I Think Of You, A Turkish Love Poem By Nizam Hikmet Translated Into English Poem by Ravi Kopra
I Think Of You, A Turkish Love Poem By Nizam Hikmet Translated Into English
I think of you
and feel the fragrance of my mother
the most beautiful woman in the world.
You are on a merry-go-round in my heart
Your skirt and hair dance in the air
I lose your face each second and see it again.
You slash my heart with your knife.
I hear your voice when you are far off.
Why have I lost all of myself for you?
I kneel down to look at your hands
I want to touch them but I can't
You are behind a wall of glass.
I find myself so lost today
Going through this in the evening.
anamın kokusu gelir burnuma
dünya güzeli anamın.
Binmişin atlıkarıncasına içimdeki bayramın
fır dönersin eteklerinle saçların uçuşur
bir yitirip bir bulurum al al olmuş yüzünü.
Sebebi ne
seni bir bıçak yarası gibi hatırlamamın
sen böyle uzakken senin sesini duyup
yerimden fırlamamın sebebi ne?
Diz çöküp bakarım ellerine
ellerine dokunmak isterim
dokunamam
arkasındasın camın.
Ben bir şaşkın seyircisiyim gülüm
alacakaranlığımda oynadığım dramın.
-Nazim Hikmet
I don't agree with your perception. Criticism for the sake of criticism has no meaning. We come to enjoy the Forum' s friendly atmosphere. You are surely not a Mahakavi. My impression about the standard of your translation does not find it great, extraordinary, excellent, exceptional, fine or commendable. I found it simply 'well' enough to mention. This was definitely not a flattery.
Please see my response above your comment. Also please check your inbox for two messages.
A great love poem with longing and a nostalgic touch. Translated well. Thanks.
This poem started out so beautiful and hopeful...but then reality came crashing in. The words and images from this poet are beautiful and startling. Wonderful poem you have translated! The first line of the third stanza is a critical one and I wonder if the translator might consider changing it to present tense to match the rest of the poem and be more active and declarative... Tell me, why your knife scarred my heart?
Thank you Jette for stopping by and for your critical comments. Most of the time I get flattery here, and nothing else. I am changing the line to 'You slash my heart with your knife. I earlier tried to conform closely to the original Turkish poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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12/3/2023 9:37:37 PM # 1.0.0.1118
Rajnish, I am sorry that your feelings got hurt reading my answer to a critical comment I finally received today. I know that the forum is for fun but I do welcome critical comments as well on my writings, so that I could improve my skill and perhaps one day achieve the level of my Indian poet friends' in writing poetry. I never claim myself to be a poet by any standards. I write for fun and enjoy reading and translating foreign poetry. I sent you a PM on another topic.