Although T.S. Eliot's landmark poem "The Waste Land" begins with the line "April is the cruelest month," since 1996, the literary celebration initiated in the U.S., National Poetry Month has made April quite special.
Given the poem's perhaps distinctive impact within literary genres, this month's prominence is particularly significant. Within this context, I wanted to draw attention to Türkiye's rich poetic tradition and especially to noteworthy poets. Of course, it's impossible to encompass all our poets in one text, but I believe an introduction can be made with a few memorable names and poems.
Ahmet Haşim, born in 1884 in Baghdad, struggled to find his place in society and never quite attained inner peace. He hailed from a prominent family in Baghdad and spent his childhood moving from city to city due to his father's duties. His mother was loving and devoted, showering him with excessive affection, while his father was distant, cold and critical, failing to provide the support he needed. The loss of his mother to tuberculosis in 1893 plunged him into deep loneliness, shaping his poetry with introspection, vivid imagery, and a melancholic tone, influenced by symbolism and French Decadent poetry.
Particularly affected by a scar on his face from a bout of smallpox, which made him feel safer in the darkness of evening, Haşim often composed his poems during these hours when his face was concealed. In this context, the stanza "Nights and nights and nights all over again, Wish I was a reed of the lake at this moment!" from his poem "Desire at the End of a Day" succinctly encapsulates his inner world.
Born in Istanbul, Marmara studied English literature at Istanbul University before pursuing a career in writing and translation. Her early poetry was influenced by modernist and surrealist movements, characterized by its lyrical language, vivid imagery and emotional intensity.
Having conducted extensive research on Sylvia Plath and being deeply influenced to the extent of producing a thesis on the subject, Marmara's work is published in Turkish as "Analysis of Sylvia Plath's Poetry in the Context of Suicide."
Writing for various journals, Marmara, at the age of 29 on Oct. 13, 1987, committed suicide by jumping from the window of her home in Kızıltoprak, which was a gathering place for poets and writers at that time. Due to Sylvia also committing suicide at the age of 30, their suicides are often compared to each other for a long time.
Her poem "Launch" summarizes her inner struggles:
"Would I know before
the approaching darkness
it was my life that could be ended?
I was cheerful, so cheerful
that my laugh would spook people!
Time runs out now on my worn-out body
I should die as I am as am I
Without thinking of love, ties, or any kind of triumph
I need to be stiff just like that!"
Edip Cansever was a Second New movement Turkish poet whose work had a profound impact on modern Turkish literature.
Before T.S. Eliot's work was translated into Turkish, he had already formulated the "objective correlative." Subsequently, inspired by Eliot's innovation, he acknowledged the concept as crucial to enhancing the "ornamentation" of his own poetry.
Even though the poet was associated with the Second New movement did not accept the abstraction, randomness and meaninglessness among the fundamental characteristics of the movement, and advocated for what he termed as the "poetry of thought" later. Striving to express the inexpressible, the poet defined his poetry, which he argued was much more than individualism and turning away from society, as engaging with society.
Edip Cansever, who frequently included narrative, description and dialogue-style expressions, preferred long poems and did not prioritize verse structure. Breaking away from verse convention was the most significant difference that set Cansever apart from other figures in the Second New community.
His "Gravitational Carnation" is one of his most-known poems:
"Do you know little by little you are living inside me
But with you, there is a transfiguration
For instance, we drink wine as if a carnation is falling inside us
A tree is working tick-tock beside us
My stomach was, my mind was—this little bit remains.
You lean towards the carnation, I take and pass it to you voilà
And you pass it more beautifully to another
The other passes it along n'est-ce pas
So goes the carnation from hand to hand.
You see then, you and I are growing a passion,
I'm touching on you, I'm warming up to you, this is not that
Look how, seven colors become as one
We are silently uniting."
Orhan Veli, in my opinion, is one of the poets who best captures the essence of being human. Especially in the lines from his poem "Kitabe-i Sengi Mezar," we encounter a life reminiscent of the Sisyphean myth, which is quite striking:
"He suffered from nothing in the world
As much as he suffered from a corn;
Not even from being created ugly
Was he so affected;
He wouldn't mention Allah's name
When his shoes didn't pinch,
He wasn't even considered a sinner.
May he rest in peace, Suleyman Efendi!"
Alongside his contemporaries Oktay Rifat and Melih Cevdet Anday, Kanık co-founded the Garip Movement in Turkish poetry in the late 1940s. This movement aimed to break away from the ornate language and complex forms of traditional Turkish poetry, advocating for a simpler, more accessible style inspired by folk poetry and everyday speech.
Kanık's poetry is characterized by its conversational tone, straightforward language, and keen observational skills. He had a remarkable ability to find beauty in the mundane, often writing about ordinary people and everyday experiences with empathy and humor.
