hate
Those who are at war with meâ¦
Then he comes out of our wooden hut,
And walks eighty metres to
Our house of stone there on the edge of plain⦠/
*
Greet our house, O stranger.
Our coffee cups
Are still as they were. Do you smell
Our fingers over them? Do you tell your daughter with
Her plait and thick eyebrows that they have
An absent owner,
Who wishes to visit them, for no reasonâ¦
But to enter their looking glass and see his secret:
How they were living his life after him
In his place? Greet them if time permits⦠/
*
These are the words that we would have liked
To say to him, he heard it very, very
Well,
And he hides it in a quick cough,
And casts it aside, then the buttons on his tunic
Shine as he goes away⦠Well,
And he hides it in a quick cough,
And casts it aside, then the buttons on his tunic
Shine as he goes awayâ¦
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Mahmoud Darwish was born in al-Birwa in Western Galilee in 1941, the second of eight children. In 1948, after the establishment of the state of Israel, Darwish’s family move to Lebanon for a year, but later settled in Deir al-Asad in the Acre area. Darwish attended secondary school in Galilee and, after graduating, moved to Haifa to work as a journalist. His first collection of poetry,
Asafir Bila Ajniha (Wingless birds)
was published in 1960, when he was nineteen. He would go on to write many more collections of poetry and be hailed as one of the greatest Arab poets of the modern day. Darwish also became editor of a number of periodicals.
Politically involved throughout his life, in 1961, he joined Rakah, the Israeli Communist Party, and when living in Beirut in 1973, he joined the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, an action which resulted in his being refused entry to Israel. Despite criticism of both Israeli and Palestinian leadership, Darwish believed that peace was an attainable aim. Darwish’s life was marked by constant relocation, he lived in Cairo, Beirut, London, Paris and Tunis, and in the later part of the 1990s, he alternated between Amman and Ramallah. He was married and divorced twice but never had children. He died in August 2008, following complications from heart surgery.
Mohammad Shaheen holds a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University. He is professor of English at the University of Jordan and the author of many books, including
E.M. Forster and The Politics of Imperialism
.
HESPERUS PRESS
Under our three imprints, Hesperus Press publishes over 300 books by many of the greatest figures in worldwide literary history, as well as contemporary and debut authors well worth discovering.
Hesperus Classics handpicks the best of worldwide and translated literature, introducing forgotten and neglected books to new generations.
Hesperus Nova showcases quality contemporary fiction and non-fiction designed to entertain and inspire.
Hesperus Minor rediscovers well-loved children’s books from the past – these are books which will bring back fond memories for adults, which they will want to share with their children and loved ones.
To find out more visit www.hesperuspress.com
@HesperusPress
SELECTED TITLES FROM HESPERUS PRESS
Author
Title
Foreword writer
----
Pietro Aretino
The School of Whoredom
Paul Bailey
Pietro Aretino
The Secret Life of Nuns
Jane Austen
Lesley Castle
Zoë Heller
Jane Austen
Love and Friendship
Fay Weldon
Honoré de Balzac
Colonel Chabert
A.N. Wilson
Charles Baudelaire
On Wine and Hashish
Margaret Drabble
Giovanni Boccaccio
Life of Dante
A.N. Wilson
Charlotte Brontë
The Spell
Emily Brontë
Poems of Solitude
Helen Dunmore
Mikhail Bulgakov
Fatal Eggs
Doris Lessing
Mikhail Bulgakov
The Heart of a Dog
A.S. Byatt
Giacomo Casanova
The Duel
Tim Parks
Miguel de Cervantes
The Dialogue of the Dogs
Ben Okri
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Parliament of
Those who are at war with meâ¦
Then he comes out of our wooden hut,
And walks eighty metres to
Our house of stone there on the edge of plain⦠/
*
Greet our house, O stranger.
Our coffee cups
Are still as they were. Do you smell
Our fingers over them? Do you tell your daughter with
Her plait and thick eyebrows that they have
An absent owner,
Who wishes to visit them, for no reasonâ¦
But to enter their looking glass and see his secret:
How they were living his life after him
In his place? Greet them if time permits⦠/
*
These are the words that we would have liked
To say to him, he heard it very, very
Well,
And he hides it in a quick cough,
And casts it aside, then the buttons on his tunic
Shine as he goes away⦠Well,
And he hides it in a quick cough,
And casts it aside, then the buttons on his tunic
Shine as he goes awayâ¦
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Mahmoud Darwish was born in al-Birwa in Western Galilee in 1941, the second of eight children. In 1948, after the establishment of the state of Israel, Darwish’s family move to Lebanon for a year, but later settled in Deir al-Asad in the Acre area. Darwish attended secondary school in Galilee and, after graduating, moved to Haifa to work as a journalist. His first collection of poetry,
Asafir Bila Ajniha (Wingless birds)
was published in 1960, when he was nineteen. He would go on to write many more collections of poetry and be hailed as one of the greatest Arab poets of the modern day. Darwish also became editor of a number of periodicals.
Politically involved throughout his life, in 1961, he joined Rakah, the Israeli Communist Party, and when living in Beirut in 1973, he joined the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, an action which resulted in his being refused entry to Israel. Despite criticism of both Israeli and Palestinian leadership, Darwish believed that peace was an attainable aim. Darwish’s life was marked by constant relocation, he lived in Cairo, Beirut, London, Paris and Tunis, and in the later part of the 1990s, he alternated between Amman and Ramallah. He was married and divorced twice but never had children. He died in August 2008, following complications from heart surgery.
Mohammad Shaheen holds a PhD in English Literature from Cambridge University. He is professor of English at the University of Jordan and the author of many books, including
E.M. Forster and The Politics of Imperialism
.
HESPERUS PRESS
Under our three imprints, Hesperus Press publishes over 300 books by many of the greatest figures in worldwide literary history, as well as contemporary and debut authors well worth discovering.
Hesperus Classics handpicks the best of worldwide and translated literature, introducing forgotten and neglected books to new generations.
Hesperus Nova showcases quality contemporary fiction and non-fiction designed to entertain and inspire.
Hesperus Minor rediscovers well-loved children’s books from the past – these are books which will bring back fond memories for adults, which they will want to share with their children and loved ones.
To find out more visit www.hesperuspress.com
@HesperusPress
SELECTED TITLES FROM HESPERUS PRESS
Author
Title
Foreword writer
----
Pietro Aretino
The School of Whoredom
Paul Bailey
Pietro Aretino
The Secret Life of Nuns
Jane Austen
Lesley Castle
Zoë Heller
Jane Austen
Love and Friendship
Fay Weldon
Honoré de Balzac
Colonel Chabert
A.N. Wilson
Charles Baudelaire
On Wine and Hashish
Margaret Drabble
Giovanni Boccaccio
Life of Dante
A.N. Wilson
Charlotte Brontë
The Spell
Emily Brontë
Poems of Solitude
Helen Dunmore
Mikhail Bulgakov
Fatal Eggs
Doris Lessing
Mikhail Bulgakov
The Heart of a Dog
A.S. Byatt
Giacomo Casanova
The Duel
Tim Parks
Miguel de Cervantes
The Dialogue of the Dogs
Ben Okri
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Parliament of
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