Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilātün / fe‘ilün

Ne siyeh zülf-i mu‘aṭṭar ne leb-i la‘l-i teri
İstemem ne ‘Arabıñ yüzi ne Şāmıñ şekeri
Çekemem ḥaml-i s̱aḳīl-i reviş-i gerdūnı
Āh gerdūne-i dil ḳaldı ḳırıldı tekeri
Pek mi tengīndir ol ġonce-dehen bilmem ya
‘Arż-ı lüknet mi ola ḳā‘ide-i şīvegeri
Ceng ider kāfir-i zülfi ile tīġ-ı ebrū
O ḳızıllıḳ görinür ṣanma şu‘ā‘-ı nökeri
Şīve-i dil-beri bilmek diler iseñ Vāżıḥ
Ḫāmeñi söylet anıñ vardır andan ḫaberi

In English

1. I want neither the fragrant black lock nor the fresh ruby lip; I want neither the face of the Arab nor the sugar of Damascus.

2. I cannot bear the heavy load of the turning of the heavens; alas, the cart of the heart is stranded, its wheel is broken.

3. Is that rosebud-mouthed one so narrow-mouthed, I do not know; or is speaking with a stammer the rule of coquetry?

4. The sword of the eyebrow is fighting the infidel of his locks; do not take that visible redness for the gleam of a soldier (nöker).

5. O Vâzıh, if you wish to know the coquetry of the heart-stealer, make your pen speak; it has knowledge of that.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal has five couplets and is written in the remel pattern "fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilātün fe‘ilün". There is no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on the "-eri" of "teri, şekeri, tekeri, şīvegeri, nökeri, ḫaberi". The pen name (mahlas) appears in the last couplet. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first couplet rests on a popular saying. In Turkish one who wants neither the good nor the bad of something says "neither the sugar of Damascus nor the face of the Arab"; Vâzıh places this saying inside the line and includes the beloved's beauties in the same refusal. By saying that he wants neither the lock nor the lip, the poet builds the voice of a weary lover who has turned his back on the world. The second couplet expresses this weariness through a pun (cinas): "gerdūn" is the firmament and "gerdūne" a cart. The cart of the heart, unable to carry the load of the turning heavens, is stranded on the road with a broken wheel.

The third couplet works on the motif of the small mouth. In divan poetry the beloved's mouth is imagined so small that it is almost invisible. The poet asks whether the beloved's tongue falters because the mouth is so narrow or for the sake of coquetry; "lüknet" means stammering and "şīvegerī" coquettish behaviour. In the fourth couplet the eyebrow is compared to a sword and the lock to an infidel enemy. The meaning of the second line is not entirely clear; the couplet seems to say that the redness on the face is the blood shed in this battle and should not be taken for the gleam of a soldier's weapon. The word "nöker" is used for a soldier or retainer. In the last couplet the poet says that only the pen can tell the beloved's coquetry, so that the poem turns back to its own art. Babaarslan notes that Vâzıh carried popular speech into his poetry; the first couplet is a clear example.

Bibliography

Online sources