A vision by adonis analysis

Adonis

Biography

The poetry of the Syrian-Lebanese poet Adonis perpetually poses questions, questions that are seemingly put to both the reader and the poet himself.

Adonis syrian poet biography youtube In order to weave a complex web of meaning, Adonis makes use of both historical and mythological elements. A salute to Jacques Berque I imagine his voice as the sound of a tambourine, that the tambourine is broken in his throat, that his throat is a fire named God. In other projects. There is a well-known Syrian poet, essayist, and critic who goes by the name Adonis.

Indeed, in the case of Adonis his poems actually seem to continue thinking. They are a reflection of reality but at the same time a reality in themselves. Poetry like this that succeeds in being simultaneously mythical and realistic is rare. Little wonder, therefore, that Adonis is viewed as one of the world’s best poets and is someone who, for many years, has been seen as a serious contender for the Nobel Prize for literature.

Adonis is the pseudonym of Ali Ahmad Said Esber, who was born in in the Syrian village of Qassabin. In the fifties he was imprisoned for a while because of his affiliations to a secular, nationalistic political party.

Adonis syrian poet biography Syrian poet, writer and translator born To be able to truthfully express reality, one must also seek to see that which is concealed. February Learn how and when to remove this message. The name " Adonis " pronounced ah-doh-NEES was picked up by Adonis himself at age 17, after being rejected by a number of magazines under his real name, to "alert napping editors to his precocious talent and his pre-Islamic, pan-Mediterranean muses".

Even after his release he regularly had clashes with the authorities. He moved to Lebanon, the country where according to legend Adonis, the God of beauty, was born. Since , however, he has been domiciled in Paris. Because he has become the renowned but controversial individual he is any notions of returning to the two countries where he has his roots are absolutely out of the question because there he would be an attractive target.

In a recent interview, Adonis declared that he sees it as his task to make people angry.

Louis Paul Boon claimed that you have to keep on badgering people until they develop a conscience: words that could have been spoken by Adonis. What one can at least establish is that his poetry is designed to shake people up, not to consolidate or obscure matters. Although Adonis’ poetry invariably retains its mythical proportions, it is not infrequently allied to actual and major events.

Adonis syrian poet biography wikipedia Artwork [ edit ]. Igiaba Scego pr. His name has become synonymous with the Hadatha modernism which his poetry embodies. Marina Valensise

His collection A Time between Ash and Roses() emanates, for instance, from his experiences and emotions surrounding the Six-Day War of when Israel captured a number of territories, including in Syria and Lebanon. The Book of Sieges() constitutes a reaction to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in   In two long poems Adonis reflects on the World Trade Center attack in New York of 11th September ‘A Grave for New York’ and ‘Concert for 11 / September / Before Christ.’  In the latter poem the following lines somehow typify Adonis’ attitude to ignorance and blind faith.

Apollo, god, lover, beloved,
can you still distinguish between a face and a pair of buttocks?
And you banished and despised one, rejoice and celebrate.
Paradise is here, there, under your feet.


It is not only what Adonis actually has to say in his poetry that is striking but as far as form is concerned he may also be viewed as one of the great modernizers of Arabic verse.

In a certain respect his poems have always retained their traditional link and not infrequently classical Arabic poets feature in his work. Nevertheless, his ever-evolving oeuvre may safely be said to have amounted to an essential innovative source for poetry composed in Arabic. So much so that the writer and translator Samuel Hazo once asserted: “There is Arabic poetry from before and after the arrival of Adonis.”     

© Mischa Andriessen (Translated by Diane Butterman)