Resistance
"Tell the usurper of our land/that childbirth is a force unknown to him."
One of the central themes in the poetry of Fadwa Tuqan is resistance. The poet essentially expresses herself forcefully by writing narratives of protest of Palestinians and actively resists Israeli occupation with her words. The above lines are an example of this recurrent theme of resistance. The poet essentially talks about how the "usurper" doesn't know about childbirth and perhaps attempt to create an analogy between the land and a woman.
Love for One's Land
"in this house my children
and I will live and die
for Palestine"
Another very important theme in her poems is love for one's land, in this case, Palestine. The poet creates a persona in the poem "Hamza" of a man who is madly in love with Palestine and cherishes the land as much as he can. He talks about his patriotism by saying that he will live and die in Palestine. "Hamza" is characterized as an "ordinary man," which perhaps implies that the common Palestinian has nothing but love for his own land (in this case, Hamza represents the common man).
Womanhood
"The wind blows the pollen in the night
through ruins of fields and homes.
Earth shivers with love,
with the pain of giving birth"
A very important analogy drawn by the poet is between the land and a woman. The poet talks about how the land "shivers with love" to give birth, and assures another character that the land must be a woman. In doing so, she effectively celebrates womanhood.
