Nazım Hikmet is a well-known and respected poet in modern Turkish literature. Through his poetry, he is able to convey powerful messages to the readers. I would like to share my thoughts on his poetry “Optimistic Man.” This poem evokes a wide range of emotions and thoughts for each reader.
Optimistic Man
As a child he never plucked the wings off flies
he didn’t tie tin cans to cats’ tails
or lock beetles in matchboxes
or stomp anthills
he grew up
and all those things were done to him
I was at his bedside when he died
he said read me a poem
about the sun and the sea
about nuclear reactors and satellites
about the greatness of humanity
The child in this poem has a kind and naive soul. The child has never hurt or damaged any part of nature or a living creature. For instance, unlike any other child his age, he never tied a tin can to a cat’s tail or stamped anthills. As a child, he was diligent to provide care and attention to anything that deserved to be noticed, in my opinion. When the boy grew older, however, every awful deed that he avoided in his childhood came to him for no cause at all. I assume that everything that happened to him was the consequence of devilish human beings.
Despite a lifetime of suffering and an unfortunate set of events, this optimistic man simply requested for a poem about humanity’s greatness. Despite the fact that he has no solid evidence that mankind is progressing in a positive direction, he wishes and deserves to leave this world with no hate toward it. “ Read me a poem about the sun and the sea.” the man said. From this line, it is understandable that he believes in the beauty and greatness of nature since it has never wounded him and he has never touched nature with malicious intent.
“ He said read me a poem about nuclear reactors and satellites” since all citizens of the planet, hopefully, recognize the enormous negative impacts of nuclear weapons and reactors, we know that it does more harm than good. The statement I mentioned continues, “ about the greatness of humanity.” It is stated that “greatness” is an illusion, and lies and wicked ideas lay behind this so-called “greatness” deception. The optimistic man in this poem has faith in humanity, however, he disagrees with acceptance yet wants to learn about the new changes occurring in the world.
As a young child, he was dipped in folly because he grew up to be an optimistic man only to get hurt endlessly until his death. Perhaps he was so captivated with the elegance of silver fleurs-de-lys that he could not recognize the malignant people in his path, and perhaps he expected the same response that nature gave to him from these people. Despite the enormous damage done to him by humanity, he wished to die without hatred or regret. I suppose he is unwilling to bring the ugly scars of this world to another world of purity and kindness.