Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Mefâ’îlün Mefâ’îlün Fe’ûlün

Kızıl meyle şehâ altun sâgar
Nigînî la’l gûyâ hâtem-i zer

In English

1. O shah, the golden cup (filled) with red wine is as if a golden ring whose stone is ruby.

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The sixteenth single couplet is written in the "mefâ'îlün mefâ'îlün fe'ûlün" pattern. The two lines end with the words "sâgar" (cup) and "zer" (gold). These words meet in the final consonant, the "r" sound; the vowels before them (a and e) differ. Since short vowels are mostly not shown in the Arabic script, such a rhyme may be accepted, but it is weak; this assessment is our own. There is no folio mark in the edition. In Kılıç's typesetting the word "la'l" in the second line is printed as "la'1", with the digit "1" in place of the letter "l"; this typesetting error was corrected when the data were prepared, and the text was taken as "la'l".

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The couplet gathers a scene of the drinking party into a single image. In the golden cup there is red wine. The poet likens this sight to a ring: the golden rim of the cup is the band of the ring, and the red wine inside it is the ring's ruby stone. "Nigîn" means the stone of a ring and "hâtem" a ring, especially a seal ring. Since the comparison is made with the particle "gûyâ" (as if), it is an open simile (teşbih). The words gold, ruby, red and cup form a weave of tenasüp (congruence of images) in colour and value. The couplet rests on the likeness of shape between the round mouth of a cup seen from above and the round band of a ring; this visual detail sets the couplet apart from the ordinary praises of the cup in banquet poetry. The address "şehâ" (O shah) gives the impression that the couplet was spoken in the gathering of a ruler or shah. The word "hâtem" also evokes the seal of sovereignty; the golden cup is as if the seal ring of the gathering's host. This association is our own reading. In the divan the address "şehâ" is usually found in poems directed to Süleyman the Magnificent (Kanuni); Kılıç shows that in poems addressing his father the prince calls him "şâh" and "pâdişâh". But "şehâ" is also a common address to the beloved in classical poetry, and there is no ground for saying that this single couplet was written to Kanuni. The couplet gives the impression of having been spoken at a moment of the gathering, improvised in praise of the cup; this too is our conjecture.

Bibliography

  • Filiz Kılıç (ed.), Şâhî Dîvânı (Şehzâde Bâyezîd), Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı Kütüphaneler ve Yayımlar Genel Müdürlüğü, 2018, e-book p. 149, single couplet no. 16 (Millet Library, Ali Emîrî Efendi, Manzum Eserler 225); also pp. 32-36 (poems addressing the father), https://ekitap.ktb.gov.tr/Eklenti/59394,sahi-divanipdf.pdf.

Online sources