Original Ottoman Turkish Text

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

Seyr-i gül-zār itmek içün sen ḳad-i bālayile
Yil gibi yilsem ‘aceb mi yıllar ile ay ile
Gel kesil zülf-i ḫamından didüm işitmez göñül
Bilmezem kim n’eyleyem ben bu dil-i ḫod-rāy ile
Tīr-i ġamzeñ baġrumuz deldiklerin yād eyleyüp
Dün gice nālişler itdük ṣubḥ olunca nāy ile
Ġamze-i ḫūn-rīz ile ‘uşşāḳı gerçi öldürür
Dirgürür fī’l-ḥāl yine la‘l-i rūḥ-efzāyile
Sāḳī-i meh-rū temāşāsında-y iseñ sen Münīr
Fikr-i dil pervāne gibi şem‘-i bezm-ārāyile

In English

1. To stroll in the rose garden with your lofty stature, would it be a wonder if I ran like the wind for years and months? (The "ay ile" at the end of the line can be understood both as "for months" and as "with the moon", that is, with the moon-faced beloved.)

2. "Come, give up those curling locks," I said, but the heart does not listen; I do not know what to do with this self-willed heart.

3. Remembering how the arrows of your glance pierced our breast, last night we moaned along with the reed flute until morning came.

4. With her blood-shedding glance (the beloved) does indeed kill her lovers; (but) with her soul-reviving ruby lip she brings them back to life at once.

5. Münîr, if you are lost in gazing at the moon-faced cupbearer, the heart's thought is, like a moth, with the candle that adorns the gathering.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

This is a five-couplet Turkish ghazal, the two hundred and ninety-fourth of the Turkish ghazals in the edition (tg 294). The metre is "fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilātün fā‘ilün". In the list of refrains in his introduction Ersoy gives the refrain of this ghazal as "-ile"; the rhyme rests on the sounds "-ā" and "-āy": bālā, ay, ḫod-rāy, nāy, rūḥ-efzā and bezm-ārā. The ghazal is found in the three divan manuscripts (VT 168a, VY 141b, Ü 58a) and in the Pervâne Bey Mecmuası (PB 519a). The only variant reading in the edition is in the third couplet: "baġrumuz" (our breast) appears in VT as "baġrumı" (my breast). It is not known for whom or when it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The opening couplet is built on a play of sound. In the phrase "yil gibi yilsem ... yıllar ile" the words "yil" (wind), "yilmek" (to run) and "yıl" (year) follow one another. The Kubbealtı Lugatı gives the verb "yelmek" with the Old Turkish form "yil-mek" and explains it as to go like the wind, to run, to hurry; among its examples is a couplet by Rûhî-i Bağdâdî describing the "running" of the zephyr. The "ay" at the end of the line can be read both as the months of the year and as the moon-faced beloved (our reading). The Kubbealtı explains "bâlâ" as high and as stature, figure; "ḳad-i bālā" means a lofty stature.

In the second couplet the heart is made to speak like a person who will not heed advice. The lover wants to draw it away from the curls of the locks, but the heart does as it pleases. In the third couplet the arrows of the glance pierce the breast, and the lover moans all night along with the reed flute (ney). A link may have been drawn between the reed flute and the pierced breast: the flute, too, has holes in its body and sounds by moaning (our reading).

The fourth couplet rests on the contrast between killing and reviving. The Kubbealtı explains "hunriz" as blood-shedding, cruel, and quotes a couplet by Fıtnat Hanım that uses the phrase "gamze-i hunrîz" (the blood-shedding glance). The same dictionary explains the adjective "ruh-efzâ" as spirit-increasing, giving new life to the soul. The beloved's glance kills and her lip revives; so glance and lip are set against each other like death and life.

The pen-name couplet uses the image of the candle and the moth. The Kubbealtı explains "pervâne" as the small moth that flies circling round a light at night; in the couplet by Nazîm quoted in the entry "kühl" the phrase "şem'-i bezm-ârâ" (the candle that adorns the gathering) also occurs: "Ben senin pervânenim ey şem'-i bezm-ârâ-yı nâz" (I am your moth, O coquettish candle adorning the gathering). The moon-faced cupbearer is the candle of the gathering, and the heart's thought the moth circling round it.

Bibliography

Online sources