Pessimism in Elias Abu-Shabake's Poetry

In the human life, there might be occasions when problems highly increase. Such situations influence the individual's soul as well as his mind. They may also result in pessimism. Poets, compared to other people, have a more gentle soul and a stronger emotion; therefore, they tend to show more reaction against the problems. It is possibly this distinction that increases the probability of pessimism among poets. In different historical periods, there are poets who suffer from pessimism. Compared to the past, this phenomenon has been vastly increased in contemporary age, especially among the Romanticists. Elias Abu-Shabake was a follower of Romanticism. His poems are full of grief and sorrow, and frequently in his poems, he shows his pessimism. The present study is an attempt to investigate pessimism in his poetry. The study also tries to examine the influential factors on Elias Abu-Shabake's pessimism, and identify the matters toward which this poet is pessimistic. There are various reasons for him to be pessimistic, for example his sickness and his father`s assassination. In addition, his pessimistic perspective is really wide. The signs of pessimism can be found in his worldview as well as his views on homeland and love. The present study follows a descriptive-analytical method for an investigation of pessimism in his poems.