Ottoman Lyric Poetry
by Danita Dodson
Fulbright-Hays Teach Turkey Project
University of Arizona’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, 2005
Length of Lesson: 3 class blocks (or 4-5 45-minute periods)
Grade Level: 12, post-secondary (adaptable to grades 7-11 also)
Subject Area: English, World Literature
Introduction/Rationale:
Although its capital city and over one-third of its territory lay within the continent of Europe, the Ottoman Empire has consistently been regarded as a place apart, inextricably divided from the West by differences of religion and culture. It has been perceived as militaristic, barbaric, tyrannical, and exotic; such stereotypes have led historians to measure the Ottoman world against a Western standard and to find it lacking. As a result, outside of Turkey, Ottoman Turkish literature is rarely included in any canonical anthology or representation of world literature; in fact, it is almost invisible. Furthermore, even Islamic Studies typically downplays the significance of the Ottoman cultural legacy, often presenting Ottoman literature as derivative of Persian and Arabic traditions and accepting it rarely as an appropriate topic of study in its own right. For the Ottomans, literature was poetry first and foremost, and nearly all the poetry was love poetry. The Ottoman love lyric (or gazel) has had, since the time of the Troubadours, a strong influence on European conceptions of love and love poetry, a fact that Western literary history fails to recognize. This unit exposes students to a necessary but little-known body of literature, involving them in the examination of selected aspects of Turkish culture and history. Much of what we most often identify as “Islamic” or “Middle Eastern” (in terms of music, food, architecture, dress, art) is a product of the Ottoman synthesis of a vast array of multicultural elements that coexisted under the canopy of Ottoman rule. Understanding both that students have varied learning styles and that literary imagery is multi-sensory, this unit is interdisciplinary, integrating Ottoman literature with art, music, and history.
Lesson Objectives:
identify the "gazel" (or love lyric) as a cross-cultural phenomenon in the Middle East adapted and perfected by Ottoman style.
analyze an Ottoman lyric to determine its structure, style, intent and imagery.
recognize that Western writers were influenced by the Ottoman lyric, particularly during the Renaissance.
identify the various motifs in Ottoman lyric poetry.
understand how historical and geographical information as well as various cultural aspects of Ottoman Turkish culture relate to the production of lyric poetry.
write an Ottoman-inspired lyric based upon direct reading and understanding of traditional images and themes.
explain how elements of Turkish culture are revealed in the poetry.
relate Ottoman poetry to the larger context of both the Eastern and Islamic literature that they have studied in the course
relate Ottoman poetry to the larger context of both the Western literature that they have studied in the course
World Literature Connections:
Hebrew love lyric ("Song of Solomon"), the Quran, Rumi, Hafiz, the European medieval romance (Breton lai), the Renaissance sonnet
General Background Notes for Instructor:
The Empire's elite spoke a language called Osmanlica, or Ottoman Turkish, which was loaded with Arabic and Persian words and influenced by their grammatical rules. Ottoman poets used Osmanlica to create, and their readers were an elite group privy to this multicultural language. It was unintelligible to common people, who had the freedom to use their own languages.
Ottoman poets often understood, enjoyed and created poems quiet differently than do today’s poets. Stylistic complexity was valued both by Ottoman poets and audiences, and the Ottoman lyric often reveals a wild flight of rhetorical fancy. The themes, metaphors, and stories of Ottoman poetry show little change over time; however, the poets were extremely resourceful in inventing new conceits, relations, and comparisons. As Walter Andrews says, "This constant creativity is what the Ottomans know as originality." Furthermore, the poets easily and regularly transcended languages; a single Ottoman poet might write in Turkish, Persian, Arabic and Eastern Turkish (Chaghatay). Thus, each lyric is a storehouse of multicultural elements.
Specific and peculiar devices were used by Ottoman poets:
Matla’: “the place where the heavenly body rises,” the first couplet.
Redîf: “a person who rides into battle on the back of someone else’s saddle,” a repeated word that rides behind the rhyme and is the same in every rhyming line
Rhyme: The first couplet has two rhymes; the rest of the lines will have the same rhyme but only in the second-half line.
Relationships between words: use of words coming from the same root, or words belonging to a group of related concepts
Multiple meaning
Grouping of like things
Artistic exaggeration
Signature couplet: crowning couplet, or tâj beyt. It contains the pen name of the poet.
Absence of title
There are many common images and themes in Ottoman poetry, which will be explained at greater length in the "Instructor Notes for Poems section. Among these are the following:
moths to the candle (annihilation of lover by love)
shah or sultan (the beloved, the ruler of the heart's domain)
mirror (the purified self)
cypress (tall, graceful beloved)
nightingale and rose (lover and beloved)
haunting jinn (beloved)
dervish attire or rituals (the lover consumed by divine love)
Materials:
Ottoman Lyric Poetry: An Anthology. Edited and translated by Walter Andrews, Najaat Black, Mehmet Kalpakli. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
Süleyman the Magnicent Poet. Edited and translated by Talat S. Halman. Istanbul: Dost Publications, 1987. (Bought by lesson's author in Istanbul on Teach Turkey trip)
Others materials are listed in each daily lesson that follows.
Suggested Readings:
Andrews, Walter. Poetry's Voice, Society's Song: Ottoman Lyric Poetry. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1985.
Andrews, Walter G., and Mehmet Kalpakli. The Age of the Beloveds: Love and the Beloved in Early-Modern Ottoman and European Culture and Society. Chapel Hill: Duke University Press, 2005.
Goffman, Daniel. The Ottoman Empire and Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Holbrook, Victoria Rowe. The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.
Procedures:
See each individual lesson below for specific procedures for the designated class period.
Evaluation:
Students will complete one or more of the following assignments at the end of the unit:
Write a comparison/contrast essay that places Ottoman poetry within the larger framework of world literature, looking specifically at connections to the production of literature in the other cultures we have studied (i.e. Middle Eastern/Islamic, Early European).
Write a poem in the Ottoman style, using some of the common themes and images. Attach an analysis of the poem that explains how the poem corresponds with Ottoman culture and literary style.
Selecting an additional poem (other than the ones presented in the lessons), write an analysis of the poem, identifying conceits, themes, imagery, sound, structure, as well as historical and cultural aspects.
Lesson Activity 1 (Preparation):
Overture to Ottoman Culture and Poetry
Introduction:
The Ottoman Empire was a vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution in 1918. Though modern Turkey formed only part of the empire, the terms "Turkey" and "Ottoman Empire" were often used interchangeably. The Ottoman state began as one of many small Turkish states that emerged in Asia Minor during the breakdown of the empire of the Seljuk Turks. Ottoman Turks began to absorb the other states, and during the reign (1451-81) of Muhammad II they ended all other local Turkish dynasties. Turkish expansion reached its peak in the 16th century under Selim I and Sulayman the Magnificent. In addition to Turkey, it grew to include Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, southern Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Iraq, Kuwait, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, eastern and western Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, eastern Yemen, Egypt, northern Libya, Tunisia, and northern Algeria.
Turkey was a medieval state--economically, socially, and militarily. However, through most of its period, it was not a state in the modern sense of the word; it can be considered more of a military administration. It is important to note that the Empire was primarily unaffected by the developments in the rest of Europe. Though the court of Constantinople was known for corruption, and the administration of provinces and vassal states depended upon extortion of the subjects, there were some positive features in Ottoman culture that often are overlooked in historical studies of the era. For one, the religious toleration generally extended to all non-Muslims and offered more security than in Christian states up until the 18th century. Greeks and Armenians, for example, held a privileged status and were very influential in commerce and politics. For most of its inhabitants, it offered career possibilities. And it offered peace and relative harmony to all despite cultural and ethnic differences.
The reign of Suleyman I is considered a Renaissance period in Ottoman history, for it generated the flowering of Turkish literature, art, and architecture. It was in the midst of this milieu that the remarkable Ottoman poets excelled in their multicultural and multidisciplinary lyrics.
Materials:
Ottoman maps and maps of current Middle East and Europe
Video: Suleyman the Magnificent
Assigned readings from Andrews and Halman for homework (See lesson activity 2 for these)
Procedure:
After a general introduction to Turkey and the Ottoman Empire, give students maps of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean Sea, showing them the vastness and diversity of Ottoman rule, especially during Suleyman's time.
Show the Discovery Channel video on Suleyman, informing students that they will be reading the sultan's poetry as part of tomorrow's assignment.
After watching the video, ask students to identify the ways in which Suleyman influenced the Empire's (and Western Europe's) culture development.
Give students time in class to research the different regions of the Ottoman Empire and keep a journal of impressions. (You may want to use the above-noted internet sites or allow them to peruse some books you choose for this purpose.)
Lesson 2: The Image of the Sultan
Introduction:
The reign of Sultan Süleyman (1520-1566) marks the zenith of political, economic, and cultural development under the Ottomans. Known in English as "the Magnificent" because of the grandeur of his court, he is usually known in Turkish as kanuni, or "law-giver," because he issued a set of laws harmonizing traditional Islamic and Ottoman legal codes. Named “Süleyman," the Arabic and Turkish form of Solomon, the Magnificent considered himself a worthy successor to his namesake, the biblical king of Jewish, Muslim and Christian lore.
Süleyman inherited a vast empire and a resourceful administration, and his reign was interposed by military campaigns east and west. Taking up arms persistently against his rivals, the Safavids in Iran, he captured major Shiite shrines in Baghdad and southern Iraq. He also played a leading role in European and Mediterranean affairs.
Süleyman's favorite wife, Hurrem, known in the West as Roxelana, occupied an amazingly important place in his court. His love for her was, by all accounts, extraordinary, and his love poetry to her, written under the pseudonym Muhibbi, was copied and illuminated by court artists. The sultan’s love for art extended beyond the personal. Under his rule, Istanbul became the center of visual art, music, writing, and philosophy in the Islamic world. This cultural flowering represents the most creative period in Ottoman history; almost all cultural forms associated with the Ottomans date from this time.
Because Süleyman was such a patron of Ottoman lyric poetry, many poets earned fame and fortune during his reign, embedding within their works the familiar image of the "sultan" in reference to the beloved. Among these were Hayalî and Bâkî, two poets who will be presented alongside Süleyman in today's readings.
Hayalî, who spent much of his youth living among the dervishes, came to the attention of Süleyman early in his life. The Sultan was pleased by the handsome young man and showed him great favor, bestowing many gifts on him and eventually granting him a yearly salary and then the income from major fiefs.
Bâkî, during his appointment as a theological professor, attracted the attention of Süleyman and became a member of his intellectual circle. This remarkable honor confirmed Bâkî as the acknowledged supreme poet of his age. In addition to his fame as a poet, he was also appointed by Süleyman and his successors the highest positions available to members of the learned class, including the military judgeships of the Eastern (Anatolian) and Western (Rumelian) provinces.
Hayretî is another poet who used the familiar motif of the "sultan" but in a more subversive manner. At some point during the early years of Süleyman‘s reign, he came to Istanbul and began to submit poems to noted patrons, and it appears that he impressed the court at first. However, his poem "We are not the slaves of Süleyman" probably ended hopes of a career at court, for it seemed to reject service to the Sultans and claim devotion to an unnamed shah.
Materials:
Ottoman Lyric Poetry, edited and translated by Walter Andrews, Najaat Black, Mehmet Kalpakli. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
Suleyman the Magnificent Poet, edited and translated by Talat S. Halman. Istanbul: Dost Publications, 1987.
Suleyman the Magnificent. Discovery Channel video. 1998. Designated to correspond to National Standards.
Printed image of the tughra
Slide show of Ottoman palaces, mosques, castles (e.g. Topkapi, Rumeli Hisar, Blue Mosque). Author uses her own photos taken in Turkey, but the following websites provide pictures that may be displayed in a PowerPoint presentation.
Cultural objects
Assigned poems:
Süleyman’s “My very own queen,“ “I am the Sultan of Love,“ “Till the day I die,“ “The sparkle of my sighs,“ and “Out of the cup of love we drink wine“; Bâkî‘s "Oh beloved, since the origin" and “Your rebellious glance“; Hayreti‘s “We are not the slaves of Suleyman,“ Hayálî’s “We are among those”
Procedures:
Discuss with students these opening questions: Do you notice any common images, themes, structure in the assigned poems? Explain to them that today's lesson will focus upon the important and frequent image of the "sultan" in Ottoman poetry.
Inform students that the image of the sultan pervades not only Ottoman art but is also seen in current cultural artifacts in Turkey. Distribute a copy of the tugrah (the calligraphic signature of the sultan) and define. Show samples of the tugrah in contemporary cultural objects that one can buy in Turkey: e.g., pendant medallion, pillows, belly dance sash, miniature tiles.
Walk students through a general Power Point slide show about Ottoman structures of power within the sultan‘s domain, including Rumeli Hisar, Blue Mosque and Topkapi.
Before reading the poems of Süleyman, review with students the information they learned about him in yesterday’s video. See instructor notes for concise biographical information.
Ask the students: In what ways was Suleyman like his namesake Solomon and in what ways was he different? Compare to the poetry in "Song of Solomon."
In discussing the first poem “My very own queen,” help students to understand the line, “my Istanbul, my Karaman, and all the Anatolian lands that are mine” by showing slides of Turkey that provide direct images of the landscape of Ottoman poetry. (Author uses her own slides, but see materials listed above for access to presentable photos.) See the instructor notes that follow for specifics about the geographical references that Suleyman used to show the far-reaching extent of not only his political domain but also of his love for Roxelana.
How has Roxelana been portrayed? Discuss the role of women in the culture of the Ottoman Empire. (A particularly wonderful text for information about women and power in Islam and the Ottoman context is Leila Ahmed's Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate.) Tell students that tomorrow's lesson will include a poem by an Ottoman woman.
