pg. 8 A Sad State of Freedom by Nazim Hikmet

You waste the attention of your eyes,
the glittering labour of your hands,
and knead the dough enough for dozens of loaves                    
of which you'll taste not a morsel;
you are free to slave for others--
you are free to make the rich richer.

The moment you're born
they plant around you
mills that grind lies
lies to last you a lifetime.
You keep thinking in your great freedom
a finger on your temple
free to have a free conscience.

Your head bent as if half-cut from the nape,                                    
your arms long, hanging,
your saunter about in your great freedom:
you're free
with the freedom of being unemployed.

You love your country
as the nearest, most precious thing to you.
But one day, for example,
they may endorse it over to America,
and you, too, with your great freedom--
you have the freedom to become an air-base.

You may proclaim that one must live
not as a tool, a number or a link
but as a human being--
then at once they handcuff your wrists.
You are free to be arrested, imprisoned
and even hanged.

There's neither an iron, wooden
nor a tulle curtain
in your life;
there's no need to choose freedom:
you are free.
But this kind of freedom
is a sad affair under the stars.

Source: Poemhunter.com

Analysis

“A Sad State of Freedom” by Nazim Hikmet creates the idea that there is a backside to freedom, a down fall. That freedom can also lead to negative things and that granting too much freedom to one person or place may give them the right to abuse the power and freedom that they are granted. It also demonstrates the inequality that can come with a free society, “you are free to slave for others--/you are free to make the rich richer.” Hikmet uses the repetition of the words “you” and “your” to speak directly to the reader and help create an image within the mind of the reader. This is done by putting the reader into the poem, and making it easy for the reader to imagine themselves within the poem, thus making the poem apply to their lives, “Your head bent as if half—cut from the nape,/ your arms long, hanging,/your saunter about in your great freedom/ a finger on your temple/ free to have a free conscience.” This repetition of the word “you” allows the reader to put themselves in the situation described in the poem and feel the oppressive freedom, creating a powerful and meaningful image inside the reader’s head. Hikmet closes with the shortest stanza in the poem, helping bring the reader across the finish line. The shortness of the final stanza also creates a sense of finality to the subject, which symbolizes the finality and inevitability of oppression within freedom, “There’s neither an iron, wooden/ nor a tulle curtain/ in your life;/there’s no need to choose freedom:/you are free./But this kind of freedom/is a sad affair under the stars.” This leaves the reader with the feeling that freedom is not all that special, and ends the poem on an appropriate note.