Bir Hekime Minnettarlığın İfadesi Olarak Şiir: Robert Bloomfield'ın İmmünolojinin Babası Doktor Edward Jenner İçin Yazdığı “Türkü”

Abstract

İnsanlığın tıbbi ve sosyal tarihinde, bir ülkede veya dünyada yaygın olan ölümcül virüsler veya diğer kötü hastalıklar nedeniyle yüzlerce, binlerce hatta milyonlarca insanın ölümüyle karşılaşılabilir. Pandemiler de, günümüz dünyasında yaşadığımız gibi, birçok kişinin ölümüne sebep olmuştur. Bugün, şimdiye kadar tahminen beş milyon insanın ölümüne neden olan Covid-19 adı verilen korona virüsü nedeniyle eşi benzeri görülmemiş bir pandemi yaşıyoruz. Ayrıca dünya tarihinde insanların içinde bulunduğu zor durumu hafifletmek, salgın hastalıkların veya pandemilerin yol açtığı aşırı stresin üstesinden gelmelerine yardımcı olmak için şarkılar, şiirler ve diğer edebi eserler veya sanat eserleri ürettiğini de gözlemliyoruz. Edebiyat tarihine baktığımızda sadece bilimi değil, yeni şeyler icat eden ve yeni fikirler ortaya atan bilim adamlarını da takdir etmek için üretilmiş edebi eserlerin varlığına tanıklık ederiz. İngiliz şair Robert Bloomfield’ın “Song, Sung by Mr. Bloomfield”isimli şiiri bunlardan biridir. 1803’te Doktor Edward Jenner’ın doğum günü için yazılan bu şiir, çiçek aşısını icat eden hekime olan takdirinden dolayı günümüz okuyucusunun dikkatini çekmektedir. Bu bakımdan şiir, bilim adamına duyulan minnetin bir ifadesi olarak değerlendirilebilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Bloomfield’ın Jenner’a duyduğu sadece kişisel minnettarlığı değil, aynı zamanda diğer tüm insanların ona karşı hissetmesi gereken minnettarlığı nasıl ifade ettiğini ve böylece ölümcül bir hastalık olan çiçek hastalığına karşı aşıyı icat eden bilim adamının asil eylemine takdir edici bir yanıt oluşturduğunu göstermek için şiirdeki övgü unsurlarını vurgulamaktır.

Keywords

• "Song, Sung by Mr. Bloomfield",
• Robert Bloomfield,
• Edward Jenner,
• çiçek hastalığı,
• salgın hastalık,
• aşı.
• övgü şiiri,

Poetry as an Expression of Gratitude towards a Physician: Robert Bloomfield’s “Song” for Doctor Edward Jenner, the Father of Immunology

Abstract

In human medical and social history, one can encounter the deaths of hundreds, thousands or even millions of people caused by either deadly viruses or other worst diseases prevalent in a whole country or the world. Pandemic diseases are also the cause of many deaths as we experience in today’s world. Today we experience an unprecedented pandemic due to a corona virus called Covid-19, which has caused the deaths of an estimated five million people till now. In the world’s history, we have also observed that people have produced songs, poems, and other literary or artworks to alleviate the challenging situation and help people overcome the extreme stress caused by epidemics or pandemics. When we look at literary history, we witness the existence of literary works produced to appreciate science and the scientists who invented new things and came up with novel ideas. The English poet Robert Bloomfield’s “Song, Sung by Mr. Bloomfield” is one of them. This poem, written in 1803 for the anniversary of Doctor Edward Jenner’s birthday, attracts the attention of today’s readers due to its appreciation of the physician who invented vaccination against smallpox. In this regard, the poem may be considered the expression of gratitude. The purpose of this study is to highlight the elements of praise in the poem to indicate how Bloomfield expressed not only his gratitude to Jenner but also the gratitude that all the other people should feel towards him, and thus constituted an appreciative response to the scientist’s noble act of inventing vaccination against smallpox, a fatal disease.

Keywords

• "Song, Sung by Mr. Bloomfield,
• smallpox,
• poetry of praise,
• epidemic,
• vaccination.
• Robert Bloomfield,
• Edward Jenner,

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