Öndeyiş (Metin ALTIOK)
Original Version
Coordinator/ Human Translation
Machine Translation (Google Translate)
ÖNDEYİŞ
Bedenim üşür, yüreğim sızlar.
Ah kavaklar, kavaklar…
Beni hoyrat bir makasla
Eski bir fotoğraftan oydular.
Orda kaldı yanağımın yarısı,
Kendini boşlukla tamamlar.
Omuzumda bir kesik el,
Ki durmadan kanar.
Ah kavaklar, kavaklar…
Acı düştü peşime ardımdan ıslık çalar.
PROLOGUE
My body shivers, my heart aches.
Oh poplars, poplars…
They carved me out
With a ruthless pair of scissors from an old photograph.
There, half of my cheek remains,
Completing itself with emptiness.
A severed hand on my shoulder,
Continuously bleeding.
Oh poplars, poplars…
Pain follows me, whistling from behind.
FOREWORD
My body is cold, my heart aches.
Oh poplars, poplars…
me with rough scissors
They were carved from an old photograph.
Half of my cheek remained there,
It completes itself with emptiness.
A cut hand on my shoulder,
It bleeds nonstop.
Oh poplars, poplars…
Pain comes after me, whistles behind me.
Critical Reading and Analysis: Çıraklı “A Modest Proposal for Critical Reading”
Metin Altıok (1940–1993) was a Turkish poet known for his deep engagement with themes of sorrow, loss, and existential reflection. His work often grapples with personal and collective traumas, shaped by political and emotional realities in Turkey. Altıok's life was tragically cut short in the 1993 Sivas massacre, adding a profound layer of meaning to his meditations on suffering and absence. In "Öndeyiş," the poet reflects on the pain of being emotionally severed from one's past or self, using evocative and haunting imagery.
The setting of the poem is symbolic and fragmented, much like the speaker’s emotional state. The world created in the text is one of disconnection, as the speaker is figuratively cut out of a photograph, leaving behind an incomplete self. The “kavaklar” (poplar trees) serve as a recurring image, evoking a sense of timelessness and the passage of life, while the speaker’s body and emotions are portrayed as cold and wounded, creating a melancholic atmosphere.
Modern Turkish Poetry
• Equilibrium: The speaker reflects on their physical and emotional state. • Disruption: The speaker is metaphorically cut out from a photograph, symbolizing a sense of being severed from their past or identity. • Recognition: The speaker realizes that this disconnection has left them incomplete, with "yarısı" (half) of their face missing, symbolizing an emotional void. • Attempt to repair the damage: The speaker acknowledges the ongoing pain, represented by the "kesik el" (severed hand) that continuously bleeds. • New equilibrium: The speaker resigns to this state of loss and suffering, haunted by it, as the poplar trees and their symbolic weight persist in the background.
• Mourning and Melancholy: The weeping pillow tree suggests, the poignancy of untimely death causes the loss of the desired object. As the poem progresses, the reader understands that mourning cannot be recovered, substituted for, or recovered. • Despair and Depression: Themes of mortality and impermanence trigger depression. The fallen horseman’s lost potential and unfulfilled dreams are brought together the lamentation.
• Mourning vs. Hope • Loss vs. Life • Despair vs. Expectation
