Introduction: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
“New Republic” by Michal Rubin first appeared in the spring 2025 collection there are days that I am dead, published by Fomite Press. The poem draws intertextual strength from fragments of Hiba Abu Nada, positioning itself as both a lament and a testament to survival amid violence and displacement. Its central ideas highlight refuge from suffering (“I grant you refuge from hurt and suffering”), the endurance of love as the primal force of creation (“You were first created out of love, so carry nothing but love”), and the transformation of grief into shared acts of meaning-making (“we built another castle…braided melancholy tunes into unseen ceilings”). The reason for its popularity lies in its haunting yet tender imagery—of seas, sand, and shadows—that transcend immediate historical moments, creating a universal resonance. By painting shadows and washing them away (“You and I paint the shadows we brought along, give them colors, hang them on the walls of water”), Rubin elevates private sorrow into collective reflection, making the poem a powerful meditation on memory, survival, and human connection.
Text: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
1.
I grant you refuge
from hurt and suffering.–Hiba Abu Nada
We lived in the second century
of world wars inside seas
I drowned with you
and we sank to the bottom
of the sea of salt
where drowning is not possible
2.
You were first created out of love,so carry nothing but love.–Hiba Abu Nada
We carried nothing
but each other, in the deep sand
we built another castle
share its floors and words
braided melancholy tunes
into unseen ceilings
3.
O! How alone we are!–Hiba Abu Nada
You and I paint the shadows
we brought along
give them colors
hang them on the walls of water
to be washed off
in the third century.
Annotations: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
| Stanza | Text | Annotations | Literary Devices |
| Stanza 1 | I grant you refuge / from hurt and suffering. / –Hiba Abu Nada / We lived in the second century / of world wars inside seas / I drowned with you / and we sank to the bottom / of the sea of salt / where drowning is not possible | This stanza opens with a quote from Hiba Abu Nada, establishing a tone of compassion and protection. The speaker imagines a shared experience with Abu Nada in a surreal “sea of salt” during a “second century of world wars,” evoking timeless conflict, possibly the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. The paradox of drowning where “drowning is not possible” suggests resilience amidst suffering, blending mourning with defiance. The imagery creates a vivid, emotional landscape, grounding the poem in loss and hope. | – Epigraph: Quote from Abu Nada grounds the stanza in her voice. 🌹 – Imagery: “Sea of salt” and “world wars inside seas” evoke a surreal, emotional setting. 🌸 – Paradox: “Drowning is not possible” contradicts the act of drowning, emphasizing endurance. 🌺 – Allusion: “Second century of world wars” hints at ongoing historical conflicts. 🌷 – Metaphor: “Sea of salt” represents tears, suffering, or the Dead Sea. 🌻 |
| Stanza 2 | You were first created out of love, / so carry nothing but love. / –Hiba Abu Nada / We carried nothing / but each other, in the deep sand / we built another castle / share its floors and words / braided melancholy tunes / into unseen ceilings | This stanza shifts to a tone of intimacy and creation, using Abu Nada’s quote to emphasize love as a core force. Building a “castle” in “deep sand” symbolizes a fragile yet hopeful act of creation, like poetry or a shared vision of peace. The “braided melancholy tunes” in “unseen ceilings” blend sorrow and beauty, suggesting enduring artistic legacies. The stanza conveys solidarity and creative resilience, transforming grief into something transcendent. | – Epigraph: Abu Nada’s quote reinforces love as a theme. 🌹 – Imagery: “Deep sand,” “castle,” and “unseen ceilings” create a dreamlike scene. 🌸 – Metaphor: The “castle” symbolizes a fragile, meaningful artistic endeavor. 🌺 – Personification: “Braided melancholy tunes” gives emotions a woven texture. 🌷 – Symbolism: “Unseen ceilings” represent intangible legacies like poetry. 🌻 |
| Stanza 3 | O! How alone we are! / –Hiba Abu Nada / You and I paint the shadows / we brought along / give them colors / hang them on the walls of water / to be washed off / in the third century. | The final stanza expresses sorrow and transience, with Abu Nada’s quote highlighting isolation. “Painting the shadows” and giving them “colors” reflects an attempt to beautify pain, but the “walls of water” suggest impermanence, as creations are “washed off” in a future “third century.” The tone is elegiac, balancing grief with acceptance of ephemerality. The fluid imagery ties back to the sea motif, creating a cyclical sense of loss and renewal. | – Epigraph: Abu Nada’s quote amplifies the theme of loneliness. 🌹 – Imagery: “Walls of water” and “painting the shadows” evoke transient visuals. 🌸 – Metaphor: “Walls of water” symbolize impermanence. 🌺 – Symbolism: “Shadows” represent grief or memories, colored through art. 🌷 – Allusion: “Third century” extends the poem’s temporal scope to a distant future. 🌻 – Exclamation: “O! How alone we are!” heightens emotional intensity. 🌼 |
