Prescribed Poetry: Explanation and Appreciation
The poetry section tests two skills: شَرْح (line-by-line explanation in prose) and appreciation - naming the poetic device and the emotion or idea behind the verse. You must know the prescribed poems, their poets, and the matlaʿ (opening verse).
The vocabulary of appreciation
- بَيْت - a verse of two halves; صَدْر is the first hemistich, عَجُز the second.
- قَافِيَة / رَوِيّ - the rhyme and its governing letter, which hold the poem together.
- تَشْبِيه - simile, usually marked by كَـ or كَأَنَّ; اِسْتِعَارَة - metaphor, where the comparison word is dropped; كِنَايَة - metonymy.
- غَرَض - the purpose: حَمْد, نَعْت of the Prophet, وَعْظ (admonition), حِكْمَة, or love of the homeland.
How to write a tashrīḥ
- Rewrite each hemistich in simple prose - explanation, not literal translation.
- Name the device if there is one, and say what it adds.
- End with the idea the poet wants carried away.
Worked example
Verse: «الْعِلْمُ يَرْفَعُ بَيْتًا لَا عِمَادَ لَهُ / وَالْجَهْلُ يَهْدِمُ بَيْتَ الْعِزِّ وَالْكَرَمِ» Explanation: knowledge raises a house that has no pillars - it builds honour for people who have no other support - while ignorance demolishes the house of dignity and generosity. Device: the opposition of يَرْفَعُ and يَهْدِمُ, with 'house' as a metaphor for a person's standing. Idea: knowledge is the true foundation of honour.
Traps
- Giving a plain translation and calling it tashrīḥ.
- Explaining only the first hemistich and leaving the second untouched.
- Naming a device without saying what it contributes to the meaning.
- Misspelling the poet's name or the poem's title.