Nightingales and Pleasure Gardens: Turkish Love Poems 0815608357, 9780815608356

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JVightingales & 'Pleasure 9ardens

Middle East Literature in Translation Michael Beard and Adnan Haydar, Series Editors

Other titles in the Middle East Literature in Translation series A Child from the Village

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Jabra Ibrahim Jabra; Roger Allen and Adnan Haydar, trans. The Night of the First Billion

Ghada Samman; Nancy N. Roberts, trans. Sleeping in the Forest: Stories and Poems

Sait Faik; Talat S. Halman, ed.; Jayne L. Warner, assoc. ed. Three Tales of Love and Death

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Out el Kouloub; Nayra Atiya, trans.

JVigfitingales

&

'Pleasure gardens Turkish Love Poems

Editor and Translator

Talat S. Halman Associate Editor

Jayne L. Warner

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS

English translations copyright © 2005 by Syracuse University Press Syracuse,New York 13244–5290 All Rights Reserved First Edition 2005 12  13  14  15  16        6  5  4  3  2   ∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. For a listing of books published and distributed by Syracuse University Press, visit our website at SyracuseUniversityPress.syr.edu. ISBN: 978-0-8156-0835-6 Half-title Page: design from sixteenth-century Iznik tile from the mausoleum of Hürrem, the wife of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, Istanbul, 1558. Part One, Premodern Love Poems: “Rhodian” period (second half of the sixteenth century) Iznik pottery flower motif. Dawn of Love: semi-stylized flower motif from a tile in the sixteenth-century Ramazan Efendi Mosque, Istanbul. Legends of Love: semi-stylized tulip motif from the Harem at Topkapı Palace, Istanbul. Whirling Ecstasy: “Rhodian” period Iznik pottery flower motif. Love’s Paradise: “Rhodian” period Iznik pottery flower motif. Love Is All: “Rhodian” period Iznik pottery flower motif. Sovereign Love: stylized rosebud from a tile in the sixteenth-century Ramazan Efendi Mosque, Istanbul. Many-Splendored Songs: “Rhodian” period Iznik pottery flower motif. Part Two, Love Poems from the Turkish Republic: detail of scroll on the lid of an Iznik bowl of the “Rhodian” period. The above illustrations are reprinted from Azade Akar, Authentic Turkish Designs (New York: Dover, 1992); Azade Akar, Treasury of Turkish Designs (New York: Dover, 1988); and Inci A. Birol and Çiçek Derman, Türk Tezyînî San’atlarında Motifler / Motifs in Turkish Decorative Arts (Istanbul: Kubbealtı Iktisâdî İşletmesi, 1995). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nightingales and pleasure gardens : Turkish love poems / editor and translator Talat S.Halman ; associate editor Jayne L.Warner. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0–8156–0835–7 (alk. paper) 1. Love poetry, Turkish—Translations into English. 2. Turkish poetry—Translations into English. I.Halman, Talât Sait. II.Warner, Jayne L. PL235.N54 2005 894'.351008'03543—dc22 2005012389 Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents Preface

xi

Note on Turkish Spelling

PART oNE

xv

I 'Premodern Love 'Poems DA w N o F Lo v E:

My darling, best of all

Earliest Turkish Love Poems

APRiN t;:OR TiGiN

Say just one word to me, make one promise LEGENDS OF LOVE:

5

6

ANONYMOUS

EpicsandTalesofLove

Come here, my love, the crown of my home CHIEFTAIN, from TheBookofDedeKorkut

9

Come to me here WIFE OF CHIEFTAIN,

from TheBookofDedeKorkut

WHIRLING ECSTASY:

Rumi'sMysticalLove

This is such a day: the sun is dazzling twice as before MEVLANA CELALEDDiN RUM!

13

Listen to the reed-flute telling its tales MEVLANA CELALEDDiN RUMi

14

Come, come, you will never find a friend like me MEVLANA CELALEDDiN RUMi

9

15

At one time when life was real MEVLANA CELALEDD!N RUM!

16

So long as I am alive, love enlivens each day MEVLANA CELALEDDiN RUMi

17

When I have you, the passions of love make me stay awake MEVLANA CELALEDDiN RUMi

18

Love is the water of eternal life, cures every woe MEVLANA CELALEDD!N RUMi

Yunus Emre's Divine and Human Love

LOVE'S PARADISE:

Yourlovehaswrestedmeawayfromme Hearmeout,mydearfriends

19

YUNUS EMRE

24

YUNUS EMRE

Dear Friend, let me plunge into the sea oflove

YUN US EMRE

26

Burning, burning, I drift and tread

YUNUS EMRE

27

YUNUS EMRE

Love is minister to us, our flock is the inmost soul My Lord granted me such a heart

YUNUS EMRE

Iloveyoubeyondthedepthsofmyownsoul LOVE IS ALL:

Atone glance

28 YUNUS EMRE

NEDIM

YUNUS EMRE

35

~EYH GALIB

Drink all you want in the rose-garden

Vl

Fu z u LI

37

Mydarlingwiththerosyface

TellMeAgain

41

38

LEYLA HAN IM

LEYLA HAN IM

NiGAR HANIM

Contents

31

ClassicalLyricsoftheOttomanEmpire

MIHRI HATUN

Get on with the festivities

29

30

I reap no gains but trouble at your place when I come near Song

25

YUNUS EMRE

Go and let it be known to all lovers

Nowhearthis,lovers,myfriends

23

40

39

36

Sultan Poets

SOVEREIGN LOVE:

No end to this separation, no limit to this cruel pain 45

SULTAN SOLEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT

My very own queen, my everything 46

SULTAN SOLEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT

Till the day I die, I shall never leave her beauty's sun 48

SULTAN SOLEYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT

Coy like a lovebird, she flirts with hundreds 49

SULTAN SEL1M III

MANY-SPLENDORED SONGS:

With its tender flakes, snow flutters about In the plain stands a plum tree

PART TWO

Tryst

55

56

I ,Love rroems from tfie 'Turkish 'Republic 59

[untitled]

NAZIM H1KMET

60

[untitled]

NAZIM H1KMET

61

ThreeStorksRestaurant

I Shut My Eyes Tight

63

NAZ IM HiKMET

MyLady'sEyesAreHazel PoemsofNinetoTenP.M.

62

NAZIMHiKMET

NAZIM HiKMET

Prison to Prison

53

54

ANONYMOUS

ANONYMOUS

y AHY A KEMAL BEY A TL!

[untitled]

KARACAOGLAN

ANONYMOUS

At daybreak I dropped in on a beauty Mysoulyearnsforyou

Wandering Folk Poets

64

NAZIM H1KMET NAZIM HiKMET

NAZIM HiKMET

Poems from Prison NAZ IM 22 September 1945 69 23 September 1945 70 5 October 1945 71

65 66

68

HI KMET

Contents

vu

From Letters to Taranta Babu Now's the Time for Love MyLittleWoman Maria!

78 79

82

z i YA o s MAN s AB A

BlackMulberries

Beauty and Mind

FAZIL HOSNO DAGLARCA

89

FAZ IL HOSNO DAGLARCA

ORHAN VELl KANIK

OKTAY RIFAT

From: Horses Before Troy SecretLove

MELlH CEVDET AN DAY

iLHAN BERK

95

97

CAHiT KOLEBi

lLHAN BERK

98

99 100

Never Did I See Such Loves Nor Such Separations

Vlll

Contents

94

96

A. KADiR

CAHiT KOLEBl

Once Upon a Time

92

93

BEH