Literary And Poetic Devices: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
| Device | Definition | Example from New Republic | Explanation |
| Alliteration 🔤 | Repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words. | “braided… melancholy… melodies” | The repeated “m” sound creates a musical rhythm, mirroring the act of weaving sorrow into sound. |
| Allusion 📜 | Reference to another text, person, or event. | References to Hiba Abu Nada’s lines | By invoking Abu Nada, Rubin ties her own poem to a Palestinian voice, layering intertextual meaning. |
| Anaphora 🔁 | Repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive lines. | “We carried nothing / but each other” | The repetition of “we” emphasizes unity and shared survival. |
| Assonance 🎶 | Repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. | “sea of salt where drowning is not possible” | The long “a” and “o” sounds stretch the rhythm, evoking the vastness of the sea. |
| Caesura ⏸️ | A pause or break within a line of poetry. | “O! How alone we are!” | The exclamation and pause heighten the feeling of isolation and existential lament. |
| Enjambment ↩️ | Continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the line break. | “We lived in the second century / of world wars inside seas” | The flow across lines mimics immersion, pulling the reader deeper into the sea imagery. |
| Epigraph 📖 | Quotation placed before a poem or section. | Abu Nada’s lines prefacing each section | These set the thematic tone of refuge, love, and loneliness. |
| Free Verse 📝 | Poetry without a regular rhyme or meter. | Entire poem | Rubin uses free verse, allowing imagery and emotion to guide rhythm rather than form. |
| Hyperbole 🌊 | Exaggerated statement not meant literally. | “we sank to the bottom of the sea of salt where drowning is not possible” | Suggests an impossible paradox, intensifying the feeling of despair and survival. |
| Imagery 🌅 | Descriptive language appealing to senses. | “hang them on the walls of water” | Vividly paints a surreal image of shadows displayed in an underwater world. |
| Intertextuality 🔗 | Relationship between texts through references or echoes. | Abu Nada’s lines woven into Rubin’s verses | Creates a dialogue between voices of exile and war, enriching the poem’s layers. |
| Metaphor 🔥 | Direct comparison between unlike things without using “like” or “as.” | “castle… braided melancholy tunes” | The castle metaphorically represents fragile human refuges built from memory and song. |
| Mood 🌙 | Emotional atmosphere created in the poem. | “O! How alone we are!” | The mood shifts between sorrow, intimacy, and resilience, guiding the reader’s emotional response. |
| Paradox ♾️ | Contradictory statement that reveals a truth. | “drowning is not possible” | Though contradictory, it conveys the haunting condition of endless suffering without release. |
| Personification 👤 | Attributing human qualities to nonhuman things. | “paint the shadows… give them colors” | Shadows are treated |
Themes: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
🌊 Theme 1: Survival and Refuge: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin reflects the human instinct to seek survival and refuge in the face of perpetual violence. The opening lines, framed by Abu Nada’s words, “I grant you refuge from hurt and suffering”, set the stage for a poetic world where shelter is both physical and emotional. Rubin imagines survival as immersion in a sea that paradoxically refuses to allow drowning: “we sank to the bottom of the sea of salt where drowning is not possible.” This paradox underscores the haunting idea that survival is not freedom from pain but rather a suspended existence within it. Refuge here is fragile, transient, and deeply tied to human connection rather than geography or power.
❤️ Theme 2: Love as Creation and Resistance: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin presents love as a life-giving and defiant force against historical cycles of destruction. Abu Nada’s voice insists, “You were first created out of love, so carry nothing but love,” which Rubin echoes in her own imagery: “We carried nothing but each other, in the deep sand we built another castle.” Love becomes both an act of creation (the building of castles, however fragile) and resistance against the erasure of identity. Even amid grief, this love is not ornamental but foundational—it sustains, nurtures, and offers continuity across generations scarred by war. In the poem’s architecture, love is the mortar that binds brokenness into something livable.
