the previous

"The Forerunner was published in 1920, when Gibran was overwhelmed with work, like a sick bee in a flower garden, as he described himself in a letter to Mikhail Naimy. Gibran introduced this book by placing the subtitle ""His Symbolic Tales and Poems"" under the main title, ""The Forerunner."" It was his second book in English (published by Knopf). ""The Forerunner"" appeared in a small format, as its author, according to what he told Mary Haskell, considered this brevity essential to the ideal book. He explained to her, ""We must learn to be self-critical. A poet has a vision while in another world, and when he returns and tries to recount it, he may not succeed in crystallizing it into a poem or a painting."" Perhaps this experience led Gibran to adopt the mythical or symbolic narrative in ""The Forerunner,"" which comprises twenty-four short stories and prose poems, along with an introduction. The tales are characterized by a mystical and moralistic approach in an indirect way, as in the tales of the Gospel or "Kalila wa Dimna"."