Percy Bysshe Shelley and Anial Donkol : a comparison between the social function of their poetry

Abstract EN

Considering the common belief that Shelley is the romande poet par excellence, it may sound odd to claim that Amal Donkol, the exemplar of the revolutionary Arabie poet in the 1970s, was influenced by Shelley.

However, recently published works by Donkol show that he shares more than a superficial resemblance with the great Romantic poet.

Since the so- called Arab Spring Uprising, many people hâve begun to read or re-read Amal Donkol with a new understanding.

For one, I re- discovered that Donkol does not only écho Shelley’s revolutionary stance, but also certain romantic éléments.

Generally speaking, there were striking similarities in the social, political, intellectual, historical, and cultural contexts associated with the revolutionary nature of Shelley and Donkol.

Also, both of them had witnessed many facets of social injustice and political oppression.

As a resuit, their poetry, each in its own way, marked a considérable shift from the Neo-Classical conservatism to revolutionary Romanticism.

Consequently, they are considered to be variously représentatives of revoit against and challenge to the “You can do nothing but to flee / Escape recurs every moming!” (414, Translation mine).

Hence, he prefers to be a wild bird over being a domestic one, freedom over slavery, life over death.

Donkol ends tbe poem with the fact that the two wings of a bird are contradictory: one means life and freedom and the other means death and slavery.

Considering the transience of life, the poet values the wild over the domestic