🕯️ Theme 3: Memory, Loss, and Loneliness: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin intertwines memory with loneliness, weaving both into its melancholic mood. Abu Nada’s line, “O! How alone we are!”, reverberates as an existential cry. Rubin extends this loneliness by describing acts of memorialization through art: “You and I paint the shadows we brought along, give them colors, hang them on the walls of water.” Shadows symbolize memories of the dead or past traumas, and painting them becomes a ritual of preservation, even though the waters inevitably wash them away. The act of holding onto memories, despite their impermanence, reflects both the dignity and futility of resisting loss.
⚖️ Theme 4: History, Time, and Human Fragility: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin situates its vision across centuries, marking survival as part of a long continuum of human fragility in the face of history. “We lived in the second century of world wars” and later “to be washed off in the third century” highlight the cyclical nature of violence and displacement. By measuring life in centuries of wars rather than years of peace, Rubin critiques the normalization of conflict as the backdrop of existence. The fragile “castle in the deep sand” stands as a metaphor for human attempts at permanence in the face of history’s relentless tide. The poem thus juxtaposes personal love and loss against sweeping historical violence, reminding readers of both resilience and impermanence.
Literary Theories and “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
| Literary Theory | Analysis | References from the Poem |
| Postcolonial Theory 🌹 | Postcolonial theory examines power dynamics, identity, and resistance in colonial and postcolonial contexts. In “New Republic”, the poem engages with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, using the “sea of salt” and “world wars inside seas” to symbolize the trauma of occupation and displacement. The epigraphs from Hiba Abu Nada, a Palestinian poet killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023, center a marginalized voice, reclaiming her agency through poetry. Building a “castle” in “deep sand” represents cultural resistance, envisioning a “New Republic” free from oppression. The surreal imagery critiques cyclical colonial violence while imagining a decolonized future. | – “We lived in the second century / of world wars inside seas” (Stanza 1): Alludes to ongoing conflict, possibly the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. – “I grant you refuge / from hurt and suffering” (Stanza 1): Suggests protection for marginalized voices. – “We built another castle / share its floors and words” (Stanza 2): Symbolizes cultural resistance through art. |
| Feminist Theory 🌸 | Feminist theory explores gender dynamics and women’s voices. The poem elevates Hiba Abu Nada through epigraphs, honoring her as a female poet. The speaker’s connection with Abu Nada (“I drowned with you,” “we carried nothing / but each other”) emphasizes solidarity among women facing violence. Imagery like “braided melancholy tunes” and “painting the shadows” reflects feminine creative expression, transforming grief into art. The poem challenges patriarchal structures by centering women’s emotions and agency in a narrative of loss and resilience. | – “You were first created out of love, / so carry nothing but love” (Stanza 2): Highlights love as a feminine, nurturing force. – “You and I paint the shadows / we brought along” (Stanza 3): Suggests women’s agency in creating meaning from pain. – Epigraphs from Hiba Abu Nada: Amplify a female poet’s voice in a conflict narrative. |
| New Historicism 🌺 | New Historicism examines texts within their historical and cultural contexts. Written in the context of Hiba Abu Nada’s death in 2023 during an Israeli airstrike, the poem engages with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The “second century / of world wars” and “third century” frame the conflict as historical and ongoing, while the “sea of salt” may evoke the Dead Sea, a regional symbol. Abu Nada’s epigraphs create a dialogue between past and present, preserving marginalized voices against political violence. | – “We lived in the second century / of world wars inside seas” (Stanza 1): Connects to historical and ongoing regional conflicts. – “To be washed off / in the third century” (Stanza 3): Suggests a cyclical history of loss and renewal. – Epigraphs from Hiba Abu Nada: Integrate her historical voice into the narrative. |
| Reader-Response Theory 🌻 | Reader-response theory focuses on the reader’s role in interpreting the text. In “New Republic”, readers bring their emotional and cultural contexts to the surreal imagery and elegiac tone. The epigraphs invite engagement with Abu Nada’s voice, prompting responses to her loss and the broader tragedy of conflict. Open-ended imagery like “walls of water” and “unseen ceilings” allows readers to project meanings such as hope, grief, or resistance. Readers familiar with the conflict may see a political elegy, while others may focus on universal themes of loss and creation. | – “O! How alone we are!” (Stanza 3): Evokes universal isolation, inviting emotional connection. – “Hang them on the walls of water / to be washed off” (Stanza 3): Open-ended imagery allows varied interpretations of transience. – “We built another castle / share its floors and words” (Stanza 2): Invites readers to imagine a hopeful, creative space. |
Critical Questions about “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
1. How does the use of epigraphs from Hiba Abu Nada shape the thematic structure of the poem? 🌹
“New Republic” by Michal Rubin is deeply shaped by the epigraphs from Hiba Abu Nada, which serve as emotional and thematic anchors for each stanza. These quotes—“I grant you refuge / from hurt and suffering,” “You were first created out of love, / so carry nothing but love,” and “O! How alone we are!”—introduce themes of protection, love, and isolation, respectively, framing the poem as a dialogue between Rubin and the deceased Palestinian poet. The epigraphs create a layered narrative, blending Abu Nada’s voice with Rubin’s, suggesting a shared experience across cultural and temporal boundaries. In Stanza 1, the epigraph sets a tone of compassion, leading into imagery of a “sea of salt” where drowning is impossible, symbolizing resilience amidst conflict. Stanza 2’s epigraph emphasizes love, reflected in the collaborative act of building a “castle” in “deep sand,” a metaphor for poetry as resistance. The final epigraph’s cry of loneliness in Stanza 3 underscores the transient “walls of water,” highlighting the impermanence of art against ongoing loss. By weaving Abu Nada’s words into the poem, Rubin honors her legacy while constructing a “New Republic” of shared grief and creative defiance, making the epigraphs integral to the poem’s elegiac and hopeful structure.
