Abstract
SEYYİD VEHBÎ’S UNDERSTANDING OF POETRY
With this study, it is aimed to clarify the poet’s understanding of poetry with reference to designation and criticism of own poems of Seyyid Vehbî, who was one of the significant spokesmodels of 18th century Ottoman Poetry. The poet including commonly his poetic ideas in his odes’ fahriye (praising) and lyrics’ pseudonym verses in his diwan, states his ideas regarding various poetic aspects such as poems’ features and topics, the elements reminding the poems, meaning, idea, methaporical statement in these verses. Vehbî gives place to “sühan” and “nazm” words mostly instead of poem in these verses. Accordingly, the poem is supposed to be worded with inspiration, appeal to the heart, include faithfulness, awarn the ones in negligence, travel from hand to hand, be amorously, piquant, pure, shining, naive, colorful and voluble. He associates his poems with elements such as“âb (water), âşiyâne (nest), câm (glazing), dâsitân( legend), deşt (desert), efser (crown), fesâne (story), gevher (jewel), gül-deste (bunch of roses), hâtem (seal), kâle (word), kevser, mu‘cize (miracle), sihr (sorcery), şeker (sugar), şerer (sparkle), yem (bait), zülâl (lucid water) etc.” From his perspective, the poems found desirable by the reader are the ones expressing the love, giving place to the lover and her beauty aspects, made up by renewal, including pleasure and entertainment. Vehbî, one of the significant spokesmodels of Hikemî style in this century, considerably appreciated the aspects relating to the inner structure of the poem such as meaning, idea and metaphorical statement and made evaluations concerning the emphasis of these aspects. The significant critiques and evaluations of poems made by Vehbî are to provide contribution to studies which will be carried out especially relating to Ottoman Poetry’s poetical.
Keywords
Seyyid Vehbî, understanding of poetry, poetical, poem, poet, 18th century Ottoman Poetry.