Q: Write a note on features of Iraqi poetry.

Introduction:

The beginnings of early Iraqi poetry are found in the Bedouin culture which existed before the advent of Islam. For centuries, poetry was the first religion for many people. People's collective wisdom, their history and heritage, their values and ideals, their pride and achievements are all preserved in poetry lines. Poetry is so central in Iraqi people's sentiment and disposition that any glimpse of Iraq would be incomplete without some mention of it.

Features of Iraqi poetry:

Modern Iraq is an important cultural powerhouse of the Arab world. Iraqi poets have been in the forefront of contemporary Arabic culture. Iraq has produced many great poets like Badr Shakir Al Sayyab, Nazik al-Mala’ika, Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati etc. who wrote poetry which inspired not only the Iraqi people but also people of other countries. They also made great changes in the forms of poetry.

Some of the features of Iraqi poetry are as under:

1) Free Verse:
Poets used conventional Arabic poetical form which included rhyming and metric patterns but in the middle of the twentieth century, there had been a violation of the conventional Arabic poetical form, by three poets, Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab,Nazik Al-Malaika, and Abd al-Wahhab Al-Bayati. These poets ended the rhyming and metric patterns in favour of the free verse or Tafila, launching the Arab Free Verse Movement or Tafila poetry.

2) Subject of oppression:
One of the prime subjects treated by Iraqi poets is the oppressive regime that existed under Saddam Hussein. In “Dragon,” Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayyati reminds the world of the man and his reign.

3) Wide range in style:
There is a variety of style in Iraqi poetry. The Iraqi poetic styles range from traditional to modernistic to experimental.

4) Theme of war:
War is the major theme of Iraqi poetry as the country is war-stricken. War has its influence on the poetry too. The other themes covered in Iraqi poetry include love, fascism, sanctions, torture, prison, exile, communism, nationalism, feminism, homeland, exile, colonialism and selfhood. War and dictatorship are the dominant themes in Iraqi poetry.

5) Easy Language:
Many Iraqi poets compose poetry in colloquial Arabic that many people enjoy. Their poetry is easily understood, even by people who cannot read, as it is only recited, never written. It fills radio and television broadcasts and has enthusiastic listeners.

6) Sufism:
In modern Iraqi poetry and in modern Arabic poetry in general there has been a strong trend to use-or claim to use-Sufism. Sufism expresses an intense desire to reject the present world and to dream of a better one.

7) Historically informed:
One of the inspiring features of Iraqi poetry is that it is both historically informed and critically powerful, expressed with a refreshing array of complex, compound, absolute and submerged metaphors, all of which undergird a powerfully alluring imagery.

Conclusion:

Iraqi Poetry has changed from the conventional style to modern with the changing conditions of Iraq and the Arab world. It represents the modern age and the problems faced by human beings in this age of science and technology.

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