers which ring his work close to the Arab home. That I say without negating the poetically political diatribes handed to you with pulverising imageries.
Having this bilingual edition has truly eased my experience with Darwish.
It's truly a remarkable work that I will go back to.
Having this bilingual edition has truly eased my experience with Darwish.
It's truly a remarkable work that I will go back to.
February 6, 2021
so good- i want to read more arabi poetry. also side note: why was every book i’ve read in the past 4 months mentioned/referred to???? i felt like i was living in a simulation or that Mahmoud Darwish was speaking directly to me.
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September 7, 2025This is a hefty book! It contains three complete poetry collections by Mahmoud Darwish translated by Fady Joudah, and also the original text in Arabic on the facing pages. I've read other poetry collections by Mahmoud Darwish before, and also a lot of poetry translated by Fady Joudah, so I knew I would enjoy these too, but I was still surprised - especially by the first collection in the book, The Stranger's Bed.
The translator's preface explains and contextualizes all three books, and mentions that The Stranger's Bed was a volume of love poetry that was not really what people expected of Darwish after he moved back to Ramallah after long exile. They wanted something more overtly political. I understand this, but I hadn't realized going in how much of The Stranger's Bed would be about femininity! It is a whole book exploring both femininity and nonduality. Wonderful, beautiful, deep; I will keep on returning to it. The preface says that eventually readers embraced it... Go embrace it!
The second collection A State of Siege is more overtly political and is a poetic diary of the Second Intifada. I think it is now timely again (oddly I haven't seen a lot of recent mentions of it even though a bunch of individual poems of his went viral), but it has also always been timely.
The third collection Don't Apologize for What You've Done is more widely ranging, but brings back some of the earlier themes too - I love it when entire poetry collections are translated and not just the highlights, by the way. I especially liked the poems dedicated to other poets, just amazing tribute, really. Makes me want to read even more.
____
Source of the book: Bought with my own money
Find me elsewhere: My Patreon | My Bluesky account
The translator's preface explains and contextualizes all three books, and mentions that The Stranger's Bed was a volume of love poetry that was not really what people expected of Darwish after he moved back to Ramallah after long exile. They wanted something more overtly political. I understand this, but I hadn't realized going in how much of The Stranger's Bed would be about femininity! It is a whole book exploring both femininity and nonduality. Wonderful, beautiful, deep; I will keep on returning to it. The preface says that eventually readers embraced it... Go embrace it!
The second collection A State of Siege is more overtly political and is a poetic diary of the Second Intifada. I think it is now timely again (oddly I haven't seen a lot of recent mentions of it even though a bunch of individual poems of his went viral), but it has also always been timely.
The third collection Don't Apologize for What You've Done is more widely ranging, but brings back some of the earlier themes too - I love it when entire poetry collections are translated and not just the highlights, by the way. I especially liked the poems dedicated to other poets, just amazing tribute, really. Makes me want to read even more.
____
Source of the book: Bought with my own money
Find me elsewhere: My Patreon | My Bluesky account
November 7, 2025
Some really good poems in here. I liked the organisation of the poems and the cohesiveness of the entire thing (you can tell that they are written by the same poet). But for me, it quickly became a bit tedious to read. I enjoyed the second half more than the first half.
I know a lot of people enjoyed the whole thing but me personally, I just couldn’t get into it.
Poems I liked:
The Damascene Collar of the Dove
A State of Siege
I Have the Wisdom of One Condemned by Death
They Don’t Look Behind Them
A Noun Sentence
I know a lot of people enjoyed the whole thing but me personally, I just couldn’t get into it.
Poems I liked:
The Damascene Collar of the Dove
A State of Siege
I Have the Wisdom of One Condemned by Death
They Don’t Look Behind Them
A Noun Sentence
April 22, 2025
She's alone in the evening, and I am alone as she is ...
Between her candles and me in the winter restaurant are two vacant tables (nothing disturbs our silence).
She doesn't see me, when I see her picking a rose from her chest
and I also don't see her, when she sees me sipping from my wine a kiss ...
She doesn't crumble her bread and I also don't spill the water on the paper tablecloth (nothing disturbs our clarity).
She's alone, and I am in front of her beauty alone. Why doesn't delicacy unite us?
