Contrasting Dualities in the Poetry of Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab

Abstract

#The aim of this research is to study the phenomenon of contrasting dualities in the poetry of Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab, relying on the structural-inductive approach in an attempt to trace this phenomenon in the poet's life. The research seeks to understand the prevalence, spread, and artistic value of these dualities in his poetry, as well as uncover the factors and reasons that influenced his construction of themes and poetic imagery. After reviewing the life and poetry of the poet, the research arrived at several key findings. Firstly, since a young age, Al-Sayyab lived a miserable life filled with harsh troubles. He faced severe psychological shocks, experienced the pain of loss, exile, poverty, and need. He endured the bitterness of repeated failures and setbacks, and ultimately suffered from a serious illness that subjected him to various forms of agony, wounds, poverty, exile, and arduous travel for treatment until his death in a hospital in Kuwait. Al-Sayyab was deprived of the tenderness of a mother and the care of a father. He lived in exile and poverty in Baghdad, constantly yearning for his village, Jikor. He faced imprisonment multiple times and was repeatedly dismissed from his job due to his political positions. He also failed in love, unable to find a woman who could fill his life, resulting in emotional and political failures. His struggle extended to economic and social realms, as he failed to secure a stable income that would guarantee a decent life. Being primarily a sensitive and ambitious poet, all of these factors and reasons contributed to his living in a terrifying conflict between opposing dualities. His conflict between hope and despair often led him to failure and despondency. From these overall influences, we can interpret the psychological turmoil and conflict of opposites that permeate Al-Sayyab's poetry. It reflects the intellectual, political, social, and economic disturbances of the early stage of his life. The same conflict persists in the later stage of his life, complemented by the health factor, intensifying the tension. He struggled with illness until his death. Contrasting dualities formed the fundamental axes upon which Al-Sayyab built his poetry. They shaped his positions, ideas, and poetic imagery. These dualities include the village and the city, hope and despair, good and evil, positivity and negativity, freedom and coercion, revolution and surrender, peace and war, exile and homeland, past and present, life and death, as well as the duality of form and content. They reflect the poet's life and his struggle with life and its circumstances. These dualities contributed to the generation of his poetic energy and endowed his poetry with immortality and influence. The poet drew inspiration from these dualities, squeezing out painful conflicts and dualities, igniting them to create the melancholic songs and elegies that encapsulate the emotions of an entire nation. While they reflect the poet's personal feelings and emotions, he managed to imbue them with depth and universality to make them resonate with all people.