Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

‘Āşıḳ-ı ser-mestem aṣlā bende yoḳdur fikr-i neng
Göñlüm efġān-ı ney ister nāle-i ḳānūn u çeng
Cür‘a-i cām-ı muravvaḳdur murādı göñlümüñ
N’eylesün bilür ki degmez dengine afyon u beng
Seng-dil maḥbūblar göñliyle ṭoldı yollaruñ
Ḳorḳaram k’anlardan atuñ ayaġına ire seng
Sen düşürdüñ bizi derd-i ‘ışḳa diyü cān u dil
Hep iderler benüm ile dōstum merdāne ceng
Mest-i ‘ışḳ-ı yārsın reftāruñı gördüm Münīr
Ẓāhir oldı ṭınma daḫı ḳo getürme ‘öẕr-i leng

In English

1. I am a lover with a reeling head, drunk; there is no concern for shame in me at all. My heart longs for the lament of the reed flute and the moaning of the kanun and the harp.

2. The heart's desire is the last draught (cür'a) at the bottom of a cup of strained wine; what can it do, it knows that opium and beng (henbane) are not worth its equal.

3. The roads are filled with the hearts of stone-hearted beauties; I fear that a stone from them may strike your horse's hoof.

4. Soul and heart, saying "It was you who cast us into the pain of love", are forever fighting bravely with me, my friend. (In this couplet the VT manuscript gives the readings "dem-be-dem" and "Her geh iderler benümle cān u dil".)

5. Münîr, you are drunk with love for the beloved; I have seen your gait, it is plain. Now make no sound, leave it, and do not plead the excuse of lameness as well.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a Turkish ghazal of five couplets; in the edition it is the hundred and sixty-first of the Turkish ghazals (tg 161). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The ghazal has no redif (refrain) and does not appear in Ersoy's list of redifs in the introduction (p. 9); the rhyme is the sound "-eng": neng, çeng, beng, seng, ceng and leng. The same rhyme and the same closing "‘öẕr-i leng" are also found in tg 154; tg 166, which comes a few ghazals later, also rhymes in "-eng". This closeness is our own observation. The ghazal is found in two divan manuscripts, VT 135b and VY 112b; it is not in the Ü manuscript. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The theme of the ghazal is rindlik, the stance of the libertine. In the opening couplet the poet describes himself as "‘āşıḳ-ı ser-mest" (a lover drunk and reeling) and rejects any concern for shame. The Kubbealtı dictionary gives the word "neng" the senses of fame, renown and of shame, disgrace; here the second sense comes forward. Naming the reed flute, the kanun and the harp (çeng) together creates a congruence of images (tenasüp); the word "kanun" is used as the name of the instrument. In the second couplet "cür‘a" is the last draught left at the bottom of the cup. The Kubbealtı dictionary explains "beng" as henbane and its narcotic seed, used like opium. The poet ranks the last draught of wine above opium and beng; the closeness of sound between "dengine" (its equal) and the rhyme word "beng" lends the couplet a further harmony.

The third couplet is built on the word "seng" (stone). In the first line the beauties are "seng-dil", stone-hearted; in the second these stone hearts fill the roads and may strike the hoof of the beloved's horse. Turning the metaphor of the heart of stone into an actual stone gives the couplet its wit. In the fourth couplet a scene of strife is set inside the lover: soul and heart fight with the lover for having cast them into the pain of love. This personification is also seen in the second couplet of tg 166, which comes a few ghazals later; there too heart and soul do "ceng" (battle) for the arrow of the glance.

The pen-name couplet (mahlas) ties the ghazal's libertine theme to the poet's own body. The poet addresses himself: it has become clear from his gait that he is drunk with love, so let him no longer use his lameness as an excuse. The Kubbealtı dictionary explains the verb "tınmak" as to make a sound, to say something; "ṭınma" therefore means "be silent, make no sound". The Kubbealtı dictionary also refers the word "leng" to the entry "lenk", lame. The couplet seems to set up a play between the staggering of a drunkard and the limping of a lame man; this reading is our own observation.

Historical Context

The ghazal is cited twice in the information Ersoy gives about the poet's life. In the introduction (p. 2) Ersoy quotes the pen-name couplet of this ghazal, together with the ninth couplet of tg 154, among the couplets in which Münîrî says he was lame. On p. 13 he cites the opening couplet as an example of the poet describing himself as a lover with a reeling head, free of any concern for shame or reproach. Ersoy gives this couplet with the reference "tg 161/2"; in the text of the edition, however, the same couplet is the first couplet of the ghazal. The reason for this discrepancy is not known.

Bibliography

Online sources