THE MEMORY OF A TRUE LOVE: ALI RAIF'S REFLECTIONS IN THE DIVAN OFFERIDE HANIM

Abstract

From Kastamonu Baharzade Feride Hanim, one of the poets of the 19th century, grew up in afamily with high collectability and has been engaged in poetry and calligraphy arts from an earlyage. Feride Hanim, who married Ali Raif at the age of 16, was shaken by the death of her husbandwhen she was only twenty one/two years old. Feride Hanim was shaken by her husband's deathand carried this agony throughout her life and reflected this feeling to her poems. She wrote herlove for her husband by writing two poems for her husband. These poems include: “Zevcim AliRaif Efendi’nin Vefatına Söylenildi” and “Merhum Zevcimin Yadigârı Olan Sa‘atin Gaib OlmasıCihetiyle Gayetle Dilsuz Olmaklıgımdan Nasi Söylenmisdir.” These lines, which chant a love ofhumanity apart from the metaphorical love and the idealized lover, are a real affliction of FerideHanim, but are remarkable and original in terms of the conventions of classical Turkish literature.This originality; Feride's personal and social life are read, almost like a biography, and verses thatexpress her devotion to her deceased husband. In other words, Ferîde Hanım is a female poet inthe male-dominated world of our ancient literature for more than six centuries, not writingpoems to her name but writing poems to her loved ones. In this study, in addition to the twopoems mentioned, the reflections of personal and social life on classical Turkish literature will beevaluated by taking into consideration the poems of Feride Hanim who expresses her love andlonging for her husband.