Nine Fragments For Albrecht Dürer’s Painting Called “Pillow Studies”
Original version (Turkish):
“Albrecht Dürer’in “Yastik Etütleri” Adli Resmine Dair Dokuz Fragman” by Volkan Hacıoğlu
I.
Dürer’in henüz yirmi iki yaşında
Resmettiği “Yastık Etütleri,”—
Uyanık dünya ile
Rüyaların havaî ruhu arasında sanki
II.
Yer değiştirir
Buzdağları gibi tahayyülün
Zihnin asma kilitli hudut kapılarında
Sanatsal yaratıcılığın
Sonsuz hareketinin
III.
Tekrarı . . .
Yeniden birleşmek için çözülen
Taçyaprakları
Tasavvurun tek hamlede
D a ğ ı l ı r , —
S a v r u l u r . (*)
IV.
Yeteri kadar uzun
Ve yeteri kadar d i k k a t l i
Bakılırsa, ışık ve gölge arası, hipnotik etki
Sayesinde kıvrımlar çarpık suratların
Konturlarına benzer
V.
Tuvalin sihirli aynasında
O vakit her tarafa uçuşan hafıza köpükleri
Hâlinde fark edilir,—
Yalnızca uyuyan
VI.
Birinin yüz hatlarının
Kısmî izleri değil,—
Aynı zamanda rüya
Manzaralarını dolduran
VII.
O fantastik,
O esrarengiz yaratıklar da
Yuvarlanır bilinçaltı uçurumlarına..
Belki de ölüm masklarıdır o yastıklar
VIII.
Uykunun değirmen çarklarında
Gece gündüz
Durmadan süratle dönen meçhul çehrelerin.
Rüyaların havaî ruhu
IX.
Arasında sanki
Paramparça buzdağları gibi tahayyülün
Haber verir alacakaranlıkta
M a v e r a d a n . . .
(*) Coleridge’in Tasavvur’un [Imagination] soyut plâstik gücüne ilişkin tanımı—“a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation. . . [the imagination] dissolves, diffuses, dissipates, in order to re-create,” [IMAGINATION] “On the imagination, or esemplastic power,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Biographia Literaria yahut Edebî Hayatımdan Biyografik Skeçler ve Mülâhazalar, 13. Bap, Londra, 1817. Tercüme: 2025, Volkan Hacıoğlu
English version:
“Nine Fragments For Albrecht Dürer’s Painting Called “Pillow Studies”” translated by Mehmet Kaan Eğretli
I.
“Pillow Studies” which Dürer set in paint
Only when he was twenty two —
Seems as if it is between
The awake world and the airy soul of dreams
II.
Moving
Like the icebergs of imagination
In the padlocked border gates of the mind
The artistic creativity
And endless movement’s
III.
Repetition…
Petals coming undone in order to
Reunite
Your imagination in one move is
D i s s o l v e d, —
D i f f u s ed. (*)
IV.
If observed sufficiently long
And sufficiently c a r e f u l
The border of light and shadow, through
Hypnotic effect the folds appear as
Contours of twisted faces
V.
In the magical mirror of the canvas
Then it is realized as foams of memory flying about
In every direction, —
Not only the partial marks
VI.
Of the facial features
Of someone sleeping, —
But also crowding
The dream landscapes
VII.
Those fantastical,
Those mysterious creatures too
Tumble down subconscious cliffs…
Maybe those pillows are death masks
VIII.
Of unknown faces endlessly turning
Day and night
Rapidly in the millwheels of sleep.
Between the airy soul of dreams
IX
Your imagination
As though icebergs in pieces
At midnight tells news from
T h e B e y o n d . . .
(*) Coleridge’s definition of the abstract plastic power of the Imagination — “a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation... [the imagination] dissolves, diffuses, dissipates, in order to re-create,” (from On the Imagination, or Esemplastic Power, in Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
This is the English translation of Volkan Hacıoğlu’s poem called “Albert Dürer’in ‘Yastık Etütleri’ Adlı Resmine Dair Dokuz Fragman”. The poem aims to philosophize over Dürer’s painting called “Pillow Studies”. It is an ekphrastic work utilizing a rather cold and analytical voice similar to W.H. Auden and Alexander Pope while infusing it with the mysticism of the east. The poem argues that the pillows of Dürer presents psychoanalytical value as they might reflect not only the movements of the sleepers’ faces but also through it some essence of their dreams.
Volkan Hacıoğlu (born 26 September 1977, Istanbul) is a poet, translator, and academic. He holds a PhD in Economics from the State University of New York and serves as an Associate Professor at Istanbul University’s Faculty of Economics. His poetry, essays, and translations have appeared widely since 1997, and his work has been recognized with several international awards, including honors in Italy’s Città Del Galateo and Vitruvio poetry competitions. Hacıoğlu’s poems have been translated into multiple languages, and he has represented Turkey at major international literary festivals.