After the Syrian Baathist coup d’état of 1966 and subsequent rise to power of Hafez al-Asad and his family in 1970, closely coinciding with the stinging Arab coalition defeat in the 1967 war against Israel, political discourses among intelligentsia experienced a focal shift. Earlier themes of revolutionary optimism quickly became supplanted by disillusioned rhetoric. This was particularly evident in the short-form “lyrical” prose of Zakariya Tamer and in the poetry of contemporaries Nizar Qabbani and Muhammad al-Maghout. Across these varied styles, the use of techniques such as allegory, parody, surrealism, violent imagery, and the passage of time invoke the lived realities of political repression and the apparent futility of previous forms of social and ideological engagement. Three particular works from these authors, Haw?mish ?al? daftar an-naksa (Qabb?n? 1967), Al-Fara? laysa mihnat? (al-M?gh?? 1970), and An-Num?r fil-Yawm al-??shir (Zakariyy? T?mir 1978) forms the basis of this review. The overall significance of how each of these authors’ literary texts in differing modes frame the interplay between sociopolitical dynamics and the individual and national psyche lends itself to an in-depth analysis highlighting the features of sound, structure, diction, and repetition found in their works. Careful attention to the rhetorical detail of each text reveals a commonality in perspective on the harsh realities of modern Syria. In Qabb?n?’s poetry, time stands still for thousands of years as a nation lies dormant in the crypts. In al-M?gh??’s, a single day seems to take a lifetime as a revolution comes to pass, or perhaps does not come at all. And in T?mir’s prose, ten days is all it takes for all dignity to be taken away by the state. Throughout the differences in form and structure, each innovative and effective in its own way, connections to the social and political context remain readily discernable, as does the association with the dominant literary and philosophical discourses of the era. While clear-cut attempts to “curate” the literature of the post-iltiz?m period under a single classifier remain elusive, the overall importance of literary development during the period cannot be ignored, nor can the prominence of Syria and Damascus among the Arab literary centers be understated.