I say to myself-
Why don't I taste her wine?
She doesn't see me, when I see her uncrossing her legs ...
And I also don't see her, when she sees me taking off my coat ...
Nothing bothers her when she's with me nothing bothers me, because we are now harmonious in forgetfulness...
Our dinner was, separately, delicious the night sound was blue
I wasn't alone, and neither was she alone we were together listening to the crystal (nothing fractures our night).
Between her candles and me in the winter restaurant are two vacant tables (nothing disturbs our silence).
She doesn't see me, when I see her picking a rose from her chest
and I also don't see her, when she sees me sipping from my wine a kiss ...
She doesn't crumble her bread and I also don't spill the water on the paper tablecloth (nothing disturbs our clarity).
She's alone, and I am in front of her beauty alone. Why doesn't delicacy unite us?
I say to myself-
Why don't I taste her wine?
She doesn't see me, when I see her uncrossing her legs ...
And I also don't see her, when she sees me taking off my coat ...
Nothing bothers her when she's with me nothing bothers me, because we are now harmonious in forgetfulness...
Our dinner was, separately, delicious the night sound was blue
I wasn't alone, and neither was she alone we were together listening to the crystal (nothing fractures our night).
December 27, 2022
(4⭐️) Everytime I read poetry translated from Arabic I’m like damn half of the meaning is gone with the translation. Translations can never do justice to Arabic texts half of the time no matter how well done it is. But I still really enjoyed this. Arabic and Persian poetry is something made in heaven
March 16, 2024
Amazingly profound collection of poetry, I've never read anything like it. I dont think theres enough words in the dictionary to describe how captivating, soul-shattering and beautiful Mahmoud's poetry is. I had to read every poem over and over again, lingering over every word and metaphor.
This is my favourite book now. Everyone should read this.
This is my favourite book now. Everyone should read this.
January 7, 2023
Quite hard to rate because this was 3 different books plus some extras. The long poem A State of Siege was the standout for sure but it was surrounded by lots of other poems full of stunning imagery and delicate insight. The first part, The Stranger's Bed was my least fave.
December 26, 2023
Mahmoud Darwish is something else. He can do it all: the political, the natural, the eternal love poem, the eulogy, the long poem, and all of them at once! His almond blossoms and clouds, his gazelles and minarets, sweep me off my feet then drag me back down to the sadness of reality.
March 1, 2017
"...Or maybe she died,
because death loves suddenly, like me,
and death, like me, doesn't love waiting."
because death loves suddenly, like me,
and death, like me, doesn't love waiting."
December 23, 2025
“Dream, what is it?
What is this nothing this
time’s passerby,
this splendid as a star in the beginning of love”
What is this nothing this
time’s passerby,
this splendid as a star in the beginning of love”
July 26, 2023
mahmoud darwish is a phenomenal poet that is able to intertwine words and history, beauty and conflict, and past, present and future. his anecdotal poems are represented in the story told with the combination of his three books; 'a stranger's bed', 'the state of siege' and 'don't apologize for what you have done'. 'a stranger's bed' is a collection of emotive poetry surrounding love. his words played feelings to the readership as if they were strings of a guitar, every poem read as lyrics to a song written by one enamoured. this is then contrasted with 'the state of siege'; much like its name, the poetry here was politically driven in nature due to its driver of ramallah—where the book was written in. the conviction of the shared emotion and turmoil with the horrors upleading to the creation of israel were written into the paper as if the ink was with innocent blood. the aftermath of these horrors were then conveyed through the last book; 'don't apologize for what you have done', where the longing for a palestine forgotten is represented through an awareness and dismay of the absence it left behind. alongside important contextual knowledge, carefully noted in the back of the book, fady joudah's translation of darwish's poetry allow remarkable access and understanding to a personal and powerful perspective that is showcased through many linguistic techniques, highlighted with the juxtaposing dialogues: between modes of prose and poetry, or concepts between masculinity and feminity. overall, this was a phenomenal read and i am eager to revisit in the future to widen my own interpretations and knowledge in such a painful, yet beautiful, collection of poetry.
