Thursday, January 24, 2008

To say "I Lived"

Türkçe'de

III
Bu dünya soğuyacak,
yıldızların arasında bir yıldız,
hem de en ufacıklarından,
mavi kadifede bir yaldız zerresi yani,
yani bu koskocaman dünyamız.

Bu dünya soğuyacak günün birinde,
hatta bir buz yığını
yahut ölü bir bulut gibi de değil,
boş bir ceviz gibi yuvarlanacak
zifiri karanlıkta uçsuz bucaksız.

Şimdiden çekilecek acısı bunun,
duyulacak mahzunluğu şimdiden.
Böylesine sevilecek bu dünya
"yaşadım" diyebilmen için...

Nazim Hikmet, Şubat 1948

In English

III
This earth will grow cold,
a star among stars
and one of the smallest,
a gilded mote on blue velvet -
I mean this, our great earth.

This earth will grow cold one day,
not like a block of ice
or a dead cloud even
but like an empty walnut it will roll along
in pitch-black space...

You must grieve for this right now
- you have to feel this sorrow now -
for the world must be loved this much
if you're going to say "I lived"...

Nazim Hikmet, February 1948
Translated from the Turkish by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk

The poem in full here.
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There is much that I want to write...half written posts are all around, but I haven't had the time or space to clear my head and actually organize my thoughts. Faiz has been a constant every single night (and during the day - all I seem to be listening to these days is a mix of Nayyara Noor and Iqbal Bano). In between there have been bits of Hikmet.

I do mean to finish my half written post on (my struggle with) reading Faiz in Urdu, but till then Nayyara Noor singing Aaiye Haath Uthayen.

3 comments:

Space Bar said...

that is one of my favourite hikmet poems! you shoulda posted the whole thing.

Szerelem said...

Ah, well the last bit is the part I love the most. Plus I think its already been posted at many other places :)

Jack said...

Gratteful for sharing this