Agehi, the Sailor Poet of Classical Turkish Poetry

Agehi, the Sailor Poet of Classical Turkish Poetry Murat Ali Karavelioğlu ABSTRACT The 16th century was a period when Classical Turkish literature reached its peak in every respect. Many of the greatest poets of Turkish literature lived during this century. Poets from every corner of the Ottoman-Turkish geography played a leading role in the development of this literature. Rumelia, in particular, produced great poets in both quantity and quality during this period, as in every era. Yenice Vardarlı Âgehî is one of them. After arriving in Istanbul, the poet joined the Ottoman naval forces. In the few poems that survive today, he successfully employed the nautical terminology of the period and, in this respect, earned a unique place in our literature. His famous qasida, interwoven from nautical language throughout, gained great fame among its peers and appeared in poetry magazines for centuries. Many poets wrote verses to this qasida, but none achieved the success of Âgehî's. Our interpretations and evaluations of this poem, which has such a well-deserved reputation, constitute the subject of this article. Keywords: Âgehî, qasida, maritime terms, nazire (similar), 16th-century Turkish literature The 15th and 16th centuries constitute the period of development and rise in Turkish history in every respect. During these centuries, during which considerable political, economic, and social development was achieved, artistic and cultural activities also reached a remarkable level. Indeed, the term "Turkish Century" is apt. One of the factors that enabled this positive and high level to be reached was undoubtedly the state's strength and the level it had reached in military arts. The Ottoman army, which consistently won victories on land—in the east and west—also achieved great success at sea with its powerful navy, which was in line with the conditions of the time; In addition to dominating the entire Mediterranean and enclosing the Black Sea as a lake, it also ruled over distant inland seas like the Caspian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Seas. Furthermore, in Istanbul, in line with its rising level of prosperity, we see that the sea, life on the sea, entertainment, and excursions have become a part of daily life. The constant presence of the sea at the center of society, both in military operations and campaigns, and in the life of happiness and recreation, has resulted in this subject becoming a focus for the artist, the most powerful interpreter of daily life. Agehi, the Sailor Poet of Classical Turkish Poetry When we look at Turkish literature during the Ottoman period, the 16th century was a brilliant century, marked by the birth of influential poets and writers, the creation of great works, and the creation of writing in every field of literature. In this period, during which the great divans of classical Turkish literature, important masnavis, and some beautiful examples of prose were produced, it is seen that specific terminology belonging to certain fields was consciously introduced into literature by some poets, used with both literal and metaphorical meanings, and emotions and dreams were expressed through these specific expressions. For example, poems specifically using the names of flowers were written, as well as works that emphasized local dialect characteristics. In addition to works frequently employing archery terms, works frequently employing musical terms were also written. Considering the general course of Turkish literature and the varying tendencies of literary figures across periods, we can say that such preferences were not common. Perhaps the first that comes to mind is Âgehî, a 16th-century poet who participated in naval expeditions during the most powerful period of the Ottoman navy. Furthermore, the direct or indirect use of maritime terminology in literature was not exclusive to Âgehî; poets of this type were also found in later periods. He examines the metaphors used with maritime expressions one by one. The poem begins with the line, "You pulled the frigate away from us, and the sea-going frigate has been far away from us, how many storms have I suffered on the sea-going frigate." The true success of the poem lies in the apt and skillful use of sailor's language in the similes, metaphors, and allusions. For example, in the following couplet, the poet uses the words "kanâr (=shore, side)" and "kanâr etme (=to draw to your side, to embrace)" appropriately and with great skill: Take the galley, O my master, while I am setting aside on the seashore, Similarly, his use of the word Khidr (peace be upon him) is very interesting. It should be remembered that Khidr (peace be upon him) occupied a significant place in the lives of the seafaring seafarers, who lived in constant danger on the high seas. Hizir, who sails on the sea, reveals his face, Kadre visits you once, seeing you on a galley. There were other sailor poets who used the sailor's language in the 16th century. Nigârî and Seydi Ali Reis, pen-name Katibi, are the most well-known of these. These individuals, who were not only poets but also patrons of poets, were, according to sources, well-known and beloved figures in the literary world of the period. The success of Âgehî's qasida was met with great admiration and enthusiasm from the very beginning. It is no doubt that this work, which aroused universal curiosity in Istanbul's most distinguished literary circles and gatherings, was read with enthusiasm and interest. We have previously mentioned that Yetîm wrote a murabba to this effect shortly before Âgehî. As early as the 16th century, Molla Mehmed and a poet under the pen-name Za'fî wrote tahmis for Âgehî's qasida. A. Tietze's speculation that these poets, about whom almost nothing is known, but whose name we know to be Mehmed, may be the same person, is noteworthy. It is known that a small group of poets, including some very famous ones, wrote verses for the Qasida. These include Saati, Yahya of Taşlıca, Deruni, Aşki of Üsküdar, and Gubari. Some of these poets appear to have arranged the text solely formally, while others utilized only the vocabulary. Some employ an abstract narrative, while others focus on entirely different settings. By the 17th century, we see poets like Zari and Re'fet also writing ghazals using the sailor's language. While Feyzî of Bursa wrote a ghazal in this valley in the 18th century, the 19th-century poet Rasih İbrahim Efendi appears to have used some maritime vocabulary but, compared to Âgehî, wrote a historical poem that was quite distant from seafaring terminology. All of this reveals the distinctive contribution made by our older poets, and especially our maritime poets, to classical Ottoman Turkish, literature, and culture, from the 16th century, when Turkish seafaring reached its peak, to the 19th century, when Divan poetry reached its end of its life. According to our current knowledge, this trend that developed around Âgehî's qasida exemplifies the way our nazire literature shaped literary fashion. 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