Siamanto was a pioneer in Armenian poetry. His themes were very dark and dealt extensively with death, torture, loss, misery, and sorrow. He recounted scenes of massacres, executions by hanging, bloody streets, pillaged villages, etc.; in other words, they dealt with the slaughter of Armenian men and women. The suffering of the people was continually tormenting him in turn. He spent many sleepless nights thinking about those who perished. Writing about their fate was his way of coping with the...