Three Poems by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Translated by Aysel K. Basci

Music

A frantic awakening from every thought,
Repeatedly and cruel, as if fate;
In a dark night’s exuberant waters,
A ship catches fire, an angel reaches out.

Who are those, bathing in this dark fountain
As if resurrected under the moonlight?
A golden cliff grows deeper and deeper,
And a caravan drifts toward the unknown.

Oh, the never-ending revenge of time,
Everything in my being is against me;
With your gaze’s color and charm,
Music, like your memory, chases after me. 






Musiki

Bir çılgın uyanış her düşünceden
Üst üste ve zalim, bir kader gibi,
Bir melek uzanmış siyah geceden
Mahur sularında tutuştu gemi.

Kimdir yıkananlar bu loş çeşmede
Tekrar doğar gibi ay ışığından?
Bir altın uçurum derinleşmede.
Ve meçhule doğru süzüldü kervan.

Ey bitmek bilmeyen hıncı zamanın
Her şey bana karşı kendi içimde,
Renk ve büyüsüyle bakışlarının
Musikî hâtıran gibi peşimde.

In Turbulent Waters

Near the boathouse, a lamp burns idly
As if leaning on this loneliness, 
Reflecting like a bloodshot eye
On the window and in the waters. 

In a room, I am crying quietly;
This was a ridiculous adventure.
Now, looking back from afar
I realize more clearly, I was unfair.

This view washing in light,
Flowing, calming, erratic, 
Has always been turbulent.

We are like moss,
Swimming adrift in the darkness,
Waiting at the mercy of the waters.





Çalkantılı Sularda

Biraz ötesinde kayıkhanenin
Beyhude yanıyor sofada lamba
Sanki yaslanmış bu yalnızlığa
Kanlı bir göz gibi camda ve suda

Sessiz ağlıyorum bir odada 
Gülünç gülünçtü bu macera
Şimdi böyle uzaktan bakınca
Daha iyi anlıyorum haksızdım

Işıklar içinde akan, durulan
Değişen manzara hep çalkantıda;

Yüzen yosunlar gibiyiz
Bu karanlıkta başıboş
Suların tesadüfünü bekliyoruz.

Roses and Glasses

Let the cruel temptation of thirst
Wonder right beside you…
What of it, even if you drink from every spring? 
Whether made of forged gold,
Or jewels, shimmering,
All glasses look the same, 
They are reminders of our void within…

Even if all your days were spring,
Wearing out in a yawn is your skin,	
Every delicate dream,
Every fantasy woven from desire,
Is erased from the mirror.

A dagger-wound emptiness fills your heart,
The horizon appears pitch black,
The roses bloom in black, the nightingales
Singing at life’s sunset, sing in black…






Güller ve Kadehler 

Varsın baş ucunda gezinsin dursun,
Zalim iğvaları bir susuzluğun...
Bütün pınarlardan içsen ne çıkar?
Hep aynı boşluğu bize tekrarlar,
Dövülmüş altından veya mücevher,
Birbirine benzer bütün kadehler...

İsterse bir bahar olsun günlerin;
Bir esneyişinde yorulmuş tenin,
Silinir aynadan her nazlı hayal,
Arzuların ana ördüğü masal.

Bağrında bir bıçak yarası boşluk,
Simsiyah kesilir gözünde ufuk,
Siyah açar güller ve siyah öter
Ömrün gecesinde öten bülbüller... 

Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar (1901-1962) was a Turkish poet, novelist, literary scholar and essayist, widely regarded as one of the most important representatives of modernism in Turkish literature. He was a professor of aesthetics, mythology and literature at the University of Istanbul. Although he died more than 60 years ago, his writing remains very popular.

Aysel K. Basci is a nonfiction writer and literary translator. She was born and raised in Cyprus before moving to the United States. Her work has appeared in The Common, Washington Square Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, TriQuarterly, Adroit Journal, Los Angeles Review, Columbia Journal and elsewhere. Three of Aysel’s translated stories were longlisted for Deep Vellum Press’s annual Best Literary Translations anthologies, 2024 and 2025 editions.

30 July 2025