Nazim Hikmet (RAN)
(1902, Salonica - June 3, 1963, Moscow)
Poet, playwright, novelist, memoirist
New additions to the page:
THE WALNUT TREE,"
my head foaming clouds, sea inside me and out /
I am a walnut tree in Gulhane Park"
- [T&uum;rkç]
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TODAY IS SUNDAY,"
Today is Sunday.
For the first time they took me out into the sun today."
- Translation by Talat Sait Halman, [Türkçe]
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Today's Sunday,"
Today's Sunday
They took me out into the sun"
- Translation by Gun Gencer, [Türkçe]
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A SAD STATE OF FREEDOM,"
You waste the attention of your eyes, /
the glittering labour of your hands,"
-
[Türkçe] ||
[Turkce]
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A SPRING PIECE LEFT IN THE MIDDLE ,"
Taut, thick fingers punch /
the teeth of my typewriter."
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ABOUT MY POETRY ,"
I have no silver-saddled horse to ride, /
no inheritance to live on,"
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AUTOBIOGRAPHY ,"
I was born in 1902 /
I never once went back to my birthplace /
I don't like to turn back"
- [Turkce]
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ANGINA PECTORIS ,"
If half my heart is here, doctor, /
the other half is in China"
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DON QUIXOTE,"
The knight of immortal youth /
at the age of fifty found his mind in his heart"
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GIOCONDA AND SI-YA-U (The complete poem)
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HYMN TO LIFE ,"
The hair falling on your forehead /
suddenly lifted. /
Suddenly something stirred on the ground."
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LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT ,"
Comrades, if I don't live to see the day /
- I mean,if I die before freedom comes -"
- [Turkce]
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LETTER TO MY WIFE , "
My one and only! /
Your last letter says: /
``My head is throbbing, /
my heart is stunned!'' "
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LETTERS FROM A MAN IN SOLITARY ,"
I carved your name on my watchband /
with my fingernail."
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ON LIVING ,"
Living is no laughing matter: /
you must live with great seriousness /
like a squirrel, for example-"
- [Turkce]
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OUR EYES,"
Our eyes / are limpid / drops of water."
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PLEA ,"
This country shaped like the head of a mare /
Coming full gallop from far off Asia"
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REGARDING ART ,"
Sometimes, I, too, tell the ah's /
of my heart one by one /
like the blood-red beads"
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SOME ADVICE TO THOSE WHO WILL SERVE TIME IN PRISON ,"
If instead of being hanged by the neck /
you're thrown inside /
for not giving up hope"
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THE BLUE EYED GIANT,"
He was a blue-eyed giant, /
He loved a miniature woman."
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THE STRANGEST CREATURE ON EARTH ,"
You're like a scorpion, my brother, /
you live in cowardly darkness /
like a scorpion."
Last updated Aug 1, 1997.