Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mef’ûlü Fâ’ilâtü Mefâ’îlü Fâ’ilün

Gamzen okıyla sîne vü dil pâre pâredür
Cevr-i rakîb ile cigerüm pâre pâredür
Rahm eylemez figânına ben bî-dilün meded
Benzer ki kalbi ol güzelün seng-i hâredür
Feryâd u nâleme rahim itmedi seng-dil
Hışm u ‘ıtâbı yine hemân ber-karârdur
Bir bûsesi behâsı lebinün çü cân ola
Ölür dirilür aluruz anı ne çâredür
Mihr-i nigârı sanma ki sînende sakladun
Eşkün de Şâhî gün gibi o âşikâredür

In English

1. With the arrow of your glance my breast and heart are torn to pieces; with the rival's torment my liver is torn to pieces.

2. She takes no pity on the cry of me, who have lost my heart, help; it seems the heart of that beauty is a hard stone.

3. That stone-hearted one took no pity on my cries and moans; her anger and reproach remain just as they were.

4. When the price of one kiss of her lip is a soul, what can be done; we die and come back to life and buy it all the same.

5. Şâhî, do not think you have hidden the love (the sun) of the beloved in your breast; your tears too make it as plain as the sun.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The ghazal of five couplets is written in the muzâri pattern "mef'ûlü fâ'ilâtü mefâ'îlü fâ'ilün"; according to Kılıç's tally there are six Turkish ghazals in the divan written in this pattern. The redif is the suffix "-dür" (is), the rhyme the sound "-âre": pâre, hâre, çâre, âşikâre. Both lines of the opening couplet end with the same words "pâre pâredür"; although repeating a rhyme word in the same sense is counted a fault in classical poetry, here the repetition becomes a means of emphasis. The word "ber-karârdur" in the third couplet does not fit the rhyme "-âre"; either there is a corruption in the manuscript or the poet kept the rhyme loose here. The text has not been altered; the observation is ours. The pen name appears in the last couplet. There is no information on to whom it was written.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

In the opening couplet the doubled word "pâre pâre" (in pieces) is repeated at the end of both lines: breast and heart have been torn to pieces by the arrow of the glance, and the liver by the rival's torment. The beloved's glance and the rival's cruelty lead to the same end. In the second and third couplets the beloved's heart is likened to a hard stone (seng-i hâre), and then the beloved is called directly "seng-dil", stone-hearted; in the second step the comparison has turned into an epithet.

The fourth couplet uses the language of buying and selling. The price (behâ) of a kiss is a soul; the lover does not shrink from this costly bargain, "ölür dirilür" (we die and come back to life) he buys it all the same. This idiom carries a sense close to "at whatever cost" and gives the couplet the warmth of spoken language. The last couplet plays on the two meanings of the word "mihr": mihr means both love and sun. The lover thinks he hides his love in his breast; but the sun cannot be hidden, and his tears bring it out as plain as day. With the phrase "gün gibi âşikâre" (plain as the sun) the sense of sun is openly completed in the second line; this double entendre (tevriye) is the chief subtlety of the couplet. The first three couplets of the ghazal work on the contrast between the beloved's hardness and the lover's fragility, while the last two soften this pain with images of trade and of the sun.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 68, ghazal no. 45 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225); also p. 29 (metres), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources