Original Persian Text

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

Tā seyr-i gülistān koned ān serv piyāde
Şod muntaẓıreş serv be-yek-pāy sitāde
Der-her müjeem dür ki keşed merdüm-i çeşmem
Behr-i seg-i kūy-ı to koned ‘ıḳd-ı ḳılāde
Ez-sādegī-i ḫod buved ān ‘ayb ne-bāşed
Meyl-i ruḫ-ı sāde ki buved der-dil-i sāde
Ber-yād-ı gül-i tāze keşed bāde ‘aceb nīst
Ber-çihre-i lāle gülī mī-būd küşāde
Der-devlet-i mihr-i ruḫ-ı ān māh Münīrī
Zāhid to ki pindārī ez-ān būd ziyāde

In English

1. Ever since that cypress-tall beloved walked on foot to stroll through the rose garden, the cypress has stood on one foot waiting for him.

2. The pearls (my tears) that the pupil of my eye strings on each of my lashes are the stringing of a necklace for the dog of your quarter.

3. In a sāde, that is, pure heart, an inclination toward a sāde, that is, beardless cheek is no fault; it comes from its own simplicity.

4. It is no wonder that he drinks wine in memory of the fresh rose; a rose had opened on the face of the tulip. (Ersoy understands this as a rose blooming on a face as red as a tulip.)

5. O Münîrî, what lies in the fortune (happiness) of that moon-faced one's sunlike cheek is, O ascetic, greater than you imagine.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a five-couplet ghazal (gazel) written in Persian; in the edition it is the hundred and thirty-ninth of the Persian ghazals (fg 139). The metre is "mef‘ûlü mefâ‘îlü mefâ‘îlü fe‘ûlün". The ghazal has no refrain (redif) and does not appear in Ersoy's list of refrains. The rhyme is the sound "-āde": piyāde, sitāde, ḳılāde, sāde, küşāde, ziyāde. The poem is found in the Vatican (VT 94b) and Vienna (VY 76a) manuscripts. To whom and when it was written is not known.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet (matla) the beloved and the cypress are set face to face. In divan poetry a tall, straight stature is likened to the cypress; here, though, the true cypress is the beloved, and the tree in the garden becomes a watchman looking out for his coming. The cypress's single trunk is interpreted as "be-yek-pāy sitāde", standing on one foot. Finding a poetic cause for the tree's natural appearance is poetic aetiology (hüsn-i talil). The rhymes "piyāde" (on foot) and "sitāde" (standing) also carry the contrast between the walking beloved and the cypress waiting motionless.

In the second couplet the tears are likened to pearls. The pupil strings these pearls on the lashes as if making a necklace; this necklace, however, is to be put on the dog in the beloved's quarter. Ersoy understands "ḳılāde" as a collar. The lover's offering of his most precious possession, his pearls of tears, to the beloved's dog is a familiar divan way of abasing oneself.

The third couplet is built on a pun (cinas). The word "sāde", in its dictionary sense, means both "pure, plain, sincere" and "smooth, beardless". "Ruḫ-ı sāde" is the smooth cheek on which no down has yet grown; "dil-i sāde" is the pure heart. According to the poet, the pure heart's inclination toward the beardless cheek is no fault, because this inclination comes from the heart's own simplicity. Ersoy's meaning has "sadık gönül" (loyal heart); the word in the text is "sāde", and the pun rests on that word. The word's threefold repetition turns the couplet into a play on words.

In the fourth couplet the fresh rose and wine are named together; in divan poetry the season of roses is the season of drinking parties. The opening of a rose on the face of the tulip is, by Ersoy's explanation, the appearance of a rose on a red face. In the pen-name couplet (mahlas) the moon and sun are named together: the beloved is moon-faced, and his cheek is the sun. The word "devlet", in its dictionary sense, means both happiness and fortune and also sovereignty. The ascetic belittles the worth of this beauty; the poet says it is far greater than he imagines.

Bibliography

Online sources