Songs from the steppes of Central Asia: The collected poems of Makhtumkuli : eighteenth century poet-hero of Turkmenistan

by Magtymguly Pyragy

An oddity among Aldiss works - verse translations. Song from the Steppes is the collected poems of Makhtumkuli, eighteenth century poet-hero of Turkmenistan. In this book, Aldiss renders prose translations made by Dr Youssef Azemoun, an expert on Turkic languages and literature, from the original into verse.

Genres: Poetry

106 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Magtymguly was one of the first Turkmen poets to introduce the use of the classical Chagatai, the court language of the Khans of Central Asia, as a literary language, incorporating many Turkmen linguistic features. As such, his poetry exemplifies a trend towards increased usage of Turkic languages (as opposed to Persian), and Magtymguly is revered as the founder of Turkmen poetry, literature, and language Magtymguly is widely revered as holy among Turkmen communities, and his poems are often quoted as proverbs in Turkmen society.

Magtymguly made wide use of the qoshuk form of poetry, which features prominently in Turkmen folk songs and is easily adapted to Turkmen musical forms. The qoshuk form consists of quatrains with lines consisting of eight or eleven syllables, and follows a rhyming scheme of ABCB for the first stanza and CCCB, DDDB, etc. for the following stanzas. The compatibility of Magtymguly's poems with traditional musical forms allowed them to be easily adopted by bakhshis, traditional singers.

Magtymguly's first poem, “By night when I was asleep... Revelation”, was composed following an incident when Magtymguly was a young boy. His parents were attending a wedding, but Magtymguly was sleeping, and they left him behind. As he slept, he began to foam at the mouth, and his parents were called back to the house. When his father awoke him, Magtymguly recited his first poem. Additionally, one of Magtymguly's poems recounts a dream in which Omar Khayyam bestowed upon him the gift of poetic invention.

His poetry is often highly personal, but also takes up universal themes. His work includes elegies on the deaths of his father and children and the disappearance of his brothers, incitements to Turkmen unity, tirades against unjust mullahs and khans, praises of religious figures (such as the Twelve Imams), and laments at losing his beloved to another.

Reviews

[Bryn Hammond]

On Magtymguly - the introduction to this collection: http://www.gunesh.org/english/main.htm
And the contents online: http://www.turkmenhost.com/documents/...
at magtymguly.com: http://www.magtymguly.com/Magtymguly_...

[Jeren bella goths stunt double · Rating 5 out of 5]

meniň türkmenistan...🇹🇲
magtymguly jahankeşde adam bolupdyr