Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eight-syllable syllabic metre

Yerden göğe hayıf oldu
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Millet-İslâm yetim kaldı
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Her diyara nâme yazdırdı
Tiren-Teyyare düzdürdü
Kurdu koyunla gezdirdi
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Cenk bayrağın dikerdi
Yeryüzüne kan dökerdi
Düşmanlar korkusun çekerdi
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Böyle aslana felek kıydı
Fevt haberin âlem duydu
Vatan halkı yasa girdi
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Arşın horazları öttü
Arkasından ecel yetti
Dünyadan ahrete gitti
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Ah idelim ağlayalım
Cümlemiz kara bağlayalım
Bu dünyayı neyleyelim
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Düşman için gam yemezdi
Bin kâfire bir demezdi
Öcün alırdı koymazdı
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Devlet kuşu herdem uçmaz
Ahmak hamı-hası seçmez
Böyle şahpaz ele geçmez
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Asırında eyilik gördük
Çok zevk ile safa sürdük
Şimdi yas-mateme girdik
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Hissiyet eserin söyleyim
Binde birin vasf eyleyim
Mülâkat olmadı neyleyim
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Rençberden öşür kaldırdı
Ülke halkını güldürdü
Cihanı adı ile doldurdu
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Askerlik iki yıl oldu
Kadınlardan çocuk doğdu
Vatan şenlik ile doldu
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Millet yoklama olunur
İçinde dertli bulunur
Bedava ilâç alınır
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Hakkı iptal olmaz hâşâ
Gâzi,İsmet, Feyzi paşa
Hükmü geçer dağa taşa
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
1881.de dünyâya geldi
Otuzsekizde vefat oldu
Ankarada defn olundu
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Muabbirler tavarık kılsın
Dünyada adı anılsın
Durağı cennet alâ olsun
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Meclis-mebusan sağ olsun
Cihanda yüzleri ak olsun
Kast edenler belâsın bulsun
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası
Âşık FEDAYİ ahu çak eder
Gece gündüz eyler keder
Söylene ta kıyamete kadar
Eyvah göçtü Türk atası

In English

1. From earth to sky it is a pity; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away. The nation of Islam is left an orphan; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

2. He had letters written to every land, he had trains and aeroplanes built, he made the wolf walk with the sheep; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

3. He would plant the banner of war, he would shed blood upon the earth, the enemies lived in fear of him; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

4. Fate struck down such a lion, the whole world heard the news of his death, the people of the homeland went into mourning; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

5. The cocks of the Throne crowed, then his appointed hour came, he went from this world to the hereafter; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

6. Let us sigh, let us weep, let us all wear black; what use is this world to us; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

7. He did not fret over the enemy, a thousand infidels he would not count as one, he took his revenge and did not let it go; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

8. The bird of fortune does not always alight; the fool cannot tell the raw from the fine; such a royal falcon is not easily found; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

9. In his age we saw goodness, we lived in pleasure and delight; now we have gone into mourning and grief; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

10. Let me speak the work of my feelings, let me describe one thousandth of his qualities; it was not granted to me to meet him, what can I do; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

11. He lifted the tithe from the farmer, he made the people of the land smile, he filled the world with his name; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

12. Military service became two years, children were born to the women, the homeland filled with festivity; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

13. The nation is examined; if the sick and suffering are found among them, their medicine is given free; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

14. His right will never be forgotten; the authority of the Gazi, of İsmet and of Fevzi Pasha reaches mountain and stone; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

15. He came into the world in 1881, he died in thirty-eight, he was buried in Ankara; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

16. Let the historians write his history (the reading of the line is not certain), let his name be remembered in the world, let his resting place be high paradise; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

17. Long live the Assembly of Deputies, may their faces be bright in the world, may those who mean harm meet their ruin; alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

18. The minstrel Fedâî sighs and rends his collar, night and day he suffers grief; let it be said until the Day of Judgement: alas, the father of the Turks has passed away.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

Given in the source with the note "He grieved greatly at Atatürk's death and wrote the following words", the lament consists of eighteen quatrains in the eight-syllable metre. The last line of every quatrain is the refrain "Eyvah göçtü Türk atası" (alas, the father of the Turks has passed away); in the first quatrain this line also stands in second position. The first three lines of each quatrain rhyme among themselves (as in "düzdürdü, gezdirdi", "dikerdi, dökerdi, çekerdi", "kıydı, duydu, girdi"). This structure is the familiar pattern of folk laments and semai poems. The pen name appears in the last quatrain. In the source's typesetting the year in the first line of the fifteenth quatrain is printed as "I88l"; it has been corrected to "1881" in the text. In the source the poem is the third of those under the heading "Examples of those written for Atatürk, on the World War and on Amasya".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

On the one hand the lament uses traditional formulas of mourning: earth and sky lamenting, fate striking down a lion, the crowing of the cocks of the Throne, wearing black, rending one's collar. On the other hand it lists the measures of the early years of the Republic through the eyes of a villager. The tithe no longer being taken from the farmer, that is, the abolition of the aşar tax in 1925, military service lasting two years, medicine being given free to the sick, and the arrival of trains and aeroplanes in the country are named directly in these quatrains. "He made the wolf walk with the sheep" is an old folk expression for security and order. The "bird of fortune" of the eighth quatrain is the bird of folk tale believed to bring luck to the one on whose head it alights; the poet says that such a royal falcon is not easily found.

The line "Mülâkat olmadı neyleyim" (it was not granted to me to meet him, what can I do) in the tenth quatrain adds a personal voice to the poem: the poet expresses his sorrow at never having seen Mustafa Kemal. In the fifteenth quatrain the years of birth and death and the place of burial are recorded as if on an inscription. These details suggest that the poem was composed right after the death, in the days when the news was fresh.

Historical Context

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk died on 10 November 1938. Since Fedâî Baba died on 26 October 1940, the lament belongs to the last two years of the poet's life. Cafer Özdemir notes that the divan contains poems on Atatürk; this lament has the value of a document showing how an Alevi-Bektashi minstrel who lived in the Amasya countryside regarded the founder of the Republic and his reforms.

Bibliography

Online sources