Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün

Her şāḫuñ olursa ne ḳadar bārı şükūfe
Gül yüzüñi görsün ki nedür bārī şükūfe
Sīm ü zer ile oynar eli bād-ı ṣabānuñ
Germ ideli bu vech ile bāzārı şükūfe
Zülfüñ gibi ḫoş-būlar ile ṭutdı cihānı
Ṭaġıtdı meger külbe-i ‘aṭṭārı şükūfe
Fī’l-cümle ‘arūs-ı çemenüñ şevḳına ey dost
Zeyn itdi naḫıl gibi hep eşcārı şükūfe
Yār ile müdām iç mey-i gül-fāmı Münīrī
Ḳılmaz ḫo cihān her geh ü her bār şükūfe

In English

1. However much blossom the load (fruit) of every branch may be, let the blossom at least (bārī) see your rose face and learn what true blossom is.

2. Since the blossom has thus warmed up its market, the hand of the morning breeze plays with silver and gold (with white and yellow petals).

3. The blossom has filled the world with sweet scents like your curl; as if it had scattered the perfumer's shop (hut).

4. In short, O friend, out of longing for the bride of the meadow (spring), the blossom has adorned all the trees like a nahıl (the ornamental wedding tree).

5. Münîrî, drink rose-coloured wine with the beloved without pause; the world does not bring forth blossom every time and on every occasion.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and seventy-fifth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 275). The metre is "mef‘ūlü mefā‘īlü mefā‘īlü fe‘ūlün". In the list of refrains in his introduction Ersoy gives the refrain of this ghazal as "şükūfe"; the Kubbealtı Lugatı explains this Persian word as flower, blossom. The rhyme rests on the sound "-ārı": bārı, bārī, bāzārı, ‘aṭṭārı, eşcārı and, in the last couplet, "bār". The ghazal is found only in the Vatican manuscript (VT 163b). It is not known for whom or when it was written. It is a spring ghazal throughout; the images of blossoming trees, the morning breeze, fragrance and the wedding are bound to one another from beginning to end.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The rhyme of the ghazal is a chain of puns (cinas) built on the meanings of the word "bār". The Kubbealtı Lugatı gives the Persian word "bâr" the meanings of load, weight, fruit, produce and time, occasion; it explains the Persian word "bârî" as at least. In the opening couplet "bārı şükūfe" is the blossom that is the load or fruit of the branch, while "bārī şükūfe" means "the blossom at least". The "her geh ü her bār" (every time and on every occasion) of the last couplet brings the same word in a third sense (our observation). In the opening couplet the blossom is asked to look at the beloved's rose face to learn what true blossom is; the beloved is ranked above the flower.

In the second couplet the blossom is conceived as a merchant. The Kubbealtı explains the phrase "germ etmek" as to warm and, figuratively, to enliven; the blossom has warmed up its market, and the hand of the morning breeze has begun to play with silver and gold. We understand the silver and gold as white and yellow petals (our reading). There is a congruence of images (tenasüp) among market, silver and gold. In the third couplet the word "külbe", which the Kubbealtı explains as hut, suggests the perfumer's small shop; the scent of the blossom has filled the world as if the perfumer's shop had been overturned and scattered. This scent is likened to the scent of the beloved's curl.

The fourth couplet sets up a wedding scene. The Kubbealtı explains "arûs" as bride and notes that the phrase "arûsân-ı bâğ (çemen)", the brides of the garden (meadow), figuratively means flowers. In its entry "nahıl" it describes the ornamental tree of beeswax carried before the bride, adorned with gold and silver ornaments and artificial flowers and fruits. In Münîrî the trees have been decked with blossom for the bride of the meadow and have turned into wedding nahıls. The pen-name couplet ends with the familiar counsel of spring ghazals: the season of blossom is fleeting, and rose-coloured wine should be drunk with the beloved in this season.

Bibliography

Online sources