POET'S NONALIGNMENTThe poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,a scent of the sea remains in his nails,he has seen how the apple rotted and fell of its branch:the smell of salt will return to the seaand the apple will not bow its head to its quintessence.The poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,the water turns blue as it gathers in the cistern,the shadow becomes shorter as the sun rises,the genuine noon ...
POET'S NONALIGNMENT
The poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,
a scent of the sea remains in his nails,
he has seen how the apple rotted and fell of its branch:
the smell of salt will return to the sea
and the apple will not bow its head to its quintessence.
The poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,
the water turns blue as it gathers in the cistern,
the shadow becomes shorter as the sun rises,
the genuine noon is the poet's witness.
The poet is neutral vis-`a-vis objects,
because he is opposed to both death and deathlessness.
Ozdemir Ince
Translated by Talat Sait Halman [Talisman, 1991[Spring 6]]
Ozan Tarafsızlığı
Nesneler karşısında tarafsızdır ozan,
denizden bir koku kalmıştır tırnaklarında;
elmanın çürüyüp düştüğünü görmüştür dalından:
tuz kokusu denize dönecektir
ve boyun eğmeyecektir kendi özüne elma.
Nesneler karşısında tarafsızdır ozan,
mavileşerek birikir sarnıçta su,
güneş yükseldikçe gölge kısalır,
gerçek öğle tanığıdır ozanın.
Nesneler karşısında tarafsızdır ozan,
çünkü ölüme de ölümsüzlüğe de karşıdır ozan
[Kentler’den]
POET
it snowed all winter a heavy dream
it snowed all winter on our forlorn country
the forest breath merged with the wet earth
the northwest wind raced by, stripping the hillsides
white shrouds relentlessly yellowed and rotted
children lost their flesh, the best of them lost
roses of measles blooming on their shoulders
it snowed all winter
and I thought of you
our country our home
our love our brotherhood
our country our home
our light our childhood
at seven at thirty at seventy
we are united in the salty bones of time
our country our home I mean our unbeatable hope
our country our home I mean our evergreen bride
our writing pens our angry joy
our destiny our unending trial
your country and your home
wet cells narrow rooms heavy keys
so that you would vanish in the forest of stone
so that your ears would burst from the silence
so that your voice would age on the iron bars
so that your bones would turn to chalk and rust
they founded countries and homes for you
made of black keys and cold rooms
it snowed all winter
and I dreamed of you
but you didn't perish, remembering yourself
the lodos rattled on the shutters of your windows
the northwest wind slew the oranges and the strawberries
and your silence became your resistance
from the iron bars you forged telegraph wires of blue steel
from the rattling of the key you composed a folksong
of the keeper of the cell you made a friend
you milked verses from sweat and blood
you wove poems from hope and love
your heart tempered in the high oven of your fight
your exhausted heart bloomed like a poppy field in May
through the years this became your bread and your milk
it snowed every winter
on the forlorn plains
from your way of standing up you seemed a miner
from your feel for village ways you conceived endurance
even though friends were not always friends
even though breadth was measured in meters
you passed the days and nights like a villager, a worker
you were the villager of endurance, the worker of hope
through the years you shared your heart
as glorious as a festival place
you are far from your country
your heart is pierced with a thousand longings
tired indifferent alone in a hotel room
in love tooth and nail
in love tooth and nail with every woman that is loved
in love with the blue dawn, the bubbling waters, the sprouting grass
the friend of red fish and black-eyed ants
eternal passenger of trains, planes and boats
young at nineteen
young at sixty
in love headlong and tirelessly
perhaps you are in Paris on the quay of St. Michel
an orange streetlight behind you
you are far from your country
your heart is pierced with a thousand longings
Istanbul passes like a pigeon
within your blue eyes
Sarayburnu, Kadıköy, Gülhane Park
pass with a bitter sadness
within your desolate blue eyes
you may be flying over the snowy plain of Ukraine
but the plain of Konya and the Salt Lake are in your mind
eight thousand meters high your country is in your mind
perhaps you are in Prague on the Legionnaire Bridge
with your eyes on the waters of the Viltava River
but your mind is in Beyazit Square in Istanbul
in Bursa, in Çankırı, in Diyarbakır
you lived the hardest of arts
old tired far from your country
dipping your bread into your own blood
increasing like a sad river
far from your own warm friendly deep blue seas
you lived the bloodiest of arts
you, worker in exile far from your country
you, poet wounded by a thousand longings
I learned from you how to fashion words out of hope
I learned from you the sweet language of belief
you were young at nineteen and in love
you were young at sixty and in love
you, worker in exile far from your country
you, poet wounded by a thousand longings
I mean, you
I mean, you who will never be forgotten.
Translated by Larry Clark
[From An Anthology of Turkish Literature, Edited by Kemal Silay]
OZAN
- Nazım Hikmet Ran'a -
I.
Kar yağdı bütün kış. Bir ağır düş.
