Review of « Snow Caravans », a poem collection by the Moroccan Poet Abdellatif Rhesri
Written in Arabic By Mohamed Youb
Translated By Abdellatif Rhesri
When we read a literary work, we tend to feel it and get impressed with its themes, and there develops a link between the text (piece of creation) and the reader (critic). This intimate relation is built immediately after starting to read a literary work. The critic does not actually get into the realm of the text, but the text does, indeed, enter the critic’s dominion. This is an introduction to the relation with which I have got bound to the poem collection of the Moroccan poet Abdellatif Rhesri. The book is entitled « Snow Caravans » and is of 96 medium-sized pages.
Having read the book, I had a great urge to analyse it as it is still brand new and needs to be analysed many times. Besides, the poet is going through an interesting poetic experience that is quite matchless among modern poets. This experience has to do with the attempt to keep the classical form of the Arabic poem while sticking to modernity. I shall read the book, then, from two different perspectives ; from outside, talking about the form, and from inside, bearing in mind the impact it has on readers.
The structure of the poetic phrase in « Snow Caravans » is bound to a strange dynamism which the poet has managed to establish by insisting on the appropriate shape of each and every word in the poems. It is a sort of dynamism that blends the elements of place and time of the texts. This makes you think that you are facing one single space in which place and time co-exist in a sort of quietude imposed by the nature of the poet and the place in which most of these poems were written at first ; the town of Sidi Rahal. This town is not far from Marrakech ; the historic Moroccan city that is situated on the feet of the Atlass Mountains where nature is stunning with its beauty and fertility. Thus, the poet is found out to be in complete harmony with that nature and from time to time depicts it and makes it move, act and speak like a living creature. In the poem entitled « You Go Past Me », the poet makes use of strange paradoxes in depicting himself like a lover worn down by time and portraying the glamour of his beloved one who keeps on walking past him gracefully and coquettishly. Such a silent dialogue between the lover and his beloved one feels nature itself with admiration towards the beloved one’s coquetry and persistent gracefulness. Fro this purpose, the poet makes use of dichotomies that contribute to the establishment of this dynamism which gives additional value to the book.
Such dynamism invades each and every poem and grants it further diversity. Therefore, we see that the poet has created a quite ironical dialogue witnessed by the laughing rooms, the ceiling that is moved with extreme joy and the blue glass that glances at this dynamic movement and even intensifies it. The poem’s space, now, has turned into one of the poem’s characters. This huge change in the poem’s structure keeps on occurring and developing whenever we get into the poem’s details and it shows up quite clearly in the key poem that is entitled « Snow Caravans ». the latter is a rich poem teeming with nice metaphors that add glamour to the texts to the extent that it has established such a paradox taking into account that the « drizzle » falling from the mouth of the beloved one has become elusive. This is a highly created paradox that feels inanimate objects with vivacity and makes them move freely in the poem’s space. These are figurative expressions that have enabled language to burst out and shift to meanings other than the ones we usually grasp from a particular term.
The poet describes the snow coming from the nearby mountains as a soldier caravan coming from over there ; from nowhere, where snow is standing still in its place, not moving, but the image does move ; the one that is turned by the poet into a living thing raiding and killing without fight. It is a highly surreal and abstract mural signed by the poet Abdellatif Rhesri.
Also, the poem’s dynamism appears in the carefully selected titles. They are there, not by chance but to provide a sort of vitality and dynamism to the image of the poet’s psychological side and grant the poem such a tremendous amount of meanings and images.
When it comes to imagination, the poet does not make use of it for its own sake, but to convey an image that is long fixed in his mind to a cirtain level of imagination that brings it closer to reality. Imagination, then, in the poet’s view is bound to a reality overwhelmed with nature and its beautiful landscapes.
By sticking to rhymes and meters, the poet tries to reconcile the past with the present. He goes back to the past without getting submerged into it. He tries to invoke the language of the past and use it in an esthetic manner to raise modern issues and concerns. This he manages to do by adding a nice poetic touch to that language blending seriousness with pleasantry in raising issues. The « Snow Caravan »’s careful reader will feel the poet’s Marrakchi typical sobriety and humorousness through the terms used by the poet. These terms, despite being satirical, are far from being obscene or offensive for the reader. It is the language of a professor and poet who knows how to employ terms in their appropriate places. This is what we have noticed in this book of poems.
In addition to this, the book dynamism appears in the semantic use of the cover. The poet, whether intentionally or unintentionally, has chosen this cover that implies to the reader that snow is coming down from above as if to invade an underworld that is unable to engage in wars. It is a war of images that are deceptive for the reader who indulges in contemplating that war. The strength of the poet’s imagination appears in his imaginatively varied poems. In « Whispers to the Sea », for instance, we see how he woos the sea and whispers to him gently showing his tenency towards meditation and nice love. It is so much so that he wishes he could travel to it out of pure and true love. Here, we see how strong is the imagination that goes deeper into the nature of things, despite the fact that the poet’s access to the sea is considertably weak due to the fact that he lives in Sidi Rahal which is very far from the sea. Nevertheless, you can feel that the sea is dwelt by the poet, or rather the poet is dwelt by the sea.
« Snow Caravans » is another call from the poet Abdellatif Rhesri who goes through a considerable experience with classical poetry quite self-confidently and seriously. Thus, the reader feels that he is dealing with a great poet who goes his way in the path of Arabic classical poetry steadfastly, trying to improve general poetic tastes. His other main purpose is to draw a method of poetic writing that is both unique and challenging with the good meaning of the word.
Written in Arabic By Mohamed Youb
Translated By Abdellatif Rhesri
When we read a literary work, we tend to feel it and get impressed with its themes, and there develops a link between the text (piece of creation) and the reader (critic). This intimate relation is built immediately after starting to read a literary work. The critic does not actually get into the realm of the text, but the text does, indeed, enter the critic’s dominion. This is an introduction to the relation with which I have got bound to the poem collection of the Moroccan poet Abdellatif Rhesri. The book is entitled « Snow Caravans » and is of 96 medium-sized pages.
Having read the book, I had a great urge to analyse it as it is still brand new and needs to be analysed many times. Besides, the poet is going through an interesting poetic experience that is quite matchless among modern poets. This experience has to do with the attempt to keep the classical form of the Arabic poem while sticking to modernity. I shall read the book, then, from two different perspectives ; from outside, talking about the form, and from inside, bearing in mind the impact it has on readers.
The structure of the poetic phrase in « Snow Caravans » is bound to a strange dynamism which the poet has managed to establish by insisting on the appropriate shape of each and every word in the poems. It is a sort of dynamism that blends the elements of place and time of the texts. This makes you think that you are facing one single space in which place and time co-exist in a sort of quietude imposed by the nature of the poet and the place in which most of these poems were written at first ; the town of Sidi Rahal. This town is not far from Marrakech ; the historic Moroccan city that is situated on the feet of the Atlass Mountains where nature is stunning with its beauty and fertility. Thus, the poet is found out to be in complete harmony with that nature and from time to time depicts it and makes it move, act and speak like a living creature. In the poem entitled « You Go Past Me », the poet makes use of strange paradoxes in depicting himself like a lover worn down by time and portraying the glamour of his beloved one who keeps on walking past him gracefully and coquettishly. Such a silent dialogue between the lover and his beloved one feels nature itself with admiration towards the beloved one’s coquetry and persistent gracefulness. Fro this purpose, the poet makes use of dichotomies that contribute to the establishment of this dynamism which gives additional value to the book.
Such dynamism invades each and every poem and grants it further diversity. Therefore, we see that the poet has created a quite ironical dialogue witnessed by the laughing rooms, the ceiling that is moved with extreme joy and the blue glass that glances at this dynamic movement and even intensifies it. The poem’s space, now, has turned into one of the poem’s characters. This huge change in the poem’s structure keeps on occurring and developing whenever we get into the poem’s details and it shows up quite clearly in the key poem that is entitled « Snow Caravans ». the latter is a rich poem teeming with nice metaphors that add glamour to the texts to the extent that it has established such a paradox taking into account that the « drizzle » falling from the mouth of the beloved one has become elusive. This is a highly created paradox that feels inanimate objects with vivacity and makes them move freely in the poem’s space. These are figurative expressions that have enabled language to burst out and shift to meanings other than the ones we usually grasp from a particular term.
The poet describes the snow coming from the nearby mountains as a soldier caravan coming from over there ; from nowhere, where snow is standing still in its place, not moving, but the image does move ; the one that is turned by the poet into a living thing raiding and killing without fight. It is a highly surreal and abstract mural signed by the poet Abdellatif Rhesri.
Also, the poem’s dynamism appears in the carefully selected titles. They are there, not by chance but to provide a sort of vitality and dynamism to the image of the poet’s psychological side and grant the poem such a tremendous amount of meanings and images.
When it comes to imagination, the poet does not make use of it for its own sake, but to convey an image that is long fixed in his mind to a cirtain level of imagination that brings it closer to reality. Imagination, then, in the poet’s view is bound to a reality overwhelmed with nature and its beautiful landscapes.
By sticking to rhymes and meters, the poet tries to reconcile the past with the present. He goes back to the past without getting submerged into it. He tries to invoke the language of the past and use it in an esthetic manner to raise modern issues and concerns. This he manages to do by adding a nice poetic touch to that language blending seriousness with pleasantry in raising issues. The « Snow Caravan »’s careful reader will feel the poet’s Marrakchi typical sobriety and humorousness through the terms used by the poet. These terms, despite being satirical, are far from being obscene or offensive for the reader. It is the language of a professor and poet who knows how to employ terms in their appropriate places. This is what we have noticed in this book of poems.
In addition to this, the book dynamism appears in the semantic use of the cover. The poet, whether intentionally or unintentionally, has chosen this cover that implies to the reader that snow is coming down from above as if to invade an underworld that is unable to engage in wars. It is a war of images that are deceptive for the reader who indulges in contemplating that war. The strength of the poet’s imagination appears in his imaginatively varied poems. In « Whispers to the Sea », for instance, we see how he woos the sea and whispers to him gently showing his tenency towards meditation and nice love. It is so much so that he wishes he could travel to it out of pure and true love. Here, we see how strong is the imagination that goes deeper into the nature of things, despite the fact that the poet’s access to the sea is considertably weak due to the fact that he lives in Sidi Rahal which is very far from the sea. Nevertheless, you can feel that the sea is dwelt by the poet, or rather the poet is dwelt by the sea.
« Snow Caravans » is another call from the poet Abdellatif Rhesri who goes through a considerable experience with classical poetry quite self-confidently and seriously. Thus, the reader feels that he is dealing with a great poet who goes his way in the path of Arabic classical poetry steadfastly, trying to improve general poetic tastes. His other main purpose is to draw a method of poetic writing that is both unique and challenging with the good meaning of the word.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire