Poems of Nazim Hikmet
A centennial volume, with previously unavailable poems, by Turkey's greatest poet. Published in celebration of the poet's one hundredth birthday, this exciting edition of the poems of the Nazim Hikmet\ (1902-1963) collects work from his four previous selected volumes and adds more than twenty poems never before available in English. The Blasing/Konuk translations, acclaimed for the past quarter-century for their accuracy and grace, convey Hikmet's compassionate, accessible voice with the...
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The definitive selection by the first and foremost modern Turkish poet.Publishers WeeklyA leading modern Turkish poet, Hikmet (1902-1963) once wrote from prison, ``In the twentieth century / grief lasts / at most a year.'' First jailed in 1924 at the age of 22 for working on a leftist magazine, he spent 18 years incarcerated. Hikmet was awarded the World Peace Prize in 1950, the same year as he gained his release from jail, only to be exiled from Turkey in 1951 for the last 13 years of his life. The poet evidently never lost his faith in social justice. His love of life apparently didn't weaken, and his poems resonate with its power: ``Shot through ten years of bondage like a bullet, / . . . my heart is still the same heart, my head still the same head.'' But to consider Hikmet a political poet only is to miss his gift, and a temperament infected with joy. In ``Occupation'' he writes, ``In the afternoon heat I pick olives, / the leaves the loveliest of greens: / I'm light from head to toe.'' The translations by Blasing and Mutlu Konak convey the power and originality of the work; there are no weak poems here. As Hikmet grew, he delivered a richness and humanity unparalleled in its freedom from bitterness in poems like ``Things I Didn't Know I Loved,'' ``After Getting Out of Prison'' and ``The Last Bus.'' (Apr.)
Translators' PrefaceForewordIntroductionAbout My Poetry3Regarding Art4Gioconda and Si-Ya-U6A Spring Piece Left in the Middle32On Shirts, Pants, Cloth Caps, and Felt Hats35Letter to My Wife38The Epic of Sheik Bedreddin40Hymn to Life72Letters from a Man in Solitary74On Death Again78Istanbul House of Detention80Hello84Letters from Chankiri Prison85A Strange Feeling92On the Twentieth Century94Letter from My Wife959-10 P.M. Poems97Ninth Anniversary113Hazel Are My Lady's Eyes116Rubaiyat117Since I Was Thrown Inside123I Love You126On Ibrahim Balaban's Painting "Spring"127About Mount Uludagh129The Strangest Creature on Earth131On Living132It's This Way135Angina Pectoris136Occupation137You're138I Made a Journey139About Your Hands and Lies141Some Advice to Those Who Will Serve Time in Prison143On the Matter of Romeo and Juliet145Sadness146On Ibrahim Balaban's Painting "The Prison Gates"147After Getting Out of Prison149You155Last Will and Testament156To Lydia Ivanna158The Mailman160Message162About the Sea164Last Letter to My Son166Letter from Istanbul170In the Snowy Night Woods176New Year's Eve178Elegy for Satan179Faust's House181Prague Dawn183Noon in Prague184Optimistic Prague186To Samet Vurgun188I Got a Letter from Munevver Saying189I Wrote a Letter to Munevver Saying190From Sofia191Bor Hotel193The Balcony194The Last Bus195This Thing Called Prague197Some Memories199Optimism204Thirty Years Ago205A Fable of Fables208Bach's Concerto No. 1 in C Minor210Conversation with Dead Nezval212Elegy for Mikhail Refili214Early Fall216The Bees217Windows218The Old Man on the Shore221The Optimist223Because224This Journey225The Icebreaker226Two Loves227Waitress229To Vera230Early Light231Baku at Night233The Cucumber234My Woman235Vera Waking236Separation237Loving You238Because of You239Suddenly240Six O'Clock241About Us242Straw-Blond243Untitled256Falling Leaves257Welcome258Autobiography259Things I Didn't Know I Loved261I Stepped Out of My Thoughts of Death265I'm Getting Used to Growing Old266Berlin Letters267My Funeral269Vera270Notes271
\ BooklistBrilliantly conceived and executed, witty and passionate, and inspiring in a sense not found in most modern poems.\ \ \ \ \ Multicultural ReviewOne of the great poetic voices of all time.\ \ \ The Boston PhoenixThese translations are so colloquial, one forgets one isn't reading the originals.\ \ \ \ \ World Literature TodayA potent testament to the Turkish poet's genius.\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyA leading modern Turkish poet, Hikmet (1902-1963) once wrote from prison, ``In the twentieth century / grief lasts / at most a year.'' First jailed in 1924 at the age of 22 for working on a leftist magazine, he spent 18 years incarcerated. Hikmet was awarded the World Peace Prize in 1950, the same year as he gained his release from jail, only to be exiled from Turkey in 1951 for the last 13 years of his life. The poet evidently never lost his faith in social justice. His love of life apparently didn't weaken, and his poems resonate with its power: ``Shot through ten years of bondage like a bullet, / . . . my heart is still the same heart, my head still the same head.'' But to consider Hikmet a political poet only is to miss his gift, and a temperament infected with joy. In ``Occupation'' he writes, ``In the afternoon heat I pick olives, / the leaves the loveliest of greens: / I'm light from head to toe.'' The translations by Blasing and Mutlu Konak convey the power and originality of the work; there are no weak poems here. As Hikmet grew, he delivered a richness and humanity unparalleled in its freedom from bitterness in poems like ``Things I Didn't Know I Loved,'' ``After Getting Out of Prison'' and ``The Last Bus.'' (Apr.)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalThis volume selects poems of Hikmet (1902-63) that the editors consider ``his best both in Turkish and in translation.'' A huge figure in Turkey, Hikmet was the archetypal exile. Outspoken and revolutionary, in and out of prison until 1952, he traveled until his death. His prison poems are deservedly famous, but those from the 1950s-set in Budapest, Moscow, Prague, and Warsaw-express a visceral longing for birthplace: ``my heart exploding like a hand grenade.'' Sensual and spiritual, they transcend everything that represses the psyche. A sublime humility lifts these sad, immensely ``life-loving'' poems above Cold War angst into universal statements of compassion for suffering. Replacing Selected Poetry (LJ 10/1/86), this comprehensive volume contains 15 unpublished poems, selections from longer poems, and ``Rubaiyat,'' which is only available in a private printing. Recommended for international literature collections.-Frank Allen, West Virginia State Coll., Institute\ \
