The coherence of the text and its artistic unity

10The coherence of the text and its artistic unity

At the level of wording

• A spread of different styles across the text — interrogation and command — diffuses the sense that its parts hang together.
• The interrogation is repeated in its own words: "where in the assembly is Maya?", "where is Maya?", "where did they go?", "where have they vanished?"

At the level of meaning

• The succession of questions voices the shock of loss: as if he cannot conceive her death and only asks where she is.
• The predicate after "where" changes and moves towards the inevitable truth: they went, they vanished.
• The cry ends in resignation to the truth and complaint of it at the same moment.
• It joins weakness and acknowledgement of defeat with the spirit of resistance and revolt against death.
• Result: clear interconnection and a coherent structure out of unity of thought, unity of feeling and one sad psychological atmosphere — so the poem attains the artistic unity the school of al-Diwan wanted.

Traits of al-Diwan in the text

• Sincerity in expressing real grief.
• Organic unity and the coherence of the passages.
• The language of the age without strange words, and unforced imagery.
• Contemplation of death and immortality — one of the school's reflections on the secrets of existence.
• A touch of sadness together with a leaning towards defiance.