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into a peninsula. It shelters the features of the regions and climates.
Every so often it becomes “Africa” or “the Mediterranean Sea”.
In his poem called “I Threw away the Cigarette into the Sea”,
a “dove”, which appears in his many poems, stands out by its
flying. A similar movement is evident in his poetry. The narrator,
reflecting the action of the dove’s flying and promenading in every
kind of relation he has gone through with his lover, complements
the unrestricted place of the sky with the finite place of the
“Mediterranean” geography.
“Now we are splitting the fly of a dove
In the celebrated blueness of the azure
With its long haired and full-breasted women
A Mediterranean city might be coming off from
The heart of the dove
Should it be incised you see” 8
The feathers and flying of a dove in his poem entitled “Ballad”
is significant in terms of the impact made by the women on the
narrator. The crowd of the glances identified with the “Dove
stream” suggests “non-locality” in the sense of being boundless:
“A flock of doves take off now. Your hair
This is just like your hair being fondled
It is evident in my feathers in the newly opened avenues
My rose-pasture, oh my rose-pasture
Come on doves, cut it short in a stream of the doves
You are looking at me so immense” 9
Geography in Cemal Süreya’s poetry is devoted to the woman. He
not only expresses the effect of the “exile” he has experienced,
but also attributes the feeling caused by the idea of “exile” to the
woman:
“You, the woman on her face I went into exile” 10
Describing the woman by utilizing the attributes of the place and
geography, and the integrative feature for these attributes, indicate
the sources of Cemal Süreya’s poetry. The narrator presents the
woman in geographical terms. Here geography is not limited to
a certain place. Sometimes the Mediterranean, the Black Sea or
8 Süreya, Love Words, I Threw Away the Cigarette into the Sea 21.
9 Süreya, Love Words, Ballad . 24.
10 Süreya, Love Words, Country 48.
the mystical world of the East happen to be the destinations of the
journey. The location concept being shaped in the fantasy space
of the narrator is reflected on the woman’s body through external
elements. The location being formed in the woman’s body is
transformed into the language of poetry through the imagination
of emotional motives. This striking feature is hidden in the style of
the narrator.
In the poem “Country” he sets out on a journey. Anatolia comes
into focus via his quest for the woman. The narrator cites the
samples he collected in the places he visited to the lover. Using
expressions like “license to print money”, he makes historical
references. By tapping into such sources he continually introduces
such phrases as “an employee of a money mint factory,” and “Via
the yellow of the ear of corn” in Konya; and in Antalya he looks for
his woman through the clearness of the sea. From this aspect he
transforms the one dimensional woman into a multi-dimensional
identity.
“And my aflutter heart floats in the stream of your hair
It would have blended with the Black Sea and then the Mediterranean
[…]
An ear of corn would inform about Konya bit by bit
I look for you in that ear of corn and Konya
Nowadays I attribute everything to you, right?
Gold scale, double measures and gold is worthless
License to print money, water of the Euphrates, Palandöken
The lowland of Erzincan, the bottom of hanging gardens
Antalya’s sea and the bottom of that sea” 11
In his poem “Unhappiness Smiling” the dynamic structure of his
poetry collection entitled “Country” is maintained. The narrator,
who does not like the silence and the stillness inside a stationary
location, can only get over the negativity coming from being
attached to a certain place by constantly relocating. He would
not travel in confining locations. Since the multifarious locations
would enhance the relationships of human to human and human
to nature, they would leave a concrete impression on the subjects
while at the same time building the structure of poetry:
“Unhappiness comes in by smiling, and it is decorated with its name;
11 Süreya, Love Words, Ülke 48.
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