Syrian Revolutionary Poem #2 - "They Wanted Freedom"

Dear Readers,
Like the rest of the world, I'm following the news in Syria and praying for the Syrian people.

Here is another Syrian Revolutionary Poem that I found in The Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook site. I'm sharing it in Arabic, then in English by the Google Translation Site, followed by my interpretation.

I do not read Arabic and could be off in my interpretation, and if you know better, please email me at cbrainard@aol.com, or leave a comment in this blog.

In short we are working on this Syrian Revolutionary Poem together. In the Philippine literary tradition, this collaborative effort is called "dugtungan" or "connecting." And oh, lovely news, as I searched for a definition of "dugtungan" in the internet, I came across a review of a novel which I co-authored; this is in another blog entry today.

Dugtungan is a Tagalog word which means connecting or making something grow by adding to it. There was a literary tradition in the Philippines in the 1920s for authors to write novels collaboratively, in the dugtungan manner.

The Arabic Version of The Syrian Revolutionary Poem:  

أرادوا الحرية ... أتتهم رصاصات الموت

أرداوا الحرية ... فصار خبزهم دماً

أرادوا الحرية ... فسقط أطفالهم كبراعم شجرة تسقطها الريح

أرادوا الحرية ... فشردوا وجاعوا وماتوا

أرداوا الحرية ... فنالوا حصة من الظلام

أرادوا الحرية والحياة والزهور والياسمين

أرادوا لأطفالهم مستقبلاً أفضل

أرادوا أن يكونوا

فقتلهم جنون الإنسان

الأجساد تقتل والحقيقة تعيش

هي الأرض التي تجمعنا فلتسقط اللعنة على ظلامكم وغبائكم وظلمكم!

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(نص ر.ب. اللوحة للفنانة ديالا برصلي: انا الشهيد)

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The raw Google Translation from Arabic to English of the Syrian Revolutionary Poem: 

They wanted freedom ... أتتهم bullets death

أرداوا freedom ... Became their bread blood

They wanted freedom ... Fell their children كبراعم the tree drop wind

They wanted freedom ... Fshardoa and starved and died

أرداوا freedom ... فنالوا share of the dark

They wanted freedom, life and jasmine flowers

They wanted their children a better future

Wanted to be

Killed them mad man

Bodies and kill the truth live

Is the land that brings us Down curse on Zlamkm and the Gbaúkm and injustice!

~~~

Cecilia's Version of the Syrian Revolutionary Poem: 

They wanted freedom

And bullets and blood became their bread;

They wanted freedom

And their children fell

like leaves knocked down by the wind;

They wanted freedom

And they starved and died;
They wanted freedom and got their share of the dark;

They wanted freedom, life,

 and jasmine flowers;

They wanted a better future for their children

But an evil man wanted to destroy their bodies and the truth.

~~~

 Your Version or suggestions? 

Email me cbrainard@aol.com or leave your comments here.

Sunday - someone emailed and suggested the changes in blue. 

~~~
Read also
Syrian Revolutionary Poem #1 

Read also my other blog entries about Syria:

•  Muslims Condemn ISIS
• Syrians fleeing war at rate not seen since Rwandan Genocide
•  Syrian Revolutionary Poem & Destruction of Khalid bin Walid Mosque
• Children and the War in  Syria 
• The Rape of Women and the War in Syria  
• Poet and Song Writer, Ibrahim Qashoush, Victim if Syrian War
• Jesuit Priest, Paolo Dall'Oglio - Another Casualty of Syrian War 
• Two Organizations helping the children of Syria - re the War of Syria  
• Assad Used Chemical Warfare in Syria - 1,300 dead in Ghouta 
• In Solidarity with the Syrian People - Two Revolutionary Poems
• Formation of Syrian Rebel Alliance is Exactly What Assad Wants
• Testimonies of Syria Chemical Attacks
• Request for Prayers for Monasteries in Syria and Egypt
• Catching up on news on the War in Syria 
• The Horror of the War in Syria to the Civilian Population

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All for now this early Saturday morning,

Cecilia

tags: Syria, Syrian War, Syrian people, Revolution, poem, poetry, literature, dugtungan