Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ‘ilün Fe‘ilâtün Mefâ‘ilün Fe‘ilün

Getür getür meyi sâḳî baḥârı ḫoş görelüm
İrişdi vaḳt-i şükûfe kenârı ḫoş görelüm
Bugün ki mevsim-i güldür çemende bülbül ile
Ḫurûş u nâle ḳılup âh u zârı ḫoş görelüm
Ḳomaz gülüñ nidelüm dâmenini elden ḫâr
Gülüñ rızâsı içün bâri ḫârı ḫoş görelüm
Yoluña tuḥfe getürdüm begüm bu cânı didüm
Didi getür sen eli boşda varı ḫoş görelüm
Cihân u cânı revân it yolına Mihrî ḥabîb
İtim dimiş saña bu i‘tibârı ḫoş görelüm

In English

1. Bring, bring the wine, O cupbearer, let us take spring as pleasant (hoş görmek); the time of blossoming has come, let us take the edge of the meadow as pleasant. ("Kenâr" means "edge, bank" and also "lap, embrace"; the line can also be read "let us enjoy the embrace of the beloved".)

2. Since today is the season of the rose, let us take the sighs and laments as pleasant, carousing and lamenting with the nightingale in the meadow (let us take pleasure in lamenting with the nightingale).

3. The thorn does not let go of the rose's hem; what can we do? For the rose's sake, let us at least take the thorn as pleasant too. (The rose stands for the beloved, the thorn for the rival who never leaves her side.)

4. I said, "My lord, I have brought this soul as a gift on your path"; she said, "Bring it; since you are empty-handed, let us take whatever you have as pleasant."

5. O Mihrî, pour out the world and the soul on the beloved's path (sacrifice them); the beloved has called you "my dog", so let us take this honour as pleasant (let us accept this worth with a pleasant heart).

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The one hundred and twelfth ghazal (gazel) of the divan has five couplets (beyit) and is written in the müctes metre of the aruz (quantitative metre), in the pattern "Mefâ‘ilün Fe‘ilâtün Mefâ‘ilün Fe‘ilün". The redif (refrain word) is the phrase "ḫoş görelüm"; the rhyme is built on the sound "-ârı" before the refrain (baḥârı, kenârı, zârı, ḫârı, varı, i‘tibârı). The ghazal shares the same metre and the same redif with the one hundred and eleventh ghazal, which comes directly before it in the divan; the two differ only in rhyme. The poem appears in all four manuscripts. The most striking of the manuscript variants is in the third couplet: in manuscripts F and S, "göñül" (heart) stands in place of the word "gülüñ" (of the rose); with this reading the couplet means "the thorn does not let go of the heart's hem, for the heart's sake let us take the thorn as pleasant". The first word appears in manuscript M as "Götür" (take away); in the text published by Didem Havlioğlu the line reads "Getür götür meyi sâḳî". Nothing is known about whom the poem was written for or on what occasion.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

Where its sister ghazal speaks of the transience of life, this one opens directly with a gathering of spring and wine. The cupbearer is called, wine is requested, and it is announced that the time of blossoming has come. The words "mey, sâḳî, baḥâr, şükûfe" (wine, cupbearer, spring, blossom) form the tenasüp (congruence of images) of a spring revel. The repetition "getür getür" in the first line conveys the exuberance of the gathering through sound as well. Because "kenâr" means "lap" as well as "bank", the line speaking of the edge of the meadow may also recall the beloved's lap. Sıtkı Nazik treats these two ghazals with the same redif together and notes that in them the poet urges one to look kindly and see the good in everything, whether it concerns the beloved or what happens around one.

The second and third couplets are built on the conceits of the rose, the nightingale and the thorn. Lamenting with the nightingale in the season of the rose is offered as a pleasure; the lover's sighs and cries are likened to the nightingale's song for the rose. In the third couplet the thorn is imagined as a being that will not leave the hem of the rose. Gülşen Kaya gives this couplet as an example when she explains that the lover endures the rival's torments in order to be near the beloved, that unfortunately there is a thorn beside every rose in the garden of the world, and that holding the rose requires holding the thorn as well. The repetition of the word "gül" in both lines, and the contrast (tezat) between "gül" and "ḫâr" (thorn), carry the meaning of the couplet.

The fourth couplet is a small scene of conversation. The lover says she has brought her soul as a gift on the beloved's path. The beloved's reply is a disdainful acceptance: "Bring it; since you are empty-handed, let us take whatever you have as pleasant." Kaya cites this couplet together with the gift couplet of the previous ghazal when she notes that the beloved's gift to the lover is cruelty and torment (cevr ü cefâ) and the lover's gift to the beloved is her soul. That the refrain is spoken in this couplet by the beloved brings the phrase "hoş görmek" nearer to "let us put up with it, let us accept it".

In the pen-name couplet (mahlas) the beloved has called Mihrî "itim", that is, "my dog". In divan poetry the lover's likening herself to a dog at the beloved's door is an expression of loyalty and humility. Kaya writes that the beloved's calling the lover "itim" directly pleases the lover, since it is a sign that the beloved is aware of her, and she gives this couplet as an example. The poet accepts this word as an "i‘tibâr", that is, as honour and worth. In the couplet there is also a play of sound between the "it" in "revân it" (pour out, send) in the first line and "İtim" (my dog) in the second; the use of the same sound with different meanings is an example of cinas (punning on identical-sounding words).

Bibliography

Primary sources

  • Mehmet Arslan (ed.), Mihrî Hâtun Dîvânı, Ankara: Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Yayınları (Kültür Eserleri Dizisi 576), 2018, p. 110, Ghazal 112. ekitap.ktb.gov.tr

Academic studies

  • Gülşen Kaya, Mihrî Hâtun Dîvânı'nın Tahlili, master's thesis, Fırat University Institute of Social Sciences, Elazığ 2010. openaccess.firat.edu.tr
  • Sıtkı Nazik, "Benzer Redifli Şiirleri Bağlamında Mihrî Hatun ve Tâcî-zâde Cafer Çelebi'nin Karşılaştırılması", Uluslararası Amasya Âlimleri Sempozyumu Bildiriler Kitabı II, Amasya 2017.

Other sources

  • Didem Havlioğlu (ed.), "Ğazeliyyāt-ı Mihri-i Hāqīre", türkoloji-iran, 2007 (a different transliteration of the ghazal).

Online sources