One of Kanık's most famous works is the poetry collection "Garip" (Strange), published in 1941, which marked a significant departure from the literary conventions of the time. In "Garip," Kanık and his fellow Garip poets introduced a new poetic language that resonated with ordinary Turks, paving the way for a more democratic and inclusive approach to poetry.
Indeed, "I Listen To Istanbul" is one of Orhan Veli's most well-known poems. It beautifully captures the essence of the city and its bustling, rhythmic life:
"I listen to Istanbul, my eyes closed:
A bird is fluttering in your skirts,
Your brow is hot, I know,
Your lips are wet, I know, I know,
A white moon rises behind the pistachio trees—
I understand the pounding of your heart;
I listen to Istanbul, my eyes closed."
Necip Fazıl Kısakürek was a multifaceted figure in Turkish literature and thought. Renowned as a poet, novelist, playwright and Islamist ideologue, he is often referred to by his initials, NFK. Notably, he drew the attention of the French philosopher Henri Bergson, who would later become his mentor.
He took his first step into poetry at the age of 12 with the support of his mother. The life of Necip Fazıl Kısakürek is briefly divided into three periods for examination. These are the period before he met Abdülhakim Arvasi, the period after meeting Arvasi, and the period of turning to political struggle in the 1940s. Within the era he lived in, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek greatly influenced both the poets of his time and many poets thereafter with his writings and ideology.
Although the foundation of Necip Fazıl's first encounter with Islam was laid by his father, it was after Abdülhakim Arvasi that Kısakürek transitioned from the artistic perspective of "art for art's sake" to "art for Allah's sake." As a poet in a period of exploration, he opened a Sufi door to himself and his works after Arvasi. He moved from metaphysical anxieties to a tranquil era.
His poem "Pavements" is one of the most revisited ones:
"Pavements, mother of the suffering lonely;
Pavements, a human that lived within me.
Pavements heard when all else is quiet;
Pavements, within me, a tortuous language.
Not for me to die in tender arms;
A child breastfed by pavements!
Oh, let not morning come in this dark street;
In this dark street, let not my journey end!"
Cahit Sıtkı, his primary education in Diyarbakır, completed his middle school education at Saint Joseph in Istanbul and finished high school at Galatasaray High School. He began his university education at Ankara University Faculty of Social Sciences and continued at Ankara High School of Commerce. He worked as a translator and civil servant in various institutions. Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, who placed poetry at the center of his life, had only one goal: to become a good poet.
Cahit Sıtkı is a writer who is highly devoted to syllabic meter and rhyme, and meticulous about form. He revitalized the syllabic meter by introducing new pauses while adhering to the fixed patterns of syllabic verse. He also wrote free verse influenced by the Garip movement. He is concerned with using language perfectly and has employed very clean Turkish and natural imagery. He attempted to create rhythms and sounds different from traditionally known meters. He avoided resorting to difficult associations and imaginary games.
His poems lack deep thought, ideas or philosophy. According to Tarancı, poetry is the art of creating beautiful shapes with words. His poems do not contain emotionless words. He believes that both metric and free verse, as long as they maintain rhyme and meter, can be beautiful.
Cahit Sıtkı's poem "Otuz Beş Yaş" ("Thirty-Five Years Old") is one of his most well-known poems:
"Thirty-five years old! It makes up half of the road.
Like Dante, we're in the middle of life.
The treasure of our youthful age,
Begging, and pleading, are futile today,
Goes without shedding a tear.
Has snow fallen on my temples?
Is this lined face mine, my God?
Or the purple circles under my eyes?
Why do you appear as enemies,
O mirrors, which I've known as friends for years?"
He exerted significant influence within Turkish literary spheres, particularly in the postmodern movement of Turkish poetry known as "The Second New Generation."
He honed his expertise in translating poetry, notably by rendering works by Arthur Rimbaud and Ezra Pound into Turkish.
Berk's poetry transformed the stance of an epic socialist to the imaginative perspective of a lyrical and sensual individual. He sought to illuminate the "object" in all its splendor and aimed to deconstruct its meaning. Rooted in mythology and drawing from both Western and Eastern poetic traditions, Berk crafted a unique and postmodern approach to poetry.
Themes of history, geography, visual arts and urban landscapes, particularly those of Istanbul, Paris and Ankara, enrich Berk's poetry. His themes are supported by a diverse vocabulary, incorporating colloquial language alongside precise terms such as musical terminology and local botanical names.
His "Goat Path" poem says:
"Idly I sat down and listened to the wind
on her way back from Sagittarius
Then onto the utterances of the river I passed.
The night laden with grass
as I strolled by it did not see me.
The road lifted its head
and looked
(lichens and grey weeds)
I am aged water.
Speak to me of the forest’s voice
of the voice of the meadows.
Silence always this silence
Take me up to the goat path
I cannot die here."
