Symbols and signs for childhood and war in the poetry of Samih al-Qasim

One of the essential techniques applied by the poets of Palestinian resistance to explain the effects of social, political and cultural aspects of resistance is the use of symbols and signs related to children of war. This feature, as one of the most powerful means of determining the meaning and form of Palestinian resistance poetry, is so blatant in the poetry of Samih al-Qasim. The present study aims to describe and analyze the most prominent signs of Qasim's poetry, such as the names of poems, time, place, and narrative characters. The results show that Samih al-Qasim's poems are written about children not for children, and the most frequently used signs are those of time such as childhood and lost time, return to the birthplace, places such as Qods, school, homeland and prison, as well as general and specific characters such as father, mother, child martyr and the occupation. In his general approach to the children of war, contingency of sadness and despair with resistance is evident. This attitude has led to repeated occurrence of tragic resistance in the contents of his poems.