PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroduction Part I: Poets Before the Fifties Ilya Abu MadiThe Human ClayThe Phoenix Umar Abu RishaA Roman TempleAn Eagle Ilyas Abu ShabakaYou or I?This Is My WineI Love You Al-Akhtal al-SaghirThe Wisdom of LifeHind and her Mother Sa'id 'AcqlDo Not Show Your LoveMore Beautiful Than Your EyesDark BeautyFrom: The Book of Roses Badawi al-JabalDark MirageThe VisitImmortalityBeauty Al Tijani Yusuf BashirTormented MysticMemories of the Village School Ilyas FarhatQuatrainsMy Burned SuitSalmaWilderness Gibran Kahlil GibranVeiled LandEarthThe Seven StagesFameThe Poet Hafiz IbrahimDescribing a Suit Muhammad M. al-JawahiriCome Down, DarknessLullaby for the Hungry Mutran Khalil MutranBoycottEvening Ahmad al-Safi al-NajafiWhere is the Guard?The Pleasures of DarknessThe Ship of LifeThe Moth Ibrahim NajiFarewellOblivion Amin NakhlaTo the Beloved Grown Past YouthBlack Song Mikha'il al-RasafiPoem to al-RaihaniThe Abyss of Death Abu al-Qasim al-ShabbiLife's WillQuatrains from "Song of Ecstacy" Ahman ShauqiBois de BoulogneThoughts on SchoolchildrenAn Andalusian Exile 'Ali Mahmud TahaThe Blind MusicianEgyptian Serenade Ibrahim TuqanThe MartyrPerplexity Jamil S. al-ZahawiBoth Strangers Part II: Poets After the Fifties Hasan 'AbdallahI Remember Having Loved Muhammad 'Abd al-HayyOde of Signs Salah 'Abd al-SaburExpectation: Night and DayThe Gist of the StoryThe People of my CountryWinter SongThe Sun and the Woman 'Abd al-Razzaq 'Abd al-WahidDreaded RoadReaching FortyYou Rise Among TruthsShauqi Abi ShaqraWater for the Family HouseThe StudentFugue AdunisA Mirror to KhalidaBeginning SpeechA SongMihyar, A KingA Grave for New York 'Ali Ja'far al-AllaqPoetLady of Chaos Muhammad al-As'adGardens for the Fire and the RainThe Princess 'Abd-Allah al-BaraduniFrom Exile to ExileA Rose From Al-Mutannabi's Blood Saleen BarakatDilana and DiramThe Wild GoatThe Cows of HeavenThe GreyhoundThe Hoopoe birdThe FlamingoThe Squirrel 'Abd al-Wahhab al-BayyatiThe ImpossibleLuzumiyyaThe Birth of Aisha and Her DeathElegy for Aisha Mohammad BennisThe Second ComingBelonging to a New Family Sargon BoulusLighterPoemMy Father's DreamSiege Mahmoud al-BuraikanTale of the Assyrian StateMan of the Stone City Ahmad DahburIn Memory of 'Iziddin al-QalaqThe Death of the Shoemaker Mahmoud DarwishDiary of a Palestinian WoundBreadBeirutPoems After Beirut Zuhur DixonOvertureDialogue of the Night of the RosesSeason of Beginning and End Two Hands on the Water Amal DunqulThe Scaffold CornerTomorrowTrainsThe City A Wrecked Ship Salah Fa'iqPoems Muhammad al-FaituriThe StoryIncidentThe Question and the AnswerThe DervishThe Closed DoorA ScreamThe Vision Muhammad al-GhuzziFemaleQuatrains for JoyYour EyesA DreamThe PenMy SisterTaghoreThe Beggar