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June 26, 2024Prachtig!!! Door de achtergrond van Mahmoud Darwish verbaasde het me dat dit zoveel meer over liefde ging dan over geweld, maar daarin ligt natuurlijk wel de kracht van poëzie. Ook ben ik groot fan van het feit dat deze bundel de gedichten zowel in het Engels als in het Arabisch bevat. Het zijn eigenlijk drie boeken in één, dus flink wat tekst om je doorheen te werken, maar het is het helemaal waard. Mahmoud was een tovenaar.
“We find time for entertainment
we throw dice or flip through our papers
for news of yesterday’s wounded,
and read the horoscope column: In the year
two thousand and two the camera smiles
for those born in the sign of siege”
“because I love life / on earth, among the pines and figs, but / I couldn’t find a way to it”
“If I had two hearts, I wouldn’t regret
a single love, so that when I erred I’d say: You chose
poorly my wounded heart! … then the right
heart would lead me to the springs”
“So I felt that I had won, and that I had been broken / like a diamond, that nothing but light remained of me”
“We find time for entertainment
we throw dice or flip through our papers
for news of yesterday’s wounded,
and read the horoscope column: In the year
two thousand and two the camera smiles
for those born in the sign of siege”
“because I love life / on earth, among the pines and figs, but / I couldn’t find a way to it”
“If I had two hearts, I wouldn’t regret
a single love, so that when I erred I’d say: You chose
poorly my wounded heart! … then the right
heart would lead me to the springs”
“So I felt that I had won, and that I had been broken / like a diamond, that nothing but light remained of me”
July 16, 2021
Ik schreef een (kort) paper over deze bundel in combinatie met mensenrechten in het conflict Israël-Palestina. Wat ik heel fijn vond, is dat de originele Arabische tekst behouden was in deze bundel. Ik kon het dan wel niet lezen, maar het is zo waardevol om dat te behouden.
Ik weet (te) weinig van Arabische cultuur en absoluut niets van het gewicht van de Zionistische kolonisatie en de systematische onderdrukking dat op de schouders van het Palestijnse volk weegt. Dat maakt het lastig deze gedichten te interpreteren, omdat deze cultuur en ervaringen zo vervlochten zijn met de woorden en interpretaties. Ze zijn zo ingebed in een wereld die mij onbekend is. Desalniettemin zijn de gedichten prachtig, de beelden sterk en de emoties voelbaar. Ik heb dan misschien maar een fractie van de vele lagen en betekenissen begrepen, slechts de oppervlakte verkend, het is een bijzondere bundel. Taal is krachtig en vertalen is een prachtig vak.
Ik weet (te) weinig van Arabische cultuur en absoluut niets van het gewicht van de Zionistische kolonisatie en de systematische onderdrukking dat op de schouders van het Palestijnse volk weegt. Dat maakt het lastig deze gedichten te interpreteren, omdat deze cultuur en ervaringen zo vervlochten zijn met de woorden en interpretaties. Ze zijn zo ingebed in een wereld die mij onbekend is. Desalniettemin zijn de gedichten prachtig, de beelden sterk en de emoties voelbaar. Ik heb dan misschien maar een fractie van de vele lagen en betekenissen begrepen, slechts de oppervlakte verkend, het is een bijzondere bundel. Taal is krachtig en vertalen is een prachtig vak.
August 9, 2024
"Speak of her over my grave and watch how she brings me back to life."
Never particularly been into poetry, but that line alone made me pick up this book - the recommended starting point into Mahmoud Darwish's bibliography.
Such eloquent and beautiful descriptions on numerous topics, including childhood memories, wartime, and of course, love.
It's really interesting to see a Palestinian poet write so vividly about the ongoing conflict at the time, information being dotted throughout the book. Moreover, seeing how events currently are being played out definitely bring a new light to his work, almost melancholic.
"Don't Apologise For What You've Done" was definitely my favourite of the three sections in the book, it'd be a crime to take just a single line from the countless poems, and leave out the rest.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone interested in poetry remotely, especially if you're either a hopeless romantic, or invested in the Palestine conflict.
Or both.
4/5
Never particularly been into poetry, but that line alone made me pick up this book - the recommended starting point into Mahmoud Darwish's bibliography.
Such eloquent and beautiful descriptions on numerous topics, including childhood memories, wartime, and of course, love.
