Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: fā‘ilātün / fā‘ilātün / fā‘ilātün / fā‘ilün

Cānıma gönder müjeñ ceyşini mızraḳlar gibi
Şeh-levendim sen ṣalın ḳarşımda bayraḳlar gibi
‘Aḳlımı yaġmā iden ḫūbān-ı Tātārāndır
Ḳara perçem başlarında Ḳaraḳalpaḳlar gibi
Nā-goşūde ġonce ammā pür-ṭarāvet şāḫ-ı gül
Duḫter-i şermendeveş pistānını ṣaḳlar gibi
Ḳanḳı cānın cigerin çāk itdiñ ey cellād ḥayf
Niçeler pür-ḫūndur ḥınnālı parmaḳlar gibi
Şimdi gördüm Vāżıḥā bir māh şehr-i Ḫarşene
Aḳdı çeşmim anda cārī olan ırmaḳlar gibi

In English

1. Send the army of your eyelashes against my soul like spears; my brave lord, and you, sway before me like banners.

2. The beauties who plunder my reason are Tatars; the black forelocks on their heads are like Karakalpaks.

3. The rose branch, an unopened bud but full of freshness, hides its breast like a bashful girl.

4. O executioner, alas, whose soul and heart have you torn; so many are covered in blood like hennaed fingers.

5. O Vâzıh, just now I saw a moon-faced beauty in the city of Harşena; my eyes flowed there like the rivers running through it.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal has five couplets in the remel pattern "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is "-lar gibi" (like ...s), and the rhyme is the "-aḳ" of "mızraḳ, bayraḳ, Ḳaraḳalpaḳ, ṣaḳla(r), parmaḳ, ırmaḳ". It is the last of the sixty-one ghazals in the Dîvânçe and stands among the ghazals ending in the letter ye. The pen name appears in the last couplet.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The first two couplets are built on images of war and raiding. The beloved's eyelashes are an army of spearmen aimed at the soul, and the swaying stature is a waving banner. In the second couplet the beauties who plunder reason are compared to Tatars, and the black forelocks on their heads to Karakalpaks. The name Karakalpak means "black-capped" in Turkish; the likeness in sound and colour between the black forelock and the black cap creates the joke of the couplet. There is a clear congruence of images (tenasüp) among "ceyş (army), mızraḳ (spear), bayraḳ (banner), yaġmā (plunder), Tātār, Ḳaraḳalpaḳ". The third couplet suddenly changes the mood: the unopened rosebud is compared to a bashful girl hiding her breast. In the fourth couplet bleeding hearts are compared to hennaed fingers.

Historical Context

The last couplet ties the ghazal to Amasya. The poet says that he saw a moon-faced beauty in "şehr-i Ḫarşene", the city of Harşena. Harşena is the name of the citadel above the city. Hüsameddin also writes that the name "Harsenûn", listed among the Byzantine administrative divisions in the Cerîdetü'l-Acâ'ib, refers to Amasya; the poet's naming of the city after its citadel matches this old usage. His tears are described as flowing "like the rivers running through it", words that call to mind the Yeşilırmak flowing through the middle of the town. The other poem in which Vâzıh names Amasya is Mukatta‘ât 15, which describes the rivers in flood. For the citadel of Amasya see Amasya Castle (Harşena Castle).

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources