A Reading of "From Beirut"

From Beirut was written during the invasion and bombing of Lebanon by the Israeli Army in the summer of 1982. The author, Mahmoud Darwish, is a palestinian refugee who lived through this war which is not unlike todays war on Lebanon.

This reading is based on a translation by Stephen Kessler, who based his translation on others. It sounds consistent with most versions I have read. This version of the poem was published by Pygmy Forest Press in 1992. Mahmoud Darwish was born in 1942 a Palestinian, in a village that was later razed by the Israeli Army. Darwish left Israel in 1971, for Beirut. For more information on Mahmoud Darwish visit his site at http://www.mahmouddarwish.com/english/notmine.htm .