Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Devr-i güldür gül-sitānda bir nigār-ı şeng ile
Bāde nūş it muṭrib-i ḫoş-gūy u nāy u çeng ile
Ben benümle dem-be-dem dīvāne-veş ceng itdügüm
Ey perī-peyker delürdüm atmaduñ bir seng ile
Ceng-i hicrānda dil ü cāndan meded umdum velī
Biri gördüm yaralu düşmiş birisi ceng ile
Nālemi efġānuma uydurdıġum biñ cehd idüp
Naġme-i ḫoş-ḫᵛān be-ġāyet ḫūb olur āheng ile
Külbe-i aḥzānuma nā-geh Münīrī dün gice
Bir meh-i şekker-leb irdi bāde-i gül-reng ile

In English

1. It is the season of the rose; in the rose garden, with a merry, coquettish beauty, drink wine to a sweet-voiced minstrel, the reed-flute and the harp (çeng).

2. O fairy-faced one, while I fought endlessly with myself like a madman, I went mad; (yet) you did not throw even a single stone at me.

3. In the war of separation I hoped for help from heart and soul; but I saw that one had fallen wounded and the other was still caught up in battle.

4. With a thousand efforts I tuned my moaning to my cry; and the melody of a sweet singer becomes beautiful indeed when it is in harmony.

5. Last night, Münîrî, a sugar-lipped moon (a beauty) came suddenly to my hut of sorrows with rose-coloured wine.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and forty-ninth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 249). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". Ersoy's list of refrains gives the redif (refrain word) of this ghazal as "ile"; the rhyme rests on "-eng": şeng, çeng, seng, ceng, āheng and reng. The ghazal is found in all three divan manuscripts (VT 157a, VY 135b, Ü 52b); no variant readings are recorded in the edition. It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The most striking feature of the ghazal is the sound play among the rhyme words. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "şeng" as cheerful, merry, coquettish; "çeng" as a stringed instrument resembling the harp; and "seng" as stone. "Ceng" is war (Kubbealtı, entry "cengâver"). The "çeng" of the opening couplet and the "ceng" of the second and third couplets differ in the Arabic script only by the dots of one letter; this is the device known as cinas-ı hattî (a pun on script). In the third couplet "ceng" is used twice, once within the line and once in the rhyme. The opening couplet is framed as an invitation to spring, gathering all the elements of the drinking party (beauty, minstrel, reed-flute, harp, wine) in a single couplet.

In the second couplet there is a link between fairy and madness. In its entry "peri" the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains the phrase "perî-dâr" as one possessed by fairies, seized by jinn. The fairy-faced beloved has driven the lover mad, yet has not thrown even a stone at him. The couplet seems to rest on the idea of stones being thrown at one who has gone mad; the beloved's failure to do even this much can be taken as a sign that she pays the lover no attention at all (our reading). In the third couplet heart and soul are like two soldiers called to help in the war of separation; one has fallen wounded, the other is still fighting.

The fourth couplet is built on musical terms. The Kubbealtı Lugatı explains "âhenk" as a pleasing harmony of sounds, a tune, a melody, and the accord between the parts of a whole. The lover has tuned his moaning to his cry; just as a melody becomes beautiful through harmony, his lament turns into harmonious music. The second line states a general truth in the manner of irsal-i mesel (use of a proverbial saying). In the couplet bearing the pen name (mahlas) the phrase "külbe-i aḥzān" is an allusion (telmih): the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains it as "the hut of sorrows" and records that this name was given to the hut where the prophet Jacob lost his sight weeping for his lost son Joseph, and that it passed into literature in this sense. With the beloved coming to this hut of sorrow with wine, the ghazal returns to the spring gathering of the opening couplet.

Bibliography

Online sources