Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

And the world!

A Sad State Of Freedom

You waste the attention of your eyes,
the glittering labour of your hands,
and knead the dough enough for dozens of loaves
of which you'll taste not a morsel;
you are free to slave for others--
you are free to make the rich richer.

The moment you're born
they plant around you
mills that grind lies
lies to last you a lifetime.
You keep thinking in your great freedom
a finger on your temple
free to have a free conscience.

Your head bent as if half-cut from the nape,
your arms long, hanging,
your saunter about in your great freedom:
you're free
with the freedom of being unemployed.

You love your country
as the nearest, most precious thing to you.
But one day, for example,
they may endorse it over to America,
and you, too, with your great freedom--
you have the freedom to become an air-base.

You may proclaim that one must live
not as a tool, a number or a link
but as a human being--
then at once they handcuff your wrists.
You are free to be arrested, imprisoned
and even hanged.

There's neither an iron, wooden
nor a tulle curtain
in your life;
there's no need to choose freedom:
you are free.
But this kind of freedom
is a sad affair under the stars.


Translated by Taner Baybars

Nazim Hikmet

[BirKibrisli]

Birkibrisli, there is one that says "if I do not get burnt, if you do not get burnt, who will turn the sun" or something to this effect. Any idea which one it is?

Ben yanmasam,
Sen yanmasan,
Biz yanmasak,
Nasıl çıkar karanlıklar aydınlığa.


if i don't burn,
if you don't burn,
if we don't burn,
how will the darkness change into light??

It's a bit tricky to translate "Nasıl çıkar karanlıklar aydınlığa"

Is that the whole poem,iceman???

"how can darkness turn to light???? might be more appropriate...what do you think???

[BirKibrisli]

And something a bit different...(Bir)





The Blue-Eyed Giant, the Miniature
Woman and the Honeysuckle


He was a blue-eyed giant,
He loved a miniature woman.
The woman's dream was of a miniature house
with a garden where honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.

The giant loved like a giant,
and his hands were used to such big things
that the giant could not
make the building,
could not knock on the door
of the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
at that house.

He was a blue-eyed giant,
he loved a miniature woman,
a mini miniature woman.
The woman was hungry for comfort
and tired of the giant's long strides.
And bye bye off she went to the embraces of a rich dwarf
with a garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.

Now the blue-eyed giant realizes,
a giant isn't even a graveyard for love:
in the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house...


NAZIM HIKMET RAN

[iceman]

Kerem Gibi

Hava kurşun gibi ağır
Bağır, bağır, bağırıyorum
Koşun kurşun eritmeye çağırıyorum
O diyor ki bana
Sen kendi sesinle kül olursun
Kerem gibi yana yana
Deeert çok, hemdeert yok
Yüreklerin, kulakları sağır
Hava kurşun gibi ağır
Ben diyorum ki ona
Kül olayım kerem gibi yana yana
Ben yanmasam, sen yanmasan, biz yanmasak
Nasıl çıkar karanlıklar aydınlığa
Hava toprak gibi gebe
Hava kurşun gibi ağır
Bağır, bağır, bağır, bağırıyorum
Koşun kurşun eritmeye çağırıyorum

[zan]

And something a bit different...(Bir)





The Blue-Eyed Giant, the Miniature
Woman and the Honeysuckle


He was a blue-eyed giant,
He loved a miniature woman.
The woman's dream was of a miniature house
with a garden where honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.

The giant loved like a giant,
and his hands were used to such big things
that the giant could not
make the building,
could not knock on the door
of the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
at that house.

He was a blue-eyed giant,
he loved a miniature woman,
a mini miniature woman.
The woman was hungry for comfort
and tired of the giant's long strides.
And bye bye off she went to the embraces of a rich dwarf
with a garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house.

Now the blue-eyed giant realizes,
a giant isn't even a graveyard for love:
in the garden where the honeysuckle grows
in a riot of colours
that sort of house...


NAZIM HIKMET RAN

That would go nicely in this thread Bir!! http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=21548

[iceman]

Ben Bir Ceviz Agaciyim

[Bananiot]

Thank you all, great poetry by Hikmet.

[BirKibrisli]

Kerem Gibi

Hava kurşun gibi ağır
Bağır, bağır, bağırıyorum
Koşun kurşun eritmeye çağırıyorum
O diyor ki bana
Sen kendi sesinle kül olursun
Kerem gibi yana yana
Deeert çok, hemdeert yok
Yüreklerin, kulakları sağır
Hava kurşun gibi ağır
Ben diyorum ki ona
Kül olayım kerem gibi yana yana
Ben yanmasam, sen yanmasan, biz yanmasak
Nasıl çıkar karanlıklar aydınlığa
Hava toprak gibi gebe
Hava kurşun gibi ağır
Bağır, bağır, bağır, bağırıyorum
Koşun kurşun eritmeye çağırıyorum

Bananiot,
This is the full poem from which the lines if i don't burn/if you don't burn/etc were taken....I don't have an English translation,but if you would trust my English and my translation skills i would be happy to attempt a translation for you...All you have to do is ask...

[Bananiot]

Thanks Birkibrisli, do not trouble youself, I will get the english version.

[YFred]

I hope they will also bring his remains back and bury him on a hill in Anatolia as he requested...

Here is one of my favourite poems of his:

ANGINA PECTORIS

If half my heart is here, doctor,
the other half is in China
with the army flowing
toward the Yellow River.
And, every morning, doctor,
every morning at sunrise my heart
is shot in Greece.
And every night,c doctor,
when the prisoners are asleep and the infirmary is deserted,
my heart stops at a run-down old house
in Istanbul.
And then after ten years
ALL I HAVE TO OFFER MY POOR PEOPLE
IS THIS APPLE IN MY HAND, DOCTOR,
ONE READ APPLE:
MY HEART.
AND THAT, DOCTOR, THAT IS THE REASON
FOR THIS ANGINA PECTORIS-
NOT NICOTINE, PRISON, OR ARTERIOSCLEROSIS.
I look at the night through the bars,
and despite the weight on my chest
MY HEART STILL BEATS WITH THE MOST DISTANT STARS.

NAZIM HIKMET
[1948]

It will only happen if they have a real democracy. Not the pretend one they have had so far.
Never loose hope.