Solgun Bir Gül Dokununca (Behçet NECATİGİL)
Original Version
Coordinator/ Human Translation
Machine Translation (Google Translate)
SOLGUN BİR GÜL DOKUNUNCA
Çoklarından düşüyor da bunca
Görmüyor gelip geçenler
Eğilip alıyorum
Solgun bir gül oluyor dokununca.
Ya büyük şehirlerin birinde
Geziniyor kalabalık duraklarda
Ya yurdun uzak bir yerinde
Kahve, otel köşesinde
Nereye gitse bu akşam vakti
Ellerini ceplerine sokuyor
Sigaralar, kâğıtlar
Arasından kayıyor usulca
Eğilip alıyorum, kimse olmuyor
Solgun bir gül oluyor dokununca.
Ya da yalnız bir kızın
Sildiği dudak boyasında
Eşiğinde yine yorgun gecenin
Başını yastıklara koyunca
Kimi de gün ortası yanıma sokuluyor
En çok güz ayları ve yağmur yağınca
Alçalır ya bir bulut, o hüzün bulutunda.
Uzanıp alıyorum kimse olmuyor
Solgun bir gül oluyor dokununca.
Ellerde, dudaklarda, ıssız yazılarda
Akşamlara gerili ağlara takılıyor
Yaralı hayvanlar gibi soluyor
Bunalıyor, kaçıp gitmek istiyor
Yollar, ya da anılar boyunca.
Alıp alıp geliyorum, uyumuyor bütün gece
Kımıldıyor karanlıkta ne zaman dokunsam
Solgun bir gül oluyor dokununca.
WHEN A PALE ROSE IS TOUCHED
Falling among so many others,
Unseen by passing strangers.
I bend down and pick it up,
And it becomes a pale rose when touched.
Perhaps in one of the great cities,
Wandering at crowded bus stops,
Or in a distant corner of the country,
In a café or a hotel corner,
Wherever it goes on this evening hour,
Hands slip into pockets,
Cigarettes, papers,
Slide through quietly between them.
I bend down and pick it up, no one notices,
And it becomes a pale rose when touched.
Or in the lips of a lonely girl,
In the wiped-off lipstick,
As she lays her head on pillows
Weary again at the threshold of the night.
Sometimes someone sneaks up to me in broad daylight,
Mostly during the beautiful autumn months and when it rains,
A cloud descends, that melancholy cloud.
I reach out and pick it up, no one is around,
And it becomes a pale rose when touched.
In hands, on lips, in lonely writings,
It gets caught in the nets stretched for evenings,
It breathes like wounded animals,
It becomes restless, longing to escape,
Along roads or through memories.
I keep picking it up, all night it stays awake,
It stirs in the darkness whenever I touch it,
And it becomes a pale rose when touched.
WHEN A PALE ROSE IS TOUCHED
It’s falling from so many
Don’t see the passers-by
I bend over
It becomes a pale rose when touched.
Or in one of the big cities
Wandering through crowded stops
Or somewhere far away
Coffee at the hotel corner
Wherever he goes, it’s evening time
He puts his hands in his pockets
Cigarettes, papers
glides gently through
I bend over and get no one
It becomes a pale rose when touched.
Or a lonely girl
In the lip paint she wiped
On the threshold of the tired night again
When you put your head on the pillows.
Some come close to me in the middle of the day
Mostly in autumn and when it rains
A cloud descends in that cloud of sadness.
I reach out and get no one
It becomes a pale rose when touched.
On the hands, on the lips, on the desolate writings
Caught in nets stretched into the evenings
breathing like wounded animals
She’s depressed, she wants to run away
Along roads, or memories.
I’m taking and coming, he doesn’t sleep all night
It moves in the dark whenever I touch it
It becomes a pale rose when touched.
Critical Reading and Analysis: Çıraklı “A Modest Proposal for Critical Reading”
Behçet Necatigil (1916–1979) was a prominent Turkish poet known for his minimalist style and for exploring themes of loneliness, isolation, and the mundanity of everyday life. Writing in the aftermath of significant political and social change in Turkey, his work reflects a deep connection to both personal and collective memories. Necatigil's poetry often blends personal emotions with broader existential questions, set against the backdrop of modern urban life.
The poem’s setting alternates between urban spaces ("büyük şehirler," "kalabalık duraklar") and more isolated or quiet environments ("yurdun uzak bir yerinde," "kahve, otel köşesi"). The storyworld created is one where fleeting moments and objects—such as cigarettes, papers, and lipstick—take on symbolic significance when touched by the speaker, transforming into a "solgun gül" (a pale rose). The poem captures the melancholic and ephemeral nature of human interactions and memories, reflecting on the fragility of life and emotions.
İkinci Yeni Movement
• Equilibrium: Everyday life, unnoticed objects, people passing by. • Disruption: The speaker notices and picks up something insignificant (like a cigarette or paper). • Recognition: The object transforms into a "solgun gül" (pale rose) when touched. • Attempt to Repair the Damage: The speaker continues to collect these unnoticed items, trying to make sense of them. • New Equilibrium: The realization of the transient, melancholic beauty of these objects, remaining awake and haunted by their significance
Melancholy and Nostalgia: The speaker expresses a deep sense of melancholy in the repeated image of the "faded rose." Each encounter with an unnoticed object or moment brings up feelings of loss and the fleeting nature of beauty, love, and life. This nostalgia for moments that have passed unnoticed contributes to the speaker’s sense of emotional isolation. • Alienation and Isolation: The speaker feels disconnected from the world around them. The people in the city—whether at bus stops, cafes, or hotels—are unaware of the symbolic moments that the speaker experiences. This creates a sense of alienation, where the speaker is emotionally distant from others. • Sensitivity to Time: The poem reflects an acute sensitivity to the passage of time. The speaker observes that everything—objects, moments, feelings—inevitably fades and decays. This awareness of time’s passage enhances the speaker’s feeling of helplessness and sorrow, as they are unable to hold on to anything tangible. • Unfulfilled Longing: There is a sense of unfulfilled longing throughout the poem, where the speaker seeks to connect with these fleeting moments but finds only decay ("solgun bir gül"). The emotional response to these moments suggests a longing for something more permanent or meaningful, which is continually denied.
• Life vs. Death • Presence vs. Absence • Movement vs. Stillness
