Yahya Kemal

Yahya Kemal Beyatlı
Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, 1930s
Born	Ahmet Âgâh (1884-12-02)December 2, 1884 Skopje, Kosovo Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	November 1, 1958(1958-11-01) (aged 73) Istanbul, Turkey
Resting place	Aşiyan Asri Cemetery, Istanbul
Pen name	Agâh Kemal, Esrar, Mehmet Agâh, and Süleyman Sadi
Occupation	Poet, politician, diplomat
Nationality	Turkish

Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, born Ahmet Âgâh (December 2, 1884 – November 1, 1958), was a leading Turkish poet and author, as well as a politician and diplomat.

Yahya Kemal was born Ahmet Âgâh on December 2, 1884 in Skopje, then in the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. He wrote under pen names such as Agâh Kemal, Esrar, Mehmet Agâh, and Süleyman Sadi. He came from a prominent family, whose roots could be traced back to the Ottoman court, and he was educated at various private schools. As he was about to start his higher education, severe disagreements between his parents kept him away from school for some time. When he tried to return to school, he was turned away because it was too late into the semester. His absence from school coincided with the oppressive regime of Abdülhamit II (reigned 1876–1909), and Yahya Kemal got involved various anti-regime movements. To avoid getting arrested, he went to Paris in 1903. During his time abroad, he met other exiled Turkish intellectuals, politicians and writers. He traveled extensively in Europe, and was exposed to various cultures. He developed a fondness for literature and was influenced by the French romantic movement. He eventually decided that he wanted to write poetry, and he first studied the historical works of the French Parnasse poets. Consequently, he sought out a way to revitalize Turkish Divan poetry in order to create smooth and pure poetic lines.

Yahya Kemal’s poetry is influenced by music, because he composed with concepts borrowed from Turkish music. While explaining the inner rhythm of the poetic language, he used musical terms such as Tınnet, which denoted the musical value of the sounds or words that pace a line of poetry. For Yahya Kemal this was the only method for creating internal harmony. He states, "Poetry is akin to music. Poetry is not made of couplets, but poetry is melody." For the most part, he was consistent and practiced what he preached; in his poetry, music and meaning go hand-in-hand.

The central thought that runs through Beyatlı’s poems and prose is that the Turkish nation is fashioned with the sweat and tears of the heartland. Even his love poems featured stylized historical and cultural values. Another peculiarity that can be perceived in Beyatlı’s poetry is the almost feminine sensibility that he displayed towards Islam. His explanation for this is that his father spent very little time with him, and that his first lessons in religion came from long hours spent talking with his mother. Yahya Kemal grew up in a household where hymns and chants were sung, where values of the past were kept alive, hence in his poems he used religion and esthetics together.