Kar yağdı bütün kış kederli ülkemize
ormanın soluğu ıslak toprakla birleşti
karayel budayıp geçti bütün yamaçları
ak kefenler sarardı ve çürüdü durup dinlenmeden
buruştu çocuklar silinip gitti çoğu
kızamık gülleri açmıştı omuzlarında
Kar yağdı bütün kış
ve ben düşledim seni
Ülkemiz yurdumuz sevdamız kardeşliğimiz
ülkemiz yurdumuz aydınlığımız gençliğimiz
yedi yaşında otuz yaşında yetmiş yaşında
çağların tuzlu kemiklerinde birleşen
ülkemiz yurdumuz yani yenilmez umudumuz
ülkemiz yurdumuz kocamayan gelinimiz
yazan kalemimiz öfkeli sevincimiz
alın yazımız bitmez çilemiz
Ülken ve yurdun
ıslak hücreler dar odalar ağır anahtarlar
yetesin diye bu taşlar ormanında
kulak zarın yırtılsın diye sessizlikten
sararsın diye sesin demir parmaklıklarda
kireç tutsun paslansın diye eklem yerlerin
ülkeler ve yurtlar kurdular sana
kara anahtarlar ve soğuk odalardan
Kar yağdı bütün kış
kederli ovaya
Bir madenciydin ayağa kalkışınla
bir sabır yarattın köylü duyarlığınla
dostlar her zaman dost olmasa bile
metrelerle ölçülse de genişlik
bir işçi bir köylü gibi yaşadın günü-geceyi
umudun işçisi sabrın köylüsü
bayram yeri gibi onurlu yüreğin
dostlara pay ettin yıllar boyunca.
II.
Sen memleketten uzak
hasretin bir türlüsüyle delik deşik yürek
dalgın yorgun ve yalnız
bir otel odasında
malın-mülkün olmadı
hasretten başka
Sen memleketten uzak
hasretin bin türlüsüyle delik deşik yürek
dalgın yorgun ve yalnız bir otel odasında
tepeden tırnağa âşık
sevilen her kadına
tepeden tırnağa âşık
mavi tana köpüren suya yeşeren ota
kırmızı balıkların
Kara gözlü karıncaların dostu
trenlerin uçakların vapurların eksilmez yolcusu
on dokuzunda delikanlı
altmışında delikanlı
usanmaz ve uslanmaz sevdalı
belki Paris'tesin St. Michael Rıhtımı'nda
hava güneşli ve sancımıyor yüreğin
sen memleketten uzak
hasretin bin türlüsüyle delik deşik yürek
bir güvercin gibi geçer İstanbul
mavi gözlerinin içinden
Sarayburnu Kadıköy Gülhane Parkı
bir acı sözünle geçer
mavi kederli gözlerinin içinden
belki uçarsın karlı Ukrayna ovalarını
aklında Tuz Gölü Konya Ovası
aklında ülken sekiz bin metre yukarlarda
Lejyonerler Köprüsü'ndesin belki Prag'da
Vıltava suyunun köpüklerinde gözün
ama aklın İstanbul'da Beyazıt Meydanı'nda
Bursa'da Çankırı'da Diyarbakır'da
yaşarsın en belalısını sanatların
yaşlı yorgun ülkenden uzak
ekmeğini kendi öz kanına banarak
kederli bir ırmak gibi çoğalarak
kendi sıcak dost masmavi denizlerinden uzak
yaşarsın en kanlısını sanatların
Sen memleketten uzak gurbet işçisi
hasretin bin türlüsüyle yaralı ozan
senden öğrendim umudun söz dizimini
senden öğrendim inancın tatlı dilini
sen on dokuzunda sevdalı ve delikanlı
sen altmışında sevdalı ve delikanlı
sen memleketten uzak gurbet işçisi
hasretin bin türlüsüyle yaralı ozan
ustam benim! hasretlerin, ayrılıkların ozanı!
Özdemir İNCE
BIOGRAPHY:
Ozdemir Ince [b. 1936] studied French literature and taught French for several years. Later he served as program director at the Turkish Radio and TV Administration. He has published several volumes of critical writing and many translations. He is a member of the Académie Mallarmé [Paris]. Presently he is a columnist for a prominent Turkish daily. His poetry collections include Kargi [Lance / 1963], Kiraz Zamani [Cherry-Time / 1969], Karsi Yazgi [Anti-Destiny / 1974], Ruzgâra Yazilidir [Written on the Wind / 1979], Kentler [Cities / 1981], Yedi Deryalar Gecsen [If Ever You Cross the Seven Seas / 1984], Siyasetnâme [Mirror of Princes / 1984], Zorba ve Ozan [The Tyrant and the Poet / 1987], Burclar Kusagi [Zodiacal Circle / 1989], Basak ile Terazi [Virgo and Libra / 1989] and Gunes Saati [Sundial / 1990].
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