Lesson 3: The Garden and the Gathering in Ottoman Lyric Poetry
Introduction:
Ottoman culture was extremely social, filled with people who love to be with others. As a result, the Ottoman lyric itself was most often a song of love and desire expressed within a gathering (mejilis) of dear friends. Of course, such a gathering involved food, music, drink, dance, and art. These aspects of the gathering were as integral to Ottoman lyric poetry as Ottoman lyric poetry was to the gathering. In other words, the poetry required a party, and the party required poetry.
The ultimate get-together in Ottoman times was quite similar to what one experiences all over Turkey to this day. It takes place on a spring or early summer evening, on warm grass caressed by gentle breezes. Within garden walls bordered by the sacred cypress, dear friends (confidants) recline together, each one a sensitive, open, aware being . . . each one a poet. They eat together the most luscious of appetizers (mezes appearing on endless tables), served by lovely youths. All the while, musicians play, dancers dance, poets cite lyrics about love. Through all of this flow the tides of wine and conversation.
Such communion recalls also the inebriation of the mystic, whose heart opens to connect with the Divine. Sufi rituals during the Ottoman period occurred within the sanctuary of friendship and trust, and the movements of the dervishes together mimicked the whirling of the cosmos, and of creation itself.
The movements of nature, art, religion, and the human heart were all seen in relationship to each other. As a result, those “gathered” at court to entertain the sultan employed a vast knowledge of Turkish culture as well as world culture. The best court artists encompassed a wide ethnic range, enriching Ottoman art with pluralistic artistic influences: ancient Byzantium was mixed with traditional Chinese art brought in on the backs of the horses of the invading Mongols while the local Seljuk substructure was combined with Persian motifs. Out of this spectacular cornucopia, the art of Ottoman decoration developed, rich with a multitude of plants, intertwined branches and vines, cloud formations from the Far East, and endlessly curling arabesques. The Turkish passion for ornament twisted and turned around and around in leaves and pearls, panthers and dragons, pomegranates and cypress trees, tulips and hyacinths. These images--connected to both natural and divine creation--extended to the realm of writing.
Materials:
Ottoman Lyric Poetry: An Anthology, edited and translated by Walter Andrews, Najaat Black, Mehmet Kalpakli. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
CD of Ottoman court music, The Ottoman Classical Palace Musics, Turgut Özüfler, et. al, Sofyan Music
Printed image of Ottoman calligraphy: Websites about calligraphy that discuss and provide these images: http://www.ottomansouvenir.com
Slide show of Ottoman homes in Safranbolu, natural wonders of the Turkish landscape, Ottoman-inspired gardens, the Grand Bazaar, tiles in the Blue Mosque, whirling dervishes, caravansary, mirrored lamps. (Author uses her own photos taken in Turkey, but pictures may be obtained online and displayed in a PowerPoint presentation)
Excerpts about Ottoman culture and art (miniatures and illumination) from Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red
Cultural objects (rugs and tapestries with tulip design, jewelry, tiles, whirling dervish figurine)
Assigned Poems:
Nejati’s “Spiraling the sparks,” Mihri Hatun’s “My heart burns in flames of sorrow,” Zati’s “Oh heavens, why do you cry,” Hayali’s “When dawn hennas her hands,“ Yahya Bey’s “Poetry holds the written veil,” “Neshati’s “We are desire,” Sheyh Galib’s “You are my effendi”
Procedures:
Discuss with students these opening questions: Do you notice any common images, themes, structure in the assigned poems? Explain to them that today's lesson will focus upon the important images in Ottoman poetry that relate to Creation (nature and art).
Inform students that imagery of nature (tulip, rose, nightingale) and of art (jewelry, calligraphy) pervade Ottoman art and also current cultural artifacts in Turkey. These are related to the religious theme of the Divine Love of Creation. Show samples in contemporary cultural objects that one can buy in Turkey: calligraphy work, tiles, illuminated manuscript copies, miniatures, filigree jewelry, rugs and tapestries.
Walk students through a general Power Point slide show of modern-day Turkey, exhibiting images that reflect Ottoman influence upon art and architecture, images that reflect the natural landscape that inspired the poetry, and images that reflect the religious realm of creation. These slides include Ottoman homes in Safranbolu, natural wonders of the Turkish landscape, Ottoman-inspired gardens, the Grand Bazaar, tiles in the Blue Mosque, whirling dervishes, caravansary, mirrored hanging lamps.
As an activity to set the stage for discussion of the gathering in Ottoman lyrics and culture, serve students Turkish food. Ideas for this include Turkish tea and/or coffee and Turkish delight, fruits, baklava. Play CD of Ottoman Classical Palace Musics in the background.
Have students take turns reading aloud, dramatically, the selected poems for the day. Stop and discuss the poems one by one, using the instructor notes in this curriculum packet as a guide for the discussion.