It's really interesting to see a Palestinian poet write so vividly about the ongoing conflict at the time, information being dotted throughout the book. Moreover, seeing how events currently are being played out definitely bring a new light to his work, almost melancholic.
"Don't Apologise For What You've Done" was definitely my favourite of the three sections in the book, it'd be a crime to take just a single line from the countless poems, and leave out the rest.
I'd highly recommend this to anyone interested in poetry remotely, especially if you're either a hopeless romantic, or invested in the Palestine conflict.
Or both.
4/5
January 29, 2021
Another bilingual anthology of poetry by Mahmud Darwish, this one translated by Fady Joudah. It actually contains three of his collections: The Stranger's Bed (1998) is mainly love poetry; A State of Siege (2002) is about the siege of Beirut; and Don't Apologize for What You've Done is both personal and political. All were consistently good; this is probably the best poetry I have read in a long time.
February 2, 2024
the almond blossom sends me flying
in march, from my balcony,
in longing for what the faraway says:
“touch me, and i’ll bring the horses to the water springs.”
i cry for no clear reason, and i love you
as you are, not as a strut
nor in vain
and from my shoulders a morning rises onto you
and falls into you, when i embrace you, a night.
but i am neither one nor the other
no, i am not a sun or a moon
i am a woman, no more and no less.
in march, from my balcony,
in longing for what the faraway says:
“touch me, and i’ll bring the horses to the water springs.”
i cry for no clear reason, and i love you
as you are, not as a strut
nor in vain
and from my shoulders a morning rises onto you
and falls into you, when i embrace you, a night.
but i am neither one nor the other
no, i am not a sun or a moon
i am a woman, no more and no less.
February 20, 2024
poetry is a palate cleanser for me, and I really enjoyed this poetic narrative about love, exile, and estrangement. i think there was a lot lost in translation, but some moments really hit me like a punch to the gut. i didn’t need the benefit of speaking his language to understand the lifelong battle of belonging, but i wish i could grasp the depth of his lyrical mastery because arabic is so inherently musical.
November 25, 2023
God, this collections of poetry made me feel things!!
"Take me to the end
of the earth before morning rises on a moon that used
to cry blood in bed gently
as a star takes the dreamers in vain"
Sometimes it's seductive and intimate, sometimes it's detached and desolate. He got the range! It's heartbreakingly beautiful overall.
"Take me to the end
of the earth before morning rises on a moon that used
to cry blood in bed gently
as a star takes the dreamers in vain"
Sometimes it's seductive and intimate, sometimes it's detached and desolate. He got the range! It's heartbreakingly beautiful overall.
May 18, 2024
darwish taught me that i dont have the words only adjectives. darwish darwish darwish no other is like you. the poet that you are “bridges yesterday and tomorrow” and more and more because you are another and your self and i know which one you are but you are still more and more because you are also a writer with words in front of me
May 18, 2017
I don't think there will ever be an English translation that can fully capture Darwish.
October 19, 2020
“I’m Damascus: / the traveler sings to himself: / I return from Syria / neither alive / nor dead / but as clouds / that ease the butterfly’s burden / from my fugitive soul.”
January 29, 2021
كتاب ممتاز !
May 14, 2022
I have been loved Darwish's poetry forever and took immense pleasure in this book. Truly exquisite!
November 12, 2025
قِلي كوكبًا
هل كُلُّ هذا أَنتِ؟
غامضةً وواضحةً
وحاضرةً وغائبةً معاً…
عيناكِ ليلٌ حالكٌ…ويُضيئني
ويداك باردتان ترتجفان
لكنْ، تُوقدان الجمرَ في جسدي
وصوتك نغمةٌ مائية…وتُذيِبُني في الكأس
….
هل كُلُّ هذا أَنتِ؟
غامضةً وواضحةً
وحاضرةً وغائبةً معاً…
عيناكِ ليلٌ حالكٌ…ويُضيئني
ويداك باردتان ترتجفان
لكنْ، تُوقدان الجمرَ في جسدي
وصوتك نغمةٌ مائية…وتُذيِبُني في الكأس
….
March 25, 2024
I’m so glad this book was translated so I get to experience it. Such amazing writing!
December 8, 2025
this is so beautifully written, i am in awe.
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