Friday, September 1, 2017

"Hope:" Shairi la Emily Bronte

Kwa wenye kuifahamu fasihi ya ki-Ingereza, jina la Emily Bronte linafahamika vizuri. Emily na dada zake Charlotte na Anne ni waandishi maarufu wa mashairi na riwaya. Emily anafahamika zaidi kwa riwaya yake, Wuthering Heights, na Charlotte anafahamika kwa riwaya yake, Jane Eyre. Katika kukua kwangu na kusoma fasihi Tanzania, nilikuwa ninawafahamu hao dada wawili, lakini si mdogo wao Anne, ambaye nimekuja kuelewa baadaye kwamba naye alikuwa mwandishi wa mashairi na riwaya. Hao dada watatu, maarufu kama "the Bronte Sisters," ni maarufu katika fasihi ya ki-Ingereza.

Hizo ni kumbukumbu za juu juu kuhusu hao dada watatu. Lakini leo ninaleta shairi moja la Emily, ambalo nimelisoma kwa mara ya kwanza wiki hii. Limenivutia sana kwa jinsi linavyofikirisha kutokana na mbinu zake za kuwasilisha mtazamo juu ya kitu kinachoitwa matumaini. Tofauti na ufahamu wetu wa kitu kiitwacho matumaini, shairi linayaelezea matumaini kama si kitu cha kuaminiwa au kutegemewa. Mshairi anayaelezea matumaini kama si rafiki wa imara wa kuaminiwa, bali ni kitu kisichojali hali yake ngumu, chenye mizengwe, na hatimaye chatoweka na kumwacha kwenye mataa, kama wasemavyo watu mitaani. Ili kulitendea haki shairi hili, bora kila mtu ajisomee na kutafakari.

Hope

Hope was but a timid friend;
She sat without the grated den,
Watching how my fate would tend,
Even as selfish-hearted men.

She was cruel in her fear;
Through the bars, one dreary
day, I looked out to see her there,
And she turned her face away!

Like a false guard, false watch keeping,
Still, in strife, she whispered peace;
She would sing while I was weeping;
If I listened, she would cease.

False she was, and unrelenting;
When my last joys strewed the ground,
Even Sorrow saw, repenting,
Those sad relics scattered round;

Hope, whose whisper would have given
Balm to all my frenzied pain,
Stretched her wings, and soared to heaven,
Went, and ne'er returned again!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this poem....and I too can totally relate to seeing hope in that manner. The word has always been...well, ambiguous if you will...giving a possible upward swing to things. and then, also having the option of plummeting downward as well..allowing the situation to dive deeply into the lower layers of experience. Thank you for posting this word...amazing word so aptly drawn by the Bronte sisters who totally know ell they had high hopes in their lives...that were often dashed to the bleak moors of their country. Merri McElderry

Mbele said...


Yes, Merri McElderry, this poem is a rather bleak meditation upon a familiar sentiment--hope--which we tend to cling to, especially in times of adversity and uncertainty. The portrayal of hope as a timid, fickle, fake, and treacherous friend I can relate to the perspective of sceptics and certain existentialists. The poem's diction, imagery, and other artistic devices invite careful contemplation.

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