I feel that the two poems that deserve attention were "Dead Are My People" by Gibran and the portion of "The Cord of Hope" by Naimy. Gibran's poem embraces the feelings of immigrants who were separated from their country and their friends/family by hard times. The language is powerful and speaks of the indifference of the larger American populace to the troubles of the rest of the world.
"The Cord of Hope" was also very powerful to me because of its illustration of time and the paradox of hope: its promise is never completely fulfilled yet it is that incomplete promise which brings us back to hope. It proves to be a human necessity for survival.
Both poets were influenced by Whitman's liberal use of free verse, but also touch on the need for addressing the troubles of the common man. Gibran even goes so far as to critique poetry as an art which has fallen to the lap of the wealthy and is not longer accessible to the average man.

Gibran's "The Gravedigger" addresses many of the themes common to both the immigrant and poet facing the realities of isolation and social restrictions on free and meaningful thought, action and writing. As in "Heavy Laden Is My Soul," he seems to view his awareness and passion as a burden which he can never fully share with the 'living dead.' His focus on the present (a la Whitman) also places him firmly against the grain of cultural and religious tradition, authority, and family - the dead who would enslave him.

Many of Naimy's poems in this collection mirror or respond to Gibran's, though generally expressing more resignation with regard to the cycles of life. "My Brother" takes up the theme of digging graves for the living, but in this case, the living give off stench not because they are too passionless or rooted in tradition, but because they have been isolated through tragedy and war from their kin and country.

Both poets aspire to Whitman's ideals of candor and freshness, focusing on the beauties and tragedies of common existence and the futility of power and glory. Both recognize, too, that the average man is not the "common man" Whitman so admires, but rather one concerned with form and status more than the message of the poet.

The poems that I feel deserve attention are "Defeat" by Gibran and "Hunger" by Naimy. I give these works in particular more attention because each seems to sum up a key aspect of the artists' social statements.
The first, "Defeat," is a succint example of the recurring element of paradox in Gibran's work. This case being that only through defeat the author is able to tap into and realize the full potential of his emotion and strength. To him this is a charge more powerful "than a thousand triumphs."

The selection from Naimy, "Hunger," is a notable commentary on love, which he compares to a forbidden fruit of sorts he doesn't deserve, despite his role as the cultivator. Tying in the element of hunger and the fragile balance between nourisher and nourishment, his recurring themes of mortality and fate can be seen in paralleling corporeal suffering with an abstract emotion.

As a whole, both poets follow suit to Whitman's work in that both create pieces which, though slightly darker in nature, work to spread the word to the masses as would a 'prophet' or a 'seer'. In publishing their works in Arabic in attempt to reach a larger audience, the poets also fulfill Whitman's recommendations by addressing the common man and woman's need for enlightenment.