This essay offers explanation to Mahmoud Darwish’s, “A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn”. We will go through analysis on what he’s trying to tell us, who he is trying to talk to and how he’s delivering this message. “A Gentle Rain in a Distant Autumn” is mainly about three matters. The Poet’s feelings and emotions towards the situation in Palestine and how he relates to it, the actual situation in Palestine and his one and only desire. The poet’s purpose is to take us on an emotional journey of his melancholy using simple terms intertwined together to form metaphors and imagery that best portrait the morbid and sad image of Palestine.
He is addressing anyone who has affinity towards the subject of Palestine or otherwise. First, he talks about a major sadness in his poem “A gentle Rain in a distant autumn” (01,02,03,04) which symbolizes the death of nature, the death of his own country. A thoughtful sadness, mourning and sorrow through the loss of Palestine dominate. Palestine remains a memory for the author, a distant memory, a cause that is losing, because of the words he uses: “running away” (14), “the birds have flown to a lime which will not return” (35),”A kiss sent in the post” (40).
He even goes further to Express the beauty of his hometown “birds are blue, blue” (2), “windows are white, are white” (11) still in a sad manner followed by how demolished it is now “my country is the joy of being in chains” (39).
The Term Paper on Autumn Rain
I awoke to the soft trickling of water outside my window. It took me a moment to realize that it is raining again; the tranquil sound of water dripping from the birch was as sweet as the silver bells ringing at Christmas. It was only six in the morning, but more than willingly I got up, put on a robe and opened my window. Almost immediately, the chilling November wind gushed in engulfing me with ...
There is a sense of imprisonment and lost lives in the poem that describes Palestine today as a country in “chains”(39), “seller of aspirin and death”(24),”Slaughtered” (42).
He mentioned his “dead a fetus” (26) which means he is dead before having the chance to live because of his sadness to his country.
Throughout his poem the poet’s repetition of metaphors is not for poetry’s sake only. It is for us to understand how persistent he is, and what he really wants. He mentions his only desire or all that he wants now is his “mother’s handkerchief”. A mother could never imply anything that is not positive. A mother is another symbol of home and security. He only wants to live through this. He doesn’t want anything else. He realizes that his country is in chains and he might not be able to help given that his country doesn’t listen to him “from the country that’s forgotten the speech of the distant ones” (28).
Darwish’s imagery and tone are so powerful he was able to make the reader see eye-to-eye what he wants us to live. Once you go through the poem, you are already in a state of surrender and silence. You appreciate the severity of the situation and his emotional set back towards it. It’s not one that is calling for all people to stand up and fight. It is rather the acceptance of what is with a great deal of nostalgia to the past. It is also powerful because I was able to live his experience by just reading his words.
His words were simple but they went beyond its evident simplicity to serve the poet a favor to deliver his message easily but with a lot of power because his images resonate. In conclusion, the poet took us on a journey of emotions. We felt the highs and lows. We were able to see through his commitment to be true to form, to share with us his own perception of reality with a dominant surge of sad imagery. His world will always be his words that best describe his images and the Palestine he will always love.
