When a competition was opened to choose the İstiklâl Marşı, the national anthem adopted in 1921, a march was sent from Merzifon too, and it is one of the six competition poems published by the Ministry of National Education. Outside his town, the name of its author, İskender Hâki Engin, is remembered chiefly for this poem. Engin spent his life in Merzifon as a teacher, calligrapher and master of painted decoration (kalem işi), and his poems and articles appeared in local journals. He died in Merzifon in 1970; as the copyright term has not run out, the page makes do with a short excerpt from that march.

His Life

He was born in Merzifon in 1895, the son of Saloğlu Mustafa Bey. After his primary and secondary schooling there he went to Istanbul in 1910 and enrolled at the Mercan İdâdî (secondary school). His father's early death cut these studies short; he returned to Merzifon and began teaching at the İttihat ve Terakki primary school. In 1914 he became teacher of hüsn-i hat, that is, calligraphy, at the newly opened Merzifon İdâdî. After the proclamation of the Republic he was appointed teacher at the newly opened Kara Mustafa Paşa Primary School; in time he rose to be its head teacher and stayed there until he retired.

He also played a part in the town's cultural life beyond the classroom. In 1924 (1340 in the Rumi calendar) he was among the founders of the Merzifon Youth Union, set up to make young people aware of science, technology and economics and to nourish the Turkish language and a sense of Turkishness. In 1937-1938 he served as president of the Merzifon People's House (Halkevi). He had a small printing press at Yokuşbaşı. One trace of his skill in painted decoration and colour is the Medrese Önü Mosque in Merzifon, whose painted decoration he executed in 1951. He was keen on history and also wrote on the history of Merzifon. He died in Merzifon on 2 February 1970. A street in the town has been named after him.

Leaving aside his brief years in Istanbul, Engin's whole life was passed in the Merzifon district of Amasya: he was born there and died there. His teaching, his management of the People's House, his press, the journals he wrote for and his decorative work are all tied to this town. Most of the sources on which his entry in the Dictionary of Names in Turkish Literature (TEİS) relies also belong to Merzifon: a local newspaper article, a Merzifon cultural association's "let us get to know our poets" series and the poet's own articles in the journal Taşan.

His Poetry

Copyright note: Engin died on 2 February 1970, so the term of protection for his poems ends at the close of 2040. Until then we are not giving his poems pages one by one, and only two quatrains are quoted below. When the term expires, each of his poems will have its own page, as has been done for the other poets of the collection.

His poems and articles were published in two Merzifon journals. He was chief writer of Tecelli in 1920 and of Taşan between 1930 and 1940. His articles "Merzifon Türk Ocağı" (The Turkish Hearth of Merzifon, 1931), "Taşan ve Öncekiler" (Taşan and Its Predecessors) and "Merzifon Tarihine Genel Bir Bakış" (A General Look at the History of Merzifon) appeared in Taşan; TEİS gives the year of the last as 1936 in one place and 1937 in its list of works. In poetry he used both aruz (quantitative metre) and syllabic metre. His only known book of verse is Dil Ozanı Diyorki Dünün Günün Destanı, printed by the Merzifon People's House in 1935. The words "dil ozanı" (bard of language) in the title suggest a connection with the language work of the People's Houses, but we were unable to find a source describing the book's contents.

His Poem in the National Anthem Competition

Engin's best-known poem is the march he sent to the İstiklâl Marşı competition during the years of the War of Independence, while he was calligraphy teacher at the Merzifon İdâdî. The Ministry of National Education publishes six poems that took part in the competition alongside Mehmet Âkif's; Engin's stands third, signed "İskender Hâki". Written in eight-syllable lines, its four quatrains are built as a call spoken by Anatolia. Its first quatrain reads:

Ey Müslüman, ey Türk oğlu
Açıldı istiklâl yolu
Benim bu son günlerimdir,
Diyor bize Anadolu.

In English: O Muslim, O son of the Turk, the road to independence has opened; "these are my last days," Anatolia says to us. TEİS gives the same lines in the forms "Ey Türkoğlu" and "Diyor size Anadolu". The following quatrains call on the listener to raise the banner, to stand against captivity and to know that this last war is a sacred duty. The final quatrain stresses unity and the wiping away of the stain on history:

Birleşelim özümüzden,
Dönmeyelim sözümüzden,
Hem silelim bu lekeyi,
Tarihdeki yüzümüzden.

In English: Let us unite from our very core, let us not go back on our word, and let us wipe this stain from our face in history. With its short lines, easy rhymes such as "oğlu / yolu / Anadolu" and a shape that is simple to memorise, the poem has the plainness one expects of a march. The poem does not say openly which stain is meant; given the atmosphere of the Armistice and occupation years, defeat and occupation seem to be intended, but this is an interpretation.

Chronology

1895: Born in Merzifon.

1910: Enters the Mercan İdâdî in Istanbul; returns to Merzifon on his father's death.

1914: Becomes calligraphy teacher at the newly opened Merzifon İdâdî.

1920: Chief writer of the journal Tecelli.

1924: Among the founders of the Merzifon Youth Union.

1930-1940: Chief writer of the journal Taşan.

1935: Dil Ozanı Diyorki Dünün Günün Destanı is published by the Merzifon People's House.

1937-1938: Serves as president of the Merzifon People's House.

1951: Executes the painted decoration of the Medrese Önü Mosque.

1970: Dies in Merzifon on 2 February.

Bibliography

Official sources

Books

  • Ali Aksakal, "İskender Haki Engin", Türk Edebiyatı İsimler Sözlüğü, 22.04.2019 (updated 19.12.2020). https://teis.yesevi.edu.tr/madde-detay/engin-iskender-haki
  • İskender Haki Engin, "Merzifon Türk Ocağı", Taşan, no. 22, 1 March 1931 (as cited by Aksakal).
  • İskender Haki Engin, "Merzifon Tarihine Genel Bir Bakış", Taşan, no. 7 (31), 1936, p. 4 (as cited by Aksakal).
  • İskender Haki Engin, "Taşan ve Öncekiler", Taşan, no. 1 (25), 1936, pp. 1-2 (as cited by Aksakal).
  • Cuma Akbulut, "İskender Haki Engin", Pusula (Merzifon), 21 January (as cited by Aksakal).

Online sources