What if you slept And what if In your sleep You dreamed And what if in your dream ‘You went to heaven ‘And there plucked a strange and beautiful flower ‘And what if When you awoke ‘You had that flower in your hand Ah, what then? —Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographica Literaria Whenever I become the Sultan holding a lily ll give you a city of long syllables As you enter it, its gates will disappear, empty. —Ece Ayhan, The Sultan With a Lily EDA: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY TURKISH POETRY Edited, with an Introduction, by Murat Nemet-Nejat Preface by Talat Sait Halman ‘TALISMAN HOUSE, PUBLISHERS + JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEYCopyright © 2004 by Talisman House, Publishers All rights revert to the respective translators, authors, and/or publishers All other rights reserved Published in the United States of America by ‘Talisman House, Publishers P.O. Box 3157 Jersey City, New Jersey 07303-3157 Manufactured in the United Sates of America Printed on acid-free paper ISBN: 1-58498-034-6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: We gratefully acknowledge the following for their support for this anthology and/or for granting us permission to include material for which they control the rights. ‘We are grateful to the New York State Council for the Arts for their grant to support work on the ‘anthology and to P.E.N. for sponsoring this grant, We are grateful to Esther Allen, the head of the P.E.N, Translation Committee, for spreading the news of the anthology and Lynda Morgan for helping in the grant application process. Unless otherwise indicated, works appear by permission of the authors, the translators, and/or their representatives. For their translations, prepared especially for this anthology, we are deeply grateful to Saliha Paker, Onder Ot;u, Simon Pettet, Oiker Ince, Sidney Wade, Talat Sait Halman, Jordan Davis, Gary Sullivan, Maggie Dubris, Taner Bayers, Selhan Savcigil, Clifford Endres, and Mustafa Ziyalan, We are ‘grateful to Enis Batur, without whose support this project could never have been completed, and to Nermin Mollaoglu, who was there to help at all the right moments. Yapi Kredi Cultural ‘Activities Arts and Publishing, Inc. gave permission for the translations of works by Faruk Nafiz. Camlibel, Sait Faik, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar, Asaf Halet Celebi, Celal Silay, Behget Necatigil, {than Berk, Metin Eloglu, Turgut Uyar, Cemal Sareya, Eee Ayhan, Galtan Akin, Ahmet Gantan, Lale Maldar, Seyhan Erézcelik, and Sami Baydar. We are grateful also to the following for permission for translations: Istanbul Fetih Cemiyeti for Yahya Kemal Beyath, Gundiiz Vassaf for ‘Nazim Hikmet, Filinta Onal for Ahmet Arif, Gendas Culture Publishing for kick Iskender, Boyok Dogu Yayinlari for Necip Fazil Kisaktrek, Sami Rifat for Oktay Rifat, Mrs. Metih Cevdet Anday for Melih Cevdet Anday, Cahit Klebi’s son and daughter for Cahit Kolebi, Arif Damar for his own work, Ozdemir ince for his own work, Melisa Erdonmez Garpinar for Melisa Gorpmar, Varlik Yayinlan for Haydar Ergdlen, Golseli Inal for Nilgin Marmara, Mustafa Ziyalan for his own work, Didem Madak for her own work, and Metis Yayinlan for the passages from Zeynep Sayin’s /mgemin Pornografisi (2003). Translations by Murat Nemet-Nejat of “The ‘Nigger in the Photograph,” “Epitafio,” and the three “Orthodoxies” by Ece Ayhan are reprinted from Ece Ayhan, The Black Cat Black and Orthodaxies, translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat (Los ‘Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1997). Reprinted by permission of Sun & Moon Press. Translations bby Murat Nemet-Nejat of Orhan Veli Kanik are reprinted from Orhan Veli Kanik, , Orhan Veli, translated by Murat Nemet-Nejat (Brooklyn, NY: Hanging Loose Press, 1989). Reprinted by permission of the publisher. Most ofthe translations and essays were prepared especially for this volume. Particular attention has been given to identifying those who control copyright material reproduced here. Should any have been inadvertently missed, the error will be corrected, and proper acknowledgment given, in future printings. To Karen, Danny and Rafi and To Louis Kahn's Bangladesh ParliamentCONTENTS TALAT SAIT HALMAN Preface... 1 MURAT NEMET-NEJAT The Idea of a Book... 4 POETRY AHMET HASIM That Space . .. 24 Glass... 27 “In a grieving perfection’s insomnia” . .. Ascension . ..29 “Out of the beloved’s lip”... 30 “A river of fire”... 31 YAHYA KEMAL BEYATLI That Summer... . 32 Night... 33 Reunion... 34 FARUK NAFIZ GAMLIBEL ‘The Escaper.. . 36 28 AHMET HAMDI TANPINAR Whole Summer... . 37 Bar... 38 Roads Too Early ...39 NAZIM HIKMET The Blue-Eyed Giant. . . 40 Poems of Twenty-One and Twenty-Two O°Clock . . . 42 Since | Was Put... 44 ‘The Night on August 26, 2:30 A.M, to 3:30 A.M. ....47 NECIP FAZIL KISAKOREK “Neither the sick wait for morning”... 64 Gazel... 51 “Merciful boxy hotel rooms, smoky oil lamps, oil lamps” . . . 52 “Lam a wanderer on earth”... . 53 Fret... 54 SAIT FAIK ‘The Man Who Did Calisthenics . . . 55 Maricula .. . 60 ASAF HALET CELEBI “The lover is only one, but to look at herself”. . . 62 H...63 Uncle Sea Buoy... 64 Maria... 65 A Manifesto of the Eye... 66 ORHAN VELI KANIK Quantitative... 67 vuma £6 °°" aSnoH 76°" apeW Apeay, 16°" 38014 06 *** wexg, ‘WOLLVOAN LASHIa 68 °°" woa8ig au AVGNY L3G Aa) HITSW 88°* "sivas waouy VARY AVLIO .PuIM ay} Ul sBuIMs youRG,, AVIS Ty149 $8 9407150 apesed aL, £8 °° * o8pug BIE[eD oy, 78 °° Asng daay oy 8 °° HJ 1H oy 40g 08 °° * Aseisoq 61°" WeW peg ¥ Jo sSuysoy [ryouUeYS oy, 8L °° aidoag uL* 9L*** apioing *** pnqueysy Of Buruaisy] wy | £277 SUT TOL SP ZL‘ °° 39ND oy, 12" +" uoneHAuy OL °°“ uges pus AW 69°" Lsnpoxg, 989°°* Azzig 9 SOP