Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Behçet Necatigil

IN LOVE

Love, you put off till tomorrow
Timid, reverent, tongue-tied.
Unknown you remained
To all your kin.

Through concerns never ending,   
(I know you never wanted it that way)
The feelings that welled in your heart
Never swelled
When a glance was enough to reveal everything.

You expected longer days to come
Speaking of love in minutes was ugly to you
That the years would pass in such a hurry,
In such a fuss never crossed your mind.

In your secret garden
There were flowers
blossoming at night, alone.
You regarded too trifling to give
Or somehow, you hadn’t enough time.

SEVGİLERDE

SEVGİLERDE

Sevgileri yarınlara bıraktınız
Çekingen, tutuk, saygılı.
Bütün yakınlarınız
Sizi yanlış tanıdı.

Bitmeyen işler yüzünden
(Siz böyle olsun istemezdiniz)
Bir bakış bile yeterken anlatmaya her şeyi
Kalbinizi dolduran duygular
Kalbinizde kaldı.

Siz geniş zamanlar umuyordunuz
Çirkindi dar vakitlerde bir sevgiyi söylemek.
Yılların telâşlarda bu kadar çabuk
Geçeceği aklınıza gelmezdi.

Gizli bahçenizde
Açan çiçekler vardı,
Gecelerde ve yalnız.
Vermeye az buldunuz
Yahut vaktiniz olmadı.
Close

IN LOVE

Love, you put off till tomorrow
Timid, reverent, tongue-tied.
Unknown you remained
To all your kin.

Through concerns never ending,   
(I know you never wanted it that way)
The feelings that welled in your heart
Never swelled
When a glance was enough to reveal everything.

You expected longer days to come
Speaking of love in minutes was ugly to you
That the years would pass in such a hurry,
In such a fuss never crossed your mind.

In your secret garden
There were flowers
blossoming at night, alone.
You regarded too trifling to give
Or somehow, you hadn’t enough time.

IN LOVE

Love, you put off till tomorrow
Timid, reverent, tongue-tied.
Unknown you remained
To all your kin.

Through concerns never ending,   
(I know you never wanted it that way)
The feelings that welled in your heart
Never swelled
When a glance was enough to reveal everything.

You expected longer days to come
Speaking of love in minutes was ugly to you
That the years would pass in such a hurry,
In such a fuss never crossed your mind.

In your secret garden
There were flowers
blossoming at night, alone.
You regarded too trifling to give
Or somehow, you hadn’t enough time.
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Gemeente Rotterdam
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Ludo Pieters Gastschrijver Fonds
Lira fonds
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