Abstract
One Elegy Two Princes: Zâtî's 'Şehzade Şehinşah' or 'Şehzade Mehmed' Elegy
The 16th century is the period on which Ottoman
Empire had not only political and economic superiority but
also the strongest social and cultural structure. In literature,
literary people such as Hayâlî Bey, Zâtî, Nev'î,
Lâmi'î, Kemalpaşazade, Taşlıcalı Yahya and finally Bâkî
were educated in this period. One of the interesting personas
of classical literature is Zâtî. Along with Ahmet Paşa
and Necâtî, Zâtî who was accepted to lay the foundations
of classical literature was in an eminent place with his
poetry, poesy, and his local shop in Bayezid where most
poets visited. Zâtî born in 876/1471 and died in 954/1547
was a highly productive poet. Zâtî has 1825 published
gazels and approximately 100 nonpublished kasides.
There are four (five) elegies in the divan’s manuscripts of
Zâtî. These elegies were written about death of Sultan
Bayezid II, Prince Şehinşah and Prince Mehmed, Zeynî
and Müeyyedzâde. Prince Şehinşah died in 1511 when
Zâtî was 40 years old and Prince Mehmed died in 1543
when Zâtî 73 years old. Elegies in classical Turkish literature
especially are written because of patron’s death and
should be written in a short time by poets. The poet wrote
an elegy consisting of 5 bends when Şehzade Şehinşah
died. When Prince Mehmed died, the poet rewrote an elegy
by adding one bend to the Şehzade Şehinşah’s elegy he
wrote 32 years ago because of his lack of time and his old
age, the poet would pass away three years later. In this
study, this elegy which includes minor differences will be
evaluated and interpreted.
Keywords
Zâtî, Elegy, Prince Şehinşah, Prince Mehmed, terkibbend