Abstract
In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures, and peace be upon prophet Muhammed and his most venerated household and companions (peace be upon them).
Since ancient times and throughout history, Iraq has been rich with poets and thinkers, in country that often represented the Islamic culture for centuries. Every Iraqi city has had a story with creativity. Kerbala city is one of the Iraqi cities that occupied a salient position in fields of science and knowledge. It supplied science, knowledge, and intellectuality with many names, not only in the field of literature but also in various aspects of knowledge and culture. AL-Howazi is an important figure of Iraqi literatures who has not been studied yet.
AL-Howazi’s poetry is characterized with its variety in directions and purposes. much of his poetry has been dedicated for the praise of prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) and his venerated household (pesce be upon them). His poetry expressed the Iraqi people’s hopes for freedom and rights. AL-Howazi has a distinguished presence in social gatherings, he also has reflections on the self.
In spite of his prolificacy, AL-Howazi’s poetry has not received an independent academic study, the current study, therefor, sheds light on his poetic directions and the most significant artistic features of his poetry in gratitude for a poet who has served the cause of his nation. He presented a rich literary output in a time when culture manifestations retreated in many Arab countries.
The study falls into two sections preceded by an introduction on the poet’s milieu and biography three aspects has been discussed in this regard; (the general milieu, the personal environment, and the poet’s bibliography and literary output).
Section one is dedicated for the study of the poet’s poetic directions, it contains four chapters;
1- Chapter one; The religious direction in which religious poetry on Divinity, praise of prophet Muhammed and his household (peace be upon them), and lamenting the household.
2- Chapter two; The political direction in which national and patriotic poetry is studied, as well as praise and lamenting of political figures.
3- Chapter three; The social direction in which social relationships, lamentation, praise, congratulation, and welcoming poetry, the criticism of negative phenomenon, preaching, and wisdom poetry and poetic history.
4- Chapter four; The personal direction, here the purposes of courtship, complaint, description and ”Talal” (remembering the beloved’s home).
Section two has been dedicated for the study of the artistic features of the poet’s poetry. Though the artistic study followers a well established known approach, it is more dynamic that the others. Hence the researcher has divided it into four chapters;
1- Chapter one; The poetic language. This chapter is introduced by defining the concept. It is followed by two subsections; the first is dedicated for the study of the poet’s vocabulary glossary which includes (vocabulary of the Holy Quran, Islamic law, media vocabulary, politics, war, chivalry, and animal names and characteristics).
The second subsection includes the levels of linguistic performance; the most important of these are (performance using old lexical language, and performance using the simple language).
2- Chapter two; Intertextuality in AL-Howazi’s poetry. This is introduced by an explanation of the concept and its mechanisms. This is followed by two subsections; the first deals with religious intertextuality ( Quranic and Hadith intertextuality), the second subsections is concerned with literary intertextuality (with Arabic poetry, proverbs and sayings, and with texts from ” Nahj AL- Balagha”).
3- Chapter three; Imagery. The chapter starts with interductory notes, followed by two subsections; the first studies types of figurative imagery ( simile, metaphor, and mytonymy), while the second subsection examines the psychological type which is divided into two types; sensory imagery (visual, auditory, smell, and taste imagery). The second tackles mental imagery.
4- Chapter four; Poetic music. It is also preceded by an introduction, then it is followed by two subsections; the first deals with external music in which rhyme and rhythm are discussed, whereas the second deals with internal rhythm, which is achieved by the devices of paranomasia, marquetry, returning the second hemistiches to the first ones, and repetition.
These chapters end with a conclusion that summaries the findings of the study. This is followed by a bibliography in which the sources consulted in the study are listed including the poet’s divans and other sources.
As for the obstacles and difficulties faced by the researcher we mention that the poet has an enormous poetic output that is still in manuscripts in the Iraqi House of Manuscripts, and it was necessary to examine it to form a clear picture of him. The researcher tried his best in this regard. Secondly, the relative difficulty of the poet’s language that is often lexical requiring consulting dictionaries to decipher and understand it, this has taken much of the researcher’s time and effort.
I would like here to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor for his great help and support; he was there at all times in effort and advice.
In conclusion, it is necessary to remember that any researcher, whatever effort he makes or knowledge he acquires his work still permeates with human imperfection, forget, fullness and error. Only God is perfect. However, I did my best, and I accept the debators gifts of correction with an open mind and heart hoping they would forgive my mistakes as I am making my first steps.
