River Dies of Thirst

<b>Darwish is the premier poetic voice of the Palestinian people . . . lyrical imagistic plaintive haunting always passionate and elegant--and never anything less than free--what he would dream for all his people. -- Naomi Shihab Nye</b><br> <b> </b><br> <b>Catherine Cobham's translations sway delicately between mystery and clarity giving a rendition of the master's voice that should impress both those reading Darwish's work for the first time and those who are already familiar with it. -- Fady Joudah <i>The Guardian</i></b><br> <b> </b><br> This remarkable collection of poems meditations fragments and journal entries was Mahmoud Darwish's last volume to come out in Arabic. <p/> <i>River</i> is at once lyrical and philosophical questioning and wise--full of irony resistance and play. Darwish's musings on unrest and loss dwell on love and humanity; in the pages of <i>River</i> myth and dream are inseparable from truth. <p/> Throughout this personal collection Darwish returns frequently to his ongoing (and often lighthearted) conversation with death warning that eternity does not visit graves and loves to joke.