Salkımsöğüt (Nazım Hikmet RAN)
Original Version
Coordinator/ Human Translation
Machine Translation (Google Translate)
SALKIMSÖĞÜT
Akıyordu su
gösterip aynasında söğüt ağaçlarını.
Salkımsöğütler yıkıyordu suda saçlarını!
Yanan yalın kılıçları çarparak söğütlere
koşuyordu kızıl atlılar güneşin battığı yere!
Birden
bire kuş gibi
vurulmuş gibi
kanadından
yaralı bir atlı yuvarlandı atından!
Bağırmadı,
gidenleri geri çağırmadı,
baktı yalnız dolu gözlerle
uzaklaşan atlıların parıldayan nallarına!
Ah ne yazık!
Ne yazık ki ona
dörtnal giden atların köpüklü boynuna bir daha yatmayacak,
beyaz orduların ardında kılıç oynatmayacak!
Nal sesleri sönüyor perde perde,
atlılar kayboluyor güneşin battığı yerde!
Atlılar atlılar kızıl atlılar,
atları rüzgâr kanatlılar!
Atları rüzgâr kanat…
Atları rüzgâr…
Atları…
At…
Rüzgâr kanatlı atlılar gibi geçti hayat!
Akar suyun sesi dindi.
Gölgeler gölgelendi
renkler silindi.
Siyah örtüler indi
mavi gözlerine,
sarktı salkımsöğütler
sarı saçlarının
üzerine!
Ağlama salkımsöğüt,
ağlama,
Kara suyun aynasında el bağlama!
el bağlama!
ağlama!
WEEPING WILLOW
The water was flowing,
Reflecting willow trees in its mirror.
Willow cascades were washing their hair in the water!
With their burning bare swords striking the willows,
The crimson horsemen were riding towards the setting sun!
Suddenly,
Like a bird,
Like being struck
Injured, a wounded horseman fell from his horse!
He didn’t scream,
Didn’t call back the ones who had departed,
He just looked with eyes full of sorrow
At the gleaming horseshoes of the receding horsemen!
Ah, what a pity!
What a pity that he
Won’t lay again on the frothy necks of galloping horses,
Won’t wield his sword behind the white armies!
The sound of horseshoes fades gradually.
The horsemen disappear where the sun sets!
Horsemen, horsemen, crimson horsemen,
Their horses with wings of wind!
Their horses with wind wings…
Their horses with wind…
Their horses…
Horses…
Life passed like wind-winged horsemen!
The sound of flowing water ceased.
Shadows grew shadowed,
Colors faded.
Black veils descended
Upon her blue eyes,
Willows drooped
Over her golden hair!
Don’t cry, willow,
Don’t cry,
Don’t tie your hands in the black water’s reflection!
Don’t tie your hands!
Don’t cry!
WEEPING WILLOW
water was flowing
pointing to the willow trees in his mirror.
The weeping willows were washing their hair in the water!
Slamming their burning bare swords into the willows
The red horsemen were running where the sun went down!
Suddenly
like a bird
as if shot
from the wing
A wounded horseman rolled off his horse!
He didn’t shout
did not call back those who left,
looked alone with eyes full of
to the shining horseshoes of the fleeing horsemen!
Oh what a pity!
unfortunately she
he will never again lie on the foamy neck of galloping horses,
He will not wield swords behind white armies!
The sound of horseshoes is fading, curtain by curtain,
The horsemen disappear where the sun goes down!
Horsemen horsemen red horsemen,
their horses are wind-winged!
Their horses are winged by the wind…
The horses are the wind…
horses…
Horse…
Life passed like wind-winged horsemen!
The sound of running water was quiet.
Shadows are shadowed
the colors have been removed.
The black veils have come down
into your blue eyes,
drooping willows
your blonde hair
over!
weeping willow,
cry,
Don’t tie your hand in the mirror of black water!
handshake!
cry!
Critical Reading and Analysis: Çıraklı “A Modest Proposal for Critical Reading”
Nâzım Hikmet Ran (1902–1963) is one of Turkey’s most celebrated and revolutionary poets. Known for his leftist political beliefs and his struggles against oppression, Hikmet spent many years in prison and exile due to his activism. His poetry often grapples with themes of resistance, human suffering, and the passage of time. "Salkımsöğüt" (Weeping Willow) reflects his lyrical, emotional style, combining personal reflection with broader themes of fate, mortality, and nostalgia for a heroic past.
The poem is set in a fluid, dreamlike world, where nature (the flowing water, the weeping willow) interacts with the heroic imagery of riders on horses ("kızıl atlılar" – red riders). The storyworld blends history and myth, depicting a rider who falls from his horse, wounded and fading, as the world around him—symbolized by the weeping willow—reacts to his passing. The poem transitions from the urgency of life and battle to the quiet resignation of death, with the weeping willow reflecting sorrow and stillness in the aftermath of action.
Modernist Turkish Poetry
• Equilibrium: Life and action, represented by the flowing water and galloping red riders. • Disruption: A rider is wounded and falls from his horse, representing the disruption of life’s momentum. • Recognition: The wounded rider realizes his fate as he watches the other riders continue without him, a moment of quiet acceptance. • Attempt to repair the damage: The weeping willow leans over the fallen rider, and nature absorbs the sorrow and silence. • New equilibrium: Life slows, colors fade, and death brings a stillness that contrasts with the earlier urgency of action.
• Empathy and Sympathy: The speaker shows their desire using speech acts or behaviour (offer, suggestion, convincing, care etc)., representing their empathy or fantasy. • Neurotic Discourse: Complexity of love causes fear of rejection and the strains in the balance between truthfulness and sensitivity. The speaker’s neurotic voice indicate his/her strong emotional bond with the desired object.
• Empathy & Sympathy vs. Fear of Rejection • Neurotic Discourse vs. Poetic Expression • Reality vs. Fantasy
