# Kim olduğu belli olmayan



## rupertbrooke

Hi, all. I'm looking for an English translation of this piece of Turkish free verse, which passes under the name of Dosthan(?). 
[clearly the introduction]. Kim olduğu belli olmayan, /şairin biri yazmış, hem kadından, /hem istanbul’dan. /tarif etmiş kadını, /adını istanbul koyaraktan. /demiş ki şair; 


[the poem] ”Ne davanızı anlatacak bir erkek bulabildiniz, ne bir erkeğin anlayacağı kadar basit olabildiniz, kadın dediğin istanbul gibi olmalı, /fethi zor, /fatihi tek! ”/kadın dediğin istanbul gibi olmalı, /istanbul.....! canım şehir, /fethettiler seni, /yar ettiler seni, /yedi tepenin yeşilini, /en güzel ağacını, çiçeğini, / her gelişimde gördüm ki, /kaybolmakta içlerinden biri. /üst üste betonla demiri, /yığıp, dar ettiler seni./canım istanbul, / fethettiler seni, / yar ettiler seni, / o narin kadın gibi, /
zar ettiler seni! /hayır diyene, derim ki, /nerede, hani, eski resimlerdeki, / canım istanbul? / tıpkı o, tek fatihine sığınan nadide kadın gibi, / paraladılar, yaraladılar, har eylediler seni, yeşilini budayanlara yar edip, zar eylediler seni!
If it is from a famous poet, can someone refer me to him/ her? Thanks.


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## adelan

For me, neither a famous poet nor a famous poem. I have never heard of them.

Anyway, since this is a poem, we have to relocate some parts considering the dots.  

*Kim olduğu belli olmayan* şairin biri hem kadından hem istanbul’dan yazmış. Adını istanbul koyaraktan kadını tarif etmiş.

An *unknown (nobody knows who s/he is)* poet wrote about women and Istanbul. Described women giving Istanbul as her name.

Translation may vary.


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## rupertbrooke

Thanks, adelan. I've been working on this free verse for a couple of days now. Notice I didn't call it a poem. As John Betjeman, a famous English poet once wrote:- 'I write verse; Shakespeare wrote poetry'.


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## Asr

rupertbrooke said:


> Hi, all. I'm looking for an English translation of this piece of Turkish free verse, which passes under the name of Dosthan(?).
> [clearly the introduction]. Kim olduğu belli olmayan, /şairin biri yazmış, hem kadından, /hem istanbul’dan. /tarif etmiş kadını, /adını istanbul koyaraktan. /demiş ki şair;
> 
> 
> [the poem] ”Ne davanızı anlatacak bir erkek bulabildiniz, ne bir erkeğin anlayacağı kadar basit olabildiniz, kadın dediğin istanbul gibi olmalı, /fethi zor, /fatihi tek! ”/kadın dediğin istanbul gibi olmalı, /istanbul.....! canım şehir, /fethettiler seni, /yar ettiler seni, /yedi tepenin yeşilini, /en güzel ağacını, çiçeğini, / her gelişimde gördüm ki, /kaybolmakta içlerinden biri. /üst üste betonla demiri, /yığıp, dar ettiler seni./canım istanbul, / fethettiler seni, / yar ettiler seni, / o narin kadın gibi, /
> zar ettiler seni! /hayır diyene, derim ki, /nerede, hani, eski resimlerdeki, / canım istanbul? / tıpkı o, tek fatihine sığınan nadide kadın gibi, / paraladılar, yaraladılar, har eylediler seni, yeşilini budayanlara yar edip, zar eylediler seni!
> If it is from a famous poet, can someone refer me to him/ her? Thanks.



I have also never heard of the poem or the poet. Here is my very basic attempt for a translation, just to give you an idea...

You could neither find a man to tell your cause nor have been simple enough for a man to understand, a woman must be like İstanbul/ hard to conquer/ its conqueror unique!/ a woman must be like Istanbul, / Istanbul….! My beloved city/ they conquered you/ they made you a lover/ the greens of your seven hills/your most beutiful tree, flower/ I noticed at my each arrival/ one amongst them is vanished./ Piling up concrete and iron, they made you smaller/ my dear Istanbul/ they conquered you/ made you a lover/ like that tender(fragile) woman/ zar ettiler seni?!!? /to whom says no, I ask/ where is my dear Istanbul as in old photos?/ like that tender woman who takes refuge in her conqueror/they tore you in to pieces, injured you, squandered? you, made you a lover to the one who trimmed your greens, zar eylediler seni?!


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## adelan

Very nice translation Asr. 

Har eylemek could be "put you on fire", but zar etmek/eylemek is meaningless for me just written for rhyme or harmony i suppose. If I force myself it could be "make you transparent" or "make you a dice"  But if it is z^ar, it could mean "make you sad/crying"


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## rupertbrooke

I think it means 'they make you sad', as in these lines of poetry:- "Eyvah ne yer, ne yar kaldı/ Gönlüm dolu ah u zar kaldı." - Abdülhak Hamit Tarhan (Eşi Fatıma Hanımın ölümü üzerine yazdığı Makber şiirinden).


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## Asr

Thank you Adelan 

Oh right, that makes a lot more sense! I also forced myself and thought maybe that was the "har" from the idiom "har vurup harman savurmak", even though I've never seen the word being used on its own. 

No matter how hard I tried, couldn't make any sense of the "zar" one.  Now I learned something new; z^ar, that is also very suitable there!

But the poem sounds rather amateurish , don't you think?


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## adelan

I always respect of all kind of effort in every branch of art, but I totally agree with your opinion.


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## Asr




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## rupertbrooke

I agree also that the verse is amateurish but the feeling behind the words is, I think, genuine. England's 'green & pleasant land' is swiftly being built up by heartless & insensitive developers.


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