Poetry
الأرواح الحائرة
Not translated into English
Nasib Arida · 1946
Synopsis
Les Âmes perplexes: the collection gathers the poems of an exile who, in New York, keeps returning to the alleyways of his native town and its black stones. Skyscrapers and big cities do not distract him from his lost childhood. Nostalgia feeds a constant questioning about the meaning of life, judged harsh and tasteless far from what one loves, and a melancholy that turns into pessimism; the soul's perplexity gives the book its title.
Context
The collection appeared in 1946, from the presses of an Arabic newspaper of the city, and brings together poems written over several decades. Its author died a few days before its release, while the volume was still at the binder's. It came out fifteen years after the dispersal of the literary circle of the New York emigration; Mikhail Naimy, a friend of the poet's youth, welcomed its singular voice, which is not to be confused with that of any other.
Who it is for
A collection of poems in Arabic, without translation; it reads better with some knowledge of Arabic poetry in North America.
Prizes and reception
The only collection by its author, regarded as one of the major voices of Arabic poetry of emigration in North America.