TRADITIONAL ARABIC POEM AND THE PIONEERS OF FREE VERSE POETRY IN EGYPT

Abstract

This paper is an investigation into the controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the use of the free verse in Egypt. To that effect some selected poems were analyzed to highlight our claim. The free verse was introduced in the late forties in the Arabic world by two prominent Arabian pioneers; Nazik al-Mala’ika, an Iraqi female poet (1923-2007), and Salah Abd al-Sabour, an Egyptian poet (1931-1981) assisted by others. This new poetry was considered a revolution against the traditional form of Arabic poetry known as alkasidatu al-Amoudyatu, still controversial today, even though it was not concerned with form only as the new form of free verse began to be seen rightly as part of the content itself in the sixties (Boullata,1976).In addition to being influenced by T.S. Eliot (1965-1988),the free verse poets were affected by social change as they realized they had to respond to the changes of their time. From the beginning of this movement till now, the traditional poetry has not disappeared as was expected but is still being observed by the remaining pioneers of the free verse.