| Abstract
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The Arabic new poetry, i.e. free verse and the prose poem, has been introduced and established by several leading poet-critics in both their artistic works and in their critical writings, which examine and lay the theoretical foundations of the new poetry. This dissertation aims at examining and interpreting the theories of poetry of the leading poet-critics who have made the greatest contribution in introducing and establishing the Arabic free verse and prose poem. The poets are Salah 'Abd as-Sabur, Nazik al-Mala'ikah, Nizar Qabbani and 'Ali Ahmad Sa'id (Adonis). In examining their poetics, the dissertation concentrates on three questions which represent the most important dimensions of their poetic theories; namely, the questions of poetic tradition, poetic form, and poetic language. Chapter One discusses the poets' views of the traditional poetry; its value to modern Arabic literature, the relationship of the modern poet to it, and why they are departing from its conventions. In discussing these points, the poets are basically concerned with finding an approach that resists the influence of the poetic heritage in order to enable themselves to express their own creativity and maintain their individuality. Chapters Two, Three, and Four discuss the question of poetic form. The second chapter reviews the basics of the Arabic prosody, al-'arud, and all the forms of Arabic poetry, arguing that the free verse and the prose poem movements continue a series of renovative movements which deviated from the traditional forms during the course of the history of Arabic poetry. Because al-Mala'ikah has a distinct and controversial conception of form, Chapter Three is devoted to discussing her perspective and the critical controversy aroused by her ideas. Chapter Four discusses the views of 'Abd as-Sabur, Adonis, and Qabbani who basically hold distinct conceptions of poetic form transcending that of al-'arud and of al-Mala'ikah. The last chapter discusses the poets' concepts of poetic language, covering problems such as the characteristics of poetic language, the choice of diction, the use of colloquial words, commitment to grammatical and linguistic rules, the role of the poet regarding language, and obscurity or simplicity of poetry. Throughout this study, efforts have been made to compare the four poets' ideas with similar ideas of Western poets and critics.
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