The Image and the Structure of the Tale in “Ḥaffār al-qubūr”

Abstract

This research aims to explore the role of the poetic image in the structure of the tale in Badr Shakir al-Sayyāb’s poem “Ḥaffār al-qubūr” (The Grave Digger). It highlights structural features of the poetic image and analyses how images appear and develop in the poem. Poetic images in “Ḥaffār al-qubūr” grow in tandem, whereby single images form a scene delineating place and time. The research also aims to heighten the overlap between the image and tale components in “Ḥaffār al-qubūr”, as the tale in the poem is formed by poetic images. The research focuses in particular on time and character, due to their complex and ambiguous nature in the poem. The research provides an analytical study which directly examines poetic images and the tale in “Ḥaffār al-qubūr” and the manner by which they produce the poem’s vision and meaning. The poem does not offer abstract meanings; they are instead embodied by the poetic images and by the tale, of which they are deemed to be part.