A review by sidharthvardhan
The Broken Wings by Kahlil Gibran

2.0

"Then she looked at me as if she regretted what she had said and tried to take awaay those words from my ears by magic of her eyes."

"I want you to love me as a poet love his sorrowful thoughts. I want you to remember me as a traveller remembers a calm pool in whihc his image is reflected as he drank its water. I want you to remember me as a mother rememebers her child that died before he saw the light,and I want you to remember me as merciful king remembers a prisoner who died before his pardon reached him."

At its roots, it is a story of unrequited love - realistic and so, simple and small. There are some takes on hyprocrisy or religious people:

"Spirtual disease is inherited from one generation to another until it has become a part of the peopl, who look upon it, not as a disease but as a natural gift, showered by God upon Adam."

...and position of women:

"Modern civilisation has made women a little wiser, but it has increased her suffering because of man's covtousness."

The prose is poetic - at times, a little malodramatic. It is phrases and images like 'falling drops of dew from the eyes of dawn on the leaves of witherig rose' that I love so much. The poet has phrased dialogues into his poetic language, so if you try imagining the scenes in your mind, characters will seem hillarious saying those things.

"A young man's tear is like a drop of dew on the leaf of a rose, while that of an old man is like a yellow leaf which falls with the wind at the approach of winter."

"Limited love asks for the possesion of the beloved, but unlimited love asks only for itself."

"One thought that will come to you at night will elevate you to glory or lead you to asylum. One look from a woman's eye makes you the happiest man in the world."

"Selma, who yesterday, was a beautiful tune on the lips of life and today is a silent secret in the bossom of the earth."