Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilün

Tavr-ı 'izz ü nâzı bütden ögren ey sîmîn-beden
Bin sücûd eylerler itmez kimseye bir kez sühan
Gözüme dünyâ karañu başuma zindân cihân
İtmedi kimse bana illâ ki ol hatt-ı zevkin
Cân ile kaṣd itmişüm dil baglamakda zülfüne
Takmışum kendü elümle boynuma muhkem resen
Sünbülüñ çöz bâgdan eyle güzer ey hoş-hırâm
K'ola toprağa berâber berg-i reyhân u semen
İstemez yâvuz yil esdigini Harîmî üstüne
Yitdigi yiri bilürmiş yirine serv-i çemen

In English

1. O silver-bodied one, learn the manner of pride and coquetry from the idol; they bow to it a thousand times, and it never says a word to anyone.

2. The world has grown dark to my eyes and the universe a prison to my head; no one but that down on your cheek has done this to me. The end of the line ("hatt-ı zevkin") appears corrupt, so this reading is ours.

3. I have set my heart and soul on binding my heart to your locks; with my own hand I have put a strong rope around my neck.

4. O graceful walker, loosen your hyacinth hair and pass through the garden; let the leaves of basil and jasmine become one with the earth.

5. The cypress of the meadow does not wish a harsh wind to blow upon Harîmî, for it knows well the place where it lost him. The couplet is not entirely clear; this reading is ours.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

It is a ghazal of five couplets. The metre is the remel pattern Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilâtün Fâ'ilün. There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme is the "-en, -an" of "beden, sühan, resen, semen, çemen". The last word of the second couplet stands in the digital text as "zevkin" and does not fit the rhyme. The passage is probably corrupt, but since its correct form is not known it has been left as it is. The prayer in the heading is "Tâbe s̱erâhû". The letters ṣ (sad) and s̱ (se), which came out as ş in the digital text, have been restored according to the original spelling of the words. The poet's life, works and the state of the Dîvânçe are discussed in Şehzade Korkut (Harîmî): Literary Persona, Works and Poems.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the first couplet the idol is held up to the beloved as a teacher of coquetry. In divan poetry the beautiful beloved is often called "büt" (idol); the idol answers a thousand prostrations without a word, and the beloved is asked to be as silent and proud. In the third couplet the lover likens the locks to a rope and himself to one who has put that rope around his neck with his own hand, a bitter image saying that love is the lover's own choice. In the fourth the beloved's hair is likened to hyacinth, and as it passes through the garden basil and jasmine fall to the ground before it. The last couplet is the one Kılıç cites as an example of the repetition of words that sound alike. The words "yil, yitdigi, yiri, yirine" follow one another to make a play of sound. The word "yavuz" here is used in its old Turkish sense of "bad, harsh".

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Harîmî (Şehzade Korkut), Dîvânçe, Millet Library, Ali Emîrî, Manzum Eserler nr. 104.

Academic studies

  • Filiz Kılıç, "Osmanlı Hanedanında Bir Şair: Şehzade Korkut", Bilig (Ahmet Yesevi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi), 2, Summer 1996, pp. 203–219 (Dîvânçe text pp. 209–218; ghazal 26, p. 214). teis.yesevi.edu.tr

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