2. What role does the surreal imagery play in conveying the poem’s emotional and political undertones? 🌸
“New Republic” by Michal Rubin employs surreal imagery to convey profound emotional and political undertones, creating a dreamlike yet poignant commentary on loss and resistance. The “sea of salt” and “world wars inside seas” in Stanza 1 evoke a fantastical yet oppressive landscape, possibly alluding to the Dead Sea or the tears of a conflict-ridden region like Palestine, reflecting the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. The paradox of “drowning is not possible” suggests an enduring spirit amidst suffering, blending despair with hope. In Stanza 2, the image of building a “castle” in “deep sand” with “braided melancholy tunes” woven into “unseen ceilings” transforms grief into fragile yet meaningful creation, symbolizing poetry as a form of political and emotional resistance. Stanza 3’s “walls of water” and “painting the shadows” further this surreal quality, depicting art as both beautiful and transient in the face of cyclical violence, as creations are “washed off” in a future “third century.” This imagery allows Rubin to navigate the emotional weight of Hiba Abu Nada’s death in 2023 and the broader political context without explicit didacticism, inviting readers to feel the interplay of loss, resilience, and the search for a utopian “New Republic.”
3. How does the poem’s temporal framework of “second century” and “third century” contribute to its meaning? 🌺
“New Republic” by Michal Rubin uses the temporal references of “second century” and “third century” to create a mythic, cyclical framework that deepens the poem’s exploration of conflict, memory, and hope. In Stanza 1, “We lived in the second century / of world wars inside seas” suggests a timeless continuum of violence, possibly referencing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an enduring “war” within a region marked by water and salt. This temporal abstraction elevates the poem beyond a specific historical moment, framing suffering as both historical and ongoing. In contrast, Stanza 3’s reference to the “third century,” where creations are “washed off,” projects into a distant future, implying a cyclical nature of loss and renewal. This temporal leap underscores the impermanence of human efforts, like the “walls of water” that cannot hold painted shadows, yet it also suggests a persistent hope for transformation, as the “New Republic” may emerge in a future era. By spanning centuries, Rubin connects Hiba Abu Nada’s death in 2023 to a broader human narrative, emphasizing the enduring power of poetry to preserve memory and resist erasure across time.
4. In what ways does the poem explore the theme of artistic creation as a response to loss? 🌻
“New Republic” by Michal Rubin explores artistic creation as a powerful response to loss, transforming grief into a collaborative act of resilience and legacy. The poem’s structure, built around Hiba Abu Nada’s epigraphs, positions poetry itself as a refuge, echoing the first stanza’s promise to “grant you refuge / from hurt and suffering.” In Stanza 2, the act of building “another castle” in “deep sand” with “floors and words” and “braided melancholy tunes” symbolizes the creation of art—specifically poetry—as a shared endeavor between Rubin and Abu Nada. This castle, though fragile in the shifting sands of conflict, represents a space where love and creativity endure, countering the destruction of war. Stanza 3’s image of “painting the shadows” and hanging them on “walls of water” further illustrates art’s attempt to give form and color to grief, even if transient, as these creations are destined to be “washed off.” By centering Abu Nada’s voice and weaving it into surreal imagery, Rubin underscores poetry’s role in preserving memory and resisting silence, suggesting that the “New Republic” is a metaphorical space where art transcends loss to imagine a hopeful, collective future.
