Mihri Hatun

Mihri Hatun, also known as Lady Mihri and Mihri Khatun (born ca. 1460 – died 1506 AD; مهری خاتون), was an Ottoman poet. She was the daughter of a kadi (an Ottoman judge) and according to sources she spent most of her life in and near Amasya, in Anatolia.[1] Documentation places her as a member of the literary circle of Prince Ahmed, the son of Sultan Bayezid II.[2]

The myth that has grown up around her states that she “fell in love many times but insists that all these loves were chaste and innocent, and that she led a life of unremitting virtue.”[2] Lewis notes that though described as both “beautiful and ardent, she remained unmarried.”[2]

She is referred to as "Sappho of the Ottomans".[3]

Poetry

Lady Mihri's poems reveal an artist grounded in both Persian Literature, writing in such forms as the Gazel, as well as the recipient of a deep literary education.[1] Modern critics, such as Bernard Lewis describe her style as “retaining remarkable freshness and simplicity.”[2]

One of her more popular lines goes as follows: “At one glance/ I love you/ With a thousand hearts ... Let the zealots think/ Loving is sinful/ Never mind/ Let me burn in the hellfire/ Of that sin.”[4]

Another is: “My heart burns in flames of sorrow/ Sparks and smoke rise turning to the sky/ Within Me the heart has taken fire like a candle/ My body, whirling, is a lighthouse illuminated by your image.”[5]

Gazel

Ben umardım ki seni yâr-ı vefâ-dâr olasın
Ne bileydim ki seni böyle cefâ-kâr olasın

Hele sen kaaide-î cevrde eksik komadın
Dostluk hakkı ise ancağ ola var olasın

Reh-i âşkında neler çektüğüm ey dost benim
Bilesin bir gün ola aşka giriftâr olasın

Sözüme uymadın ey asılası dil dilerim
Ser-i zülfüne anın âhiri ber-dâr olasın

Sen ki cân gül-şeninin bi gül-i nev-restesisin
Ne revâdır bu ki her hâr ü hasa yâr olasın

Beni âzâde iken aşka giriftâr itdin
Göreyim sen de benim gibi giriftâr olasın

Bed-duâ etmezem ammâ ki Huda’dan dilerim
Bir senin gibi cefâ-kâra hevâ-dâr olasın

Şimdi bir hâldeyüz kim ilenen düşmanına
Der ki Mihrî gibi sen dahi siyeh-kâr olasın

References
  1. Havlioglu, 2
  2. Lewis, 207
  3. John Freely (2009), The Grand Turk : Sultan Mehmet II - conqueror of Constantinople, master of an empire and lord of two seas, London: I.B. Tauris, ISBN 9780857719287
  4. Halman, 35
  5. Damrosch, 786

Sources
  • Damrosch and April Alliston. The Longman Anthology of World Literature: The 17th and 18th Centuries, the 19th Century, and the 20th Century: V. II (D, E, F) Longman, Inc. ISBN 0-321-20237-6
  • Halman, Talât Sait and Jayne L. Warner. Nightingales & pleasure gardens: Turkish love poems. Syracuse University Press (2005) ISBN 0-8156-0835-7.
  • Havlioglu, Didem. Poetic Voice En/Gendered: Mihri Hatun’s Resistance to ‘Femininity'. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies: Sohbet-i Osmani Series (2010).
  • Lewis, Bernard. Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Hebrew Poems. Princeton University Press; Ltr ptg edition. (2001). ISBN 0-691-08928-0
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