The Ode “Violet” of Edirneli Nazmi

Abstract

Violet was mostly used in the analogies about the lover in Classical Turkish literature and took place in the poems with its fragrance, color and shape features. With its purple color close to black, it was the reason why it resembles hair, mole, calligraphy (feather) and mourning, and is associated with humility and obedience with its proximity to the ground and its curved neck. Violet sometimes healed the sick, sometimes it was served as wine and sometimes it was scented and rubbed into thelover’s hair. In the Classical Turkish literature, many poets such as Ahmet Pasha, Necati Bey, Ahmedi, and Hayali wrote ghazals and odes by using the “violet” redif. One of these poets is Edirneli Nazmi, who was one of the 16th century poets. Edirneli Nazmi is known for his divan, the poems he wrote in the Turk-i Basit style and the Nazirah magazine he compiled. In this study, the ode of forty-two couplets with “violet” redif that Edirneli Nazmi presented to Sultan Sulayman Han was annotated.