Literary Works Similar to “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
- “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou — Similar in its defiance and resilience, Angelou’s poem, like Rubin’s, transforms suffering into an act of survival and dignity.
- “The Waste Land” by T.S. Eliot — Both poems weave fragmented voices and haunting imagery to reflect collective trauma and the struggle for meaning in the aftermath of violence.
- “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen — Like Rubin’s portrayal of war’s lingering centuries, Owen’s poem exposes the brutality of conflict and challenges romanticized notions of survival.
- “Refugee Blues” by W.H. Auden — Echoing Rubin’s theme of displacement, Auden captures the alienation and despair of those denied sanctuary, grounding universal suffering in personal voice.
- “Home” by Warsan Shire — Much like Rubin’s imagery of seas and sand, Shire uses visceral metaphors to depict exile, memory, and the fragile search for refuge in hostile worlds.
Representative Quotations of “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
| Quotation | Context | Theoretical Perspective |
| “I grant you refuge / from hurt and suffering” | This epigraph from Hiba Abu Nada opens Stanza 1, setting a tone of compassion and protection. It introduces the poem’s elegiac purpose, addressing Abu Nada, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in 2023, and imagines a shared space of safety amidst conflict. | Postcolonial Theory: This reflects a desire to offer refuge to marginalized voices, resisting the violence of colonial oppression by creating a poetic sanctuary. 🌹 |
| “We lived in the second century / of world wars inside seas” | In Stanza 1, this line establishes a surreal, timeless setting of conflict, possibly alluding to the Israeli-Palestinian struggle. The “second century” suggests an ongoing cycle of violence. | New Historicism: The temporal reference ties the poem to the historical context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, framing it as a prolonged, cyclical “war.” 🌺 |
| “I drowned with you” | Also in Stanza 1, this line expresses the speaker’s solidarity with Abu Nada, sharing in her suffering as if submerged together in the “sea of salt.” | Feminist Theory: This emphasizes a bond between women, reflecting solidarity in the face of violence and loss, amplifying female experience. 🌸 |
| “Where drowning is not possible” | This paradoxical phrase in Stanza 1 concludes the image of sinking in a “sea of salt,” suggesting resilience or an enduring spirit despite overwhelming suffering. | Postcolonial Theory: The paradox symbolizes resistance to erasure, as marginalized communities persist despite attempts to suppress them. 🌹 |
| “You were first created out of love, / so carry nothing but love” | The epigraph to Stanza 2, quoted from Abu Nada, emphasizes love as a foundational force, guiding the stanza’s focus on creation and connection. | Feminist Theory: This highlights love as a nurturing, feminine force, centering women’s emotional and creative agency in response to loss. 🌸 |
| “We carried nothing / but each other” | In Stanza 2, this line underscores the intimate bond between the speaker and Abu Nada, emphasizing mutual support as their sole possession in a barren landscape. | Reader-Response Theory: This invites readers to feel the emotional weight of solidarity, projecting their own experiences of connection and loss. 🌻 |
| “We built another castle / share its floors and words” | Also in Stanza 2, this imagery depicts the creation of a fragile yet meaningful space—possibly poetry—through shared artistic effort, symbolizing hope. | Postcolonial Theory: The “castle” represents cultural resistance, a space of creation that defies colonial destruction through art and language. 🌹 |
| “Braided melancholy tunes / into unseen ceilings” | This line in Stanza 2 personifies sorrow as woven music, integrated into an ethereal structure, blending beauty and grief in a lasting legacy. | Feminist Theory: The act of braiding tunes reflects feminine creativity, transforming grief into art that transcends physical loss. 🌸 |
| “O! How alone we are!” | The epigraph to Stanza 3, quoted from Abu Nada, expresses profound isolation, setting the tone for the stanza’s focus on transience and loneliness. | Reader-Response Theory: This exclamation evokes universal feelings of loneliness, inviting readers to connect emotionally with the poem’s grief. 🌻 |
| “Hang them on the walls of water / to be washed off” | In Stanza 3, this image of painting shadows and hanging them on transient “walls of water” reflects the impermanence of art in the face of time and conflict. | New Historicism: The “walls of water” tie to the cyclical nature of history in the Israeli-Palestinian context, where creations are temporary yet meaningful. 🌺 |
Suggested Readings: “New Republic” by Michal Rubin
- Rumens, Carol. “Poem of the Week: New Republic by Michal Rubin.” The Guardian, 25 Aug. 2025, www.theguardian.com/books/2025/aug/25/poem-of-the-week-new-republic-by-michal-rubin