Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Çünki hengām-ı gül irdi mevsim-i ‘ayş-ı müdām
Sāḳīyā ṣun bāde-i gül-fāmuñı sen de müdām
Boynın egdügi tevāżu‘dan benefşe dōstum
Ḫıdmetüñe ṣoḥbet-i gülden getürmişdür selām
Ṣad hezār olsa işüm gül ṣoḥbetin terk itmezem
Gerçi kim dirler mes̱eldür ḳaydluya ṣoḥbet ḥarām
‘Andelīb-i nā-tüvānem per-şikeste derd ile
Bir gül-endāma kim ol da baña ḳılmaz bir kelām
Sünbül-i zülf-i siyeh diyü Münīr ölme iñen
Devr-i güldür ‘ışḳ-ı la‘l-i yāra iç ṣahbā vü cām

In English

1. Since the season of the rose has come, the season of continual (or: wine-filled) delight, O cupbearer, you too pass round your rose-coloured wine without ceasing.

2. My friend, the violet, bowing its neck in humility, has brought greetings from the company of the rose to your service.

3. Even if my affairs were a hundred thousand (ṣad hezār; hezār also means nightingale), I will not abandon the company of the rose; though they say there is a proverb, "Company is forbidden to one who is bound."

4. I am a feeble nightingale, my wings broken by pain, in love with one whose body is a rose and who will not speak a single word to me.

5. Münîr, do not die moaning "the hyacinth of the black tresses"; it is the season of the rose, drink wine and the cup for love of the beloved's ruby lip.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundredth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 200). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". The ghazal has no redif (refrain word); the rhyme rests on "-ām": müdām, müdām, selām, ḥarām, kelām and cām. Both lines of the opening couplet end with the same word, "müdām". The ghazal is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 145a). It is not known for whom or when it was written.

This ghazal and Ghazal 203 of the edition are written in the same metre and share the rhymes "selām", "ḥarām" and "kelām". The saying "ḳaydluya ṣoḥbet ḥarām" in the third couplet also appears at the end of a line in the second couplet of Ghazal 203 (our observation).

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is a poem of spring and wine; because the season of the rose has come, wine is asked of the cupbearer. In the opening couplet the word "müdām" serves twice as rhyme. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains this word both as "continuous, constant" and as "wine". The "müdām" of the second line means without ceasing; the "‘ayş-ı müdām" of the first line, however, can be read both as continual delight and as the delight of wine. In the second couplet the violet is shown as a servant standing with bowed neck; the Kubbealtı Lugatı records "benefşe" as the older, original form of the word for violet. The violet's drooping posture is attributed to humility, and it is given the office of an envoy bringing greetings from the rose's company. This is an interpretation of the kind called hüsn-i talil (poetic aetiology) (our observation).

In the third couplet two figures of speech are interwoven. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "hezar" both as "thousand" and as "nightingale"; in a couplet about the rose garden, the phrase "ṣad hezār" (a hundred thousand) also calls up this second sense. In the second line the poet turns to a proverb, which his own words acknowledge as such: "Ḳaydluya ṣoḥbet ḥarām" (company is forbidden to one who is bound). The Kubbealtı Lugatı derives "kayd" from the Arabic sense "to bind"; one who has many affairs, who is bound to something, cannot join in convivial company. Though the lover knows this proverb, he does not give up the company of the rose. The couplet is a fine example of irsal-i mesel (the use of a proverbial saying).

In the fourth couplet the lover is a nightingale with broken wings; the rose-bodied beloved he is in love with does not speak a single word to him. The well-known relation between rose and nightingale here expresses the beloved's indifference. In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) the poet consoles himself. In divan poetry the hyacinth stands for the black, curling tresses; instead of moaning and dying over it, the poet advises enjoying the season of the rose and drinking wine for the beloved's ruby lip. The words "sünbül" (hyacinth), "gül" (rose), "la‘l" (ruby) and "ṣahbā" (wine) form a congruence of images (tenasüp) between spring and drinking.

Bibliography

Online sources