Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün mefā‘ilün fe‘ilün

Aḳçeler ṣaçdı yine gülşene gül
İtse ṣaç yolmasın n'ola sünbül
Mest olup yine ġonca cāmından
Ṣaldı āvāze ‘āleme bülbül
Başa çıkmaḳ olurdı zülfiyile
Ger ḥarāmīliġ itmese kākül
Germ olur oldı ḫayli meclisde
Leb-i dil-dāre beñzeyelden mül
‘Adliyā añma aṭlas-ı çarḫı
Dūd-ı āhuñ yeter saña ḳara çul

In English

1. Once again the rose has scattered silver coins (akçe) over the rose garden; what wonder if the hyacinth tears its hair (whether scrambling for the coins or out of envy)?

2. Drunk once more from the cup of the rosebud, the nightingale has sent its voice out over the world (filled the world with its song).

3. It would have been possible to cope with the beloved's locks, if the forelock (the lock falling over the brow) did not play the highwayman.

4. Ever since wine came to resemble the beloved's lip, it has become quite sought after in the gathering and warms it.

5. Adlî, do not speak of the satin of the heavens (the sky likened to silk); the smoke of your sighs is enough for you as a black haircloth.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal (gazel) has five couplets and is written in the hafif metre "fe‘ilâtün mefâ‘ilün fe‘ilün". In this pattern every line has eleven syllables, so the lines are short and move quickly. It has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the sound "-ül/-ul": gül, sünbül, bülbül, kâkül, mül, çul. In Bayram's edition it is number 80 and it is found only in the manuscripts M1 and M2; it is absent from OR, T and İBB. The edition records no variant readings for this ghazal. It is not known to whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal opens with a spring scene. The rose "scattering akçe" over the rose garden is the spreading of opening roses through the garden; akçe, in its dictionary sense, means a silver coin, and either the rose petals or the yellow pollen at the flower's heart may be likened to these coins. Which of the two is meant is not clear from the couplet. The real play of the opening couplet lies between the verb "saçmak" (to scatter) and the word "saç" (hair): the rose scatters coins, the hyacinth tears its hair. In divan poetry the hyacinth, with its curling flowers, is likened to the beloved's hair. That the hyacinth should tear its hair, whether scrambling for the scattered money or envying the rose's generosity, is a poetic cause found for the dishevelled hyacinth blossoms; this is the figure of poetic aetiology (hüsn-i talil). There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among rose, rose garden and hyacinth.

The second couplet continues the spring scene with the motif of the rose and the nightingale. The nightingale grows drunk on the "câm", the cup, of the rosebud; the link between the cup-shaped bud and drink is often drawn in divan poetry. The drunken nightingale sending its voice out over the world is the nightingale's song in spring.

The third couplet passes from the garden to the beloved. The zülf is the long hair hanging at the sides, the kâkül the lock that falls over the brow. The idiom "başa çıkmak" means both to cope with something and, in its dictionary sense, to rise to the head; since the forelock sits on top of the head, the idiom works in two directions in the couplet. "Harâmî" is a highwayman, a brigand. According to the poet, it would have been possible to withstand the locks, but the forelock lies in ambush and steals hearts. Likening hair to a highwayman is metaphor (istiare).

The fourth couplet turns to the gathering. "Mül" is wine, and "germ", in its dictionary sense, means hot, fervent, in demand. Wine has found favour in the gathering because it resembles the beloved's red lip. One would expect the lip to be likened to wine rather than the wine to the lip; by reversing the comparison the poet makes the lip the original and the wine something that takes its share from it. This is a usage close to the reversed simile called teşbih-i maklûb.

The final couplet is built on antithesis. "Atlas" is both a precious silk fabric, satin, and one of the names of the sky in divan poetry; in its dictionary sense "felek-i atlas" is the ninth heaven. "Çul" is coarse haircloth. The poet tells himself not to speak of the satin of the heavens, for the smoke of his sighs will be enough for him as a black haircloth: the smoke rising from the lover's sighs climbs to the sky and wraps it like a black covering. The antithesis between satin and haircloth, silk and coarse weave, is the heart of the couplet. That a sultan who could wear satin should find haircloth enough for himself is a further contrast that lies plainly in the couplet.

Bibliography

  • Yavuz Bayram (ed.), Adlî Dîvânı (Dîvân-ı Sultân Bâyezîd-i Sânî), Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yay., 2018, p. 118, poem no. 80 (manuscript information in the footnote on p. 118). ekitap.ktb.gov.tr