Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: eight-syllable syllabic metre

Arap atla koç yiğitler
Uygun meydana çevrilir
Silahşor marifetliler
Desti üryana çevrilir
Benim yârim kederlendi
Lebi şirin şekerlendi
Kaş kirpiği siperlendi
Dilimden dane çevrilir
Benim güzelim gelince
Boyu uzun beli ince
Al yanakta gülü gonca
Gülü her yana çevrilir
Uyma vahşinin sözüne
Riya getirme özüne
Halka halka mah yüzüne
Zülüf gerdana çevrilir
Hüseyin’im duyarlarsa
Eğnim şalım soyarlarsa
Bir yâr için kıyarlarsa
Canım kurbana çevrilir

In English

1. Brave men on Arab horses turn towards the fitting field; skilled swordsmen turn to fighting bare-handed.

2. My beloved has grown sorrowful; her sweet lip has turned to sugar; her brow and her lashes have become a shield; from my tongue words turn out grain by grain.

3. When my beauty comes, tall of stature, slender of waist, a rosebud on her red cheek, that rose turns every way.

4. Do not heed the word of the savage, do not bring hypocrisy into your essence; upon the moon face, ring upon ring, the locks turn towards the neck.

5. If they hear of my Hüseyin, if they strip the shawl from my shoulder, if they slay me for a beloved, my soul turns into a sacrifice.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

In the eight-syllable lines the redif tells of a turning: the even-numbered lines end "çevrilir" (turns) ("meydana çevrilir, üryana çevrilir, dane çevrilir, her yana çevrilir, gerdana çevrilir, kurbana çevrilir"). The first and third lines rhyme as "yiğitler, marifetliler", "kederlendi, şekerlendi, siperlendi", "gelince, ince, gonca", "sözüne, özüne, yüzüne", "duyarlarsa, soyarlarsa, kıyarlarsa". Işık counts the five quatrains as a güzelleme. In the closing quatrain the poet names himself "Hüseyin'im" (his pen name, or mahlas). The informants were Halil Sezgin and Âşık Hasan Özabdal.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The short-lined poem sets images of valour and beauty side by side. In the first quatrain brave men on Arab horses go out to the field and skilled swordsmen turn to "dest-i üryan", the bare hand; this is a familiar scene of valour in folk poetry. The following quatrains pass to the beauty of the beloved: the sorrowful beloved, the lip turned to sugar, the brow and lashes become a shield, the tall stature, the slender waist, the rosebud on the red cheek, the locks falling ring upon ring on the moon face.

In the fourth quatrain a piece of counsel intervenes: one must not heed the word of the savage, the coarse and uncomprehending man, nor bring hypocrisy into one's essence. The last quatrain binds the love poem with a word of sacrifice: even if the lover is slain for a beloved, his soul turns into a sacrifice. The redif "turns" takes on different meanings throughout the poem: turning towards the field, words turning out, the rose turning every way, the locks falling to the neck and at last the soul turning into a sacrifice.

Bibliography

Online sources