Exile as the agency in patriotic verse, with particular reference to shawqi's poetry before and after exile

Abstract EN

Shawqi wrote national poetry before and after his exile to Spain, but the difference between his poetry in Egypt and his poetry in exile is immense.

Before exile, he was accused of being the poet of the princes.

He missed no chance to praise them, glorify their deeds, attack their opponents, and recite the incidents they cared about.

The critics, thus, claim that he was at that time closer to being an employee in the court, although he had the talent.

He was in his ivory tower, with the prince and his entourage sometimes and with his friends at soirees some other times.

He was, thus, away from the Egyptian people and their agonies.

For more than twenty years, the period he spent in the court, Shawqi was fettered; he was not free to decide his destination; he felt what his prince wanted him to feel.

He was like a songbird whose voice was strangled except when it extolled its owner.

However, when the Muse released him for a while from the fetters, he composed such poems as ''Great Incidents in the Nile Valley'' and ''The Nile'' to document the historical events, to display the various eras and kings and to prove his true princedom of poetry.

This true voice was, unfortunately, discontinuous and weak enough to stay in shackles.

Because he found in praise the fountain that gave him all he sought, Shawqi was unable to drink, for long, from other fountains such as history or religion.

In exile, Shawqi underwent many hardships that he never knew in Egypt.

For the first time, he suffered indigence, expatriation, loneliness, and sadness over his past blessings.

Such anguish was important to balance the luxury, patronage, and familiarity he experienced all his life.

Exile, thus, was a turning point in his life.

Finally, he took off the mantle of the poet laureate turning to sentimental poetry to describe his yearning for Egypt and its people.

His production in exile, however, was not abundant as if he lost the pole to which he used to direct his poems.

When he returned home from Spain, Shawqi found a new prince, the Egyptian People, to care about.

He became the spokesman of the poor, the lawyer of the nation, and the defender of rights.

He supported the Arab countries in their struggle for liberty, calling for unity and missing no chance to take the side of an Egyptian or Arabian leader.

Finding a new peak – the love of his nation – that he never preoccupied himself to reach, Shawqi offered them his poetry on the altar of national pride and unity.