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Mihri Hatun, also known as Lady Mihri and Mihri Khatun (born ca. 1460 – died 1506 AD; مهری خاتون), was an Ottoman poet. She was the daughter of a kadi (an Ottoman judge) and according to sources she spent most of her life in and near Amasya, in Anatolia.[1] Documentation places her as a member of the literary circle of Prince Ahmed, the son of Sultan Bayezid II.[2] She is referred to as the "Sappho of the Ottomans".[3]

Poetry

Lady Mihri's poems reveal an artist grounded in both Turkish and Persian literature, writing in such forms as the Gazel, as well as the recipient of a deep literary education.[1] Modern critics, such as Bernard Lewis describe her style as “retaining remarkable freshness and simplicity.”[2]

One of her more popular lines goes as follows:[4]

“At one glance

I love you

With a thousand hearts

Let the zealots think

Loving is sinful

Never mind

Let me burn in the hellfire

Of that sin.”

Another is:[5]

“My heart burns in flames of sorrow

Sparks and smoke rise turning to the sky

Within me the heart has taken fire like a candle

My body, whirling, is a lighthouse illuminated by your image.”

References

  1. ^ a b Havlioglu, 2
  2. ^ a b Lewis, 207
  3. ^ John Freely (2009), The Grand Turk : Sultan Mehmet II - conqueror of Constantinople, master of an empire and lord of two seas, London: I.B. Tauris, ISBN 9780857719287
  4. ^ Halman, 35
  5. ^ Damrosch, 786

Sources

External links

Authority control databases
Turkish literature
Categories