MASA DA MASAYMIŞ HA WHAT A TABLE WAS THE TABLE by Edip Cansever — Analysis & Translation

Original Poem

MASA DA MASAYMIŞ HA WHAT A TABLE WAS THE TABLE Adam yaşama sevinci içinde Masaya anahtarlarını koydu Bakır kâseye çiçekleri koydu Sütünü yumurtasını koydu Pencereden gelen ışığı koydu Bisiklet sesini çıkrık sesini Ekmeğin havanın yumuşaklığını koydu Adam masaya Aklında olup bitenleri koydu Ne yapmak istiyordu hayatta İşte onu koydu Kimi seviyordu kimi sevmiyordu Adam masaya onları da koydu Üç kere üç dokuz ederdi Adam koydu masaya dokuzu Pencere yanındaydı gökyüzü yanında Uzandı masaya sonsuzu koydu Bir bira içmek istiyordu kaç gündür Masaya biranın dökülüşünü koydu Uykusunu koydu uyanıklığını koydu Tokluğunu açlığını koydu. A man in his joy for life On the table his keys he put In a copper bowl the flowers he put His milk his egg he put From the window coming the light he put Bicycle sound spinning-wheel sound Of bread of air the softness he put The man on the table Of his mind the startings and stoppings he put What he had wanted to do in life See how he put it Whom he had loved whom he had not loved The man on the table them too he put Three times three nine they made The man put on the table nine It was beside the window beside the sky He reached out on the table infinity he put To drink a beer he had wanted how many days On the table the pouring of the beer he put His sleep he put his waking he put His fulness his hunger he put. Masa da masaymış ha Bana mısın demedi bu kadar yüke Bir iki sallandı durdu Adam ha babam koyuyordu.

Translation (English)

WHAT A TABLE WAS THE TABLE A man full of joy for life Put his keys on the table Put flowers in a copper bowl Put his milk and egg Put the light coming from the window Put the sound of the bicycle and spinning-wheel Put the softness of bread and air The man put on the table What was happening in his mind What he wanted to do in life He put that too Whom he loved and whom he didn't The man put them on the table too Three times three makes nine The man put nine on the table The window was beside, the sky was beside He reached out and put infinity on the table He had wanted to drink a beer for days He put the pouring of the beer on the table Put his sleep and his waking Put his fullness and his hunger. What a table was the table It didn't complain about all this weight It swayed a bit and stopped The man kept putting things on it.

About the Poet

Edip Cansever (20th Century)

Edip Cansever was a prominent Turkish poet known for his modernist style. He was part of the Second New Movement, which sought to break away from traditional forms and themes in Turkish poetry.

Historical Context

Literary Form: Free verse
When Written: 20th Century
Background: The poem reflects the modernist movement in Turkish poetry, where poets like Edip Cansever explored new forms and themes, focusing on the complexities of human experience and emotion.

Sources: https://www.antoloji.com/masa-da-masaymis-ha-edip-cansever-bir-siir-bir-yorum-siiri/, http://mat.msgsu.edu.tr/~dpierce/Poetry/Turkish/Cansever/masa.shtml, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_of_Turkey

Detailed Explanation

The poem 'Masa da Masaymış Ha' by Edip Cansever is a reflection on the complexity and richness of life, symbolized by the table. The table becomes a metaphor for the human mind or soul, capable of holding a multitude of experiences, emotions, and thoughts. The man places various tangible and intangible items on the table, representing different aspects of his life, such as his daily routines, desires, and relationships. The poem captures the essence of human existence, where mundane objects and profound thoughts coexist. The table's resilience under the weight of these items suggests the strength and capacity of the human spirit to endure and embrace life's burdens. The poem's free verse form allows for a fluid exploration of these themes, characteristic of the modernist movement in Turkish poetry, which sought to break away from traditional structures and explore new expressions of human experience.

Themes

Literary Devices

Word Dictionary

Word	Meaning	Translation	Transliteration
MASA	masa	a flat surface with legs	masa
DA	da	in addition	da
MASAYMIŞ	masaymış	it was a table	masaymish
HA	ha	surprise or emphasis	ha
Adam	adam	a male person	adam
yaşama	yaşama	the act of living	yashama
sevinci	sevinci	happiness	sevindji
içinde	içinde	within	ichinde
Masaya	masaya	onto the table	masaya
anahtarlarını	anahtarlarını	the objects that open locks	anahtarlarinı
koydu	koydu	placed	koydu
Bakır	bakır	a reddish-brown metal	bakır
kâseye	kâseye	into the bowl	kaaseye
çiçekleri	çiçekleri	the colorful parts of plants	chichekleri
Sütünü	sütünü	the white liquid from cows	sütünü
yumurtasını	yumurtasını	the oval object from birds	yumurtasını
Pencereden	pencereden	through the window	pencereden
gelen	gelen	arriving	gelen
ışığı	ışığı	brightness	ışığı
Bisiklet	bisiklet	a vehicle with two wheels	bisiklet
sesini	sesini	the noise it makes	sesini
çıkrık	çıkrık	a device for spinning	chıkrık
Ekmeğin	ekmeğin	the baked food	ekmeğin
havanın	havanın	the invisible gas we breathe	havanın
yumuşaklığını	yumuşaklığını	the quality of being soft	yumuşaklığını
Aklında	aklında	in his thoughts	aklında
olup	olup	occurring	olup
bitenleri	bitenleri	the things that start and stop	bitenleri
Ne	ne	which thing	ne
yapmak	yapmak	perform	yapmak
istiyordu	istiyordu	desired	istiyordu
hayatta	hayatta	during living	hayatta
İşte	işte	look	işte
onu	onu	that thing	onu
Kimi	kimi	which person	kimi
seviyordu	seviyordu	felt affection for	seviyordu
sevmiyordu	sevmiyordu	did not feel affection for	sevmiyordu
onları	onları	those people	onları
Üç	üç	the number after two	üç
kere	kere	instances	kere
dokuz	dokuz	the number after eight	dokuz
ederdi	ederdi	resulted in	ederdi
Pencere	pencere	an opening in a wall	pencere
yanındaydı	yanındaydı	next to	yanındaydı
gökyüzü	gökyüzü	the space above the earth	gökyüzü
yanında	yanında	next to	yanında
Uzandı	uzandı	stretched out	uzandı
sonsuzu	sonsuzu	endlessness	sonsuzu
Bir	bir	single	bir
bira	bira	an alcoholic drink	bira
içmek	içmek	consume liquid	içmek
kaç	kaç	the number of	kaç
gündür	gündür	periods of 24 hours	gündür
dökülüşünü	dökülüşünü	the act of pouring	dökülüşünü
Uykusunu	uykusunu	the state of rest	uykusunu
uyanıklığını	uyanıklığını	the state of being awake	uyanıklığını
Tokluğunu	tokluğunu	the state of being full	tokluğunu
açlığını	açlığını	the state of needing food	açlığını
Bana	bana	for me	bana
mısın	mısın	are you	mısın
demedi	demedi	did not speak	demedi
bu	bu	this specific	bu
kadar	kadar	extent	kadar
yüke	yüke	burden	yüke
iki	iki	the number after one	iki
sallandı	sallandı	moved back and forth	sallandı
durdu	durdu	came to a halt	durdu
ha	ha	continued	ha
babam	babam	my dad	babam
koyuyordu	koyuyordu	was placing	koyuyordu