Identification and Identity in Classical Arab Poetry

by Malcolm C. Lyons

In early Arabic poetry, poets mostly speak in the first person - a point which sets their tradition apart from most other civilisations. This study investigates the characteristic poetic roles found in the works of thirty seven poets dating from the pre-Islamic to the Abbasid period, to which are added specimens of Spanish Arabic lyric poetry and the popular poetry of Baghdad.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1999