A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE POETRY OF SEHI BEY AND NECATI BEY
Müslüm YılmazTurkish Classical Poetry in the fifteenth century, which is the first century from its birth, witnessed the rise of distinguished poets who would guide the literature of the two nations under whose influence they were flourished. The foremost figure of these poets is Necâtî Bey, one of the leading representatives of Classical Turkish Literature. Thanks to his poetic brillance, he developed a style peculiar to himself and made successful use of the proverbs, idioms and popular sayings in his poems. Necâtî Bey has mastered the literary assemblies he has created and has been influential in the flourishing of many poets, as stated in the tezkires, the main sources of the period. The top example for those who were brought up in the literary assemblies of Necâtî Bey is Sehî Bey, who is called “the apprentice of Necâtî” and who received the first monument to the throne in Anatolia. When we evaluate the poems of Sehî Bey, who has a regular divan, in consideration with Necatî Bey, it is noteworthy that Sehî has similarities with the poems of his master. As a matter of fact, it is seen that these similarities are in a form of “plagiarism” today, and that some sentences are exactly the same except for a few words. Noticing this resemblance, Evliyâ Çelebi claims that Sehî Bey’s divan is plagiarised from Necatî Bey’s poems by saying, “Sehî Bey prepared a divan with the writings of Necatî.” After giving information about the life and works of Sehî Bey in this article, this claim of Evliya Çelebi will be evaluated by comparing the poems of Necatî Bey with the poems of Sehî Bey within the master-apprentice relation.
SEHÎ BEY’İN ŞİİRLERİNİN NECÂTÎ BEY’İN ŞİİRLERİYLE KARŞILAŞTIRILMASI
Müslüm YılmazKlasik şiirimiz 15. yüzyılda henüz daha doğuşunun ilk asrında, etkisinde geliştiği iki milletin edebiyatına yön verecek derecede olgun şairler yetiştirmiştir. Bu şairlerin başında Klasik Türk Edebiyatı’nın önde gelen temsilcilerinden olan Necâtî Bey gelmektedir. Necâtî Bey, yaratılışındaki şairlik dehası sayesinde şiirlerinde kendine has bir üslup geliştirmiş ve atasözleri, deyimleri, halk tabirlerini şiirlerinde başarıyla kullanmıştır. Dönemin başlıca kaynakları olan tezkirelerde de belirtildiği gibi Necâtî Bey kendi oluşturmuş olduğu edebi meclislere üstadlık etmiş ve birçok şairin de yetişmesine vesile olmuştur. Necâtî Bey’in edebi meclislerinde yetişen şairlerin başında “Necâtî’nin çırağı” olarak adlandırılan ve Anadolu sahasındaki ilk şuara tezkiresini kaleme alan Sehî Bey gelmektedir. Sehî Bey, şiirlerinde üslub olarak dönemin en büyük şairlerinden olan Necâtî Bey’in etkisinde Dîvân’ını oluşturmuştur. Mürettep bir divan sahibi olan Sehî Bey’in şiirlerini Necâtî Bey’le karşılıklı değerlendirdiğimizde Sehî’nin şiirlerinin üstadının şiirleriyle benzerlikler taşıdığı dikkat çekmektedir. Sehî’nin şiirlerinin dîvânında Necâtî Bey’e nazîre olarak yazıldığı ifade edilmediği gibi bazı mısraların birkaç kelime farklılığıyla birebir olduğu görülmektedir. Bu benzerliği gören Evliyâ Çelebi, “Hatta Edirnevî Sehî Bey Necâtî Bey’in duhter-i pakize-ahterin alup Necâtî Bey’in intikalinden sonra Sehî Bey evrâk-ı perîşân-ı Necâtî ile Sehî namıyla bir dîvân tertip etmişdir” diyerek Sehî Bey’in dîvânının Necâtî Bey’in şiirlerinden alıntı (intihal) olduğunu iddia etmektedir. Sehî Bey’in üstadına damat olduğu dair kaynaklarda net bir bilgi bulunmadığı gibi dönemin tezkire yazarları dikkat etmedikleri bu yakınlığa yaklaşık bir asır sonra Evliyâ Çelebi’nin tarafından iddia olarak ortaya atılması oldukça önemlidir. Bu makalede Sehî Bey’in hayatı ve eserleri hakkında bilgi verildikten sonra, usta-çırak ilişkisi içinde Necâtî Bey’in dîvânındaki şiirler ile Sehî Bey’in dîvânındaki şiirleri karşılaştırılarak Evliya Çelebi’nin bu iddiası değerlendirilecektir.
Turkish Classical Poetry in the fifteenth century, which is the first century from its birth, witnessed the rise of distinguished poets who would guide the literature of the two nations under whose influence they were flourished. Necati Bey is at the forefront of representatives of Classical Turkish Literature. Due to his brilliant disposition in terms of poetry, Necati Bey was able to enhance his own idiosyncratic style and successfully used provebs, idioms, adages in his poetry. Just as the collections of biographies which are the primary sources of that period indicate, Necati Bey was the master of literary gatherings he formed and contributed to the cultivation of many other poets.
Sehi Bey, who was named “Necati’s apprentice” and was the first to write a collection of biographies on poets in the field of Anatolia and is one of the most significant poets that were educated in Necati Bey’s literary gatherings.
In terms of style, Sehi Bey in writing his Diwan was affected by Necati Bey, one of the greatest poets of the era. Indeed, he states this fact in the preamble of his Diwan and reserves the longest section of his collection of biographies for his master which indicates how much he reveres him.
While other collections do not give detailed information about how Necati Bey influenced Sehi Bey’s style, they mention his copying the style of the earlier poets. It is noticeable that his collection of biographies is more readily available in libraries than his Diwan.
The rhymes used by Necati Bey for the first time were also used by Sehi Bey. An example of this is the ‘nazire’ poetry with regards to the rhyme “kıblem” written by the famous poets of the following period. It is striking that in these ‘nazire’ journals, other poets ‘nazire’ poems can be found except the one Sehi Bey wrote.
When we compare Sehi Bey, who possessed a rearranged Diwan, to Necati Bey we can argue that they carry similar aspects. Though it is not noted that the poetry has been written parallel to Necati Bey’s poetry as a ‘nazire’, there are verses that are exactly the same except only a few differences in words.
Both poets have included religious elements in the preamble to their Diwan. It is noticeable that both poets have the same point of view in regard to this concept. Sehi Bey quoted verses in similar lines with his master. Sehi Bey also states that human beings have been created in a great manner by quoting the related verse of the Holy Qur’an in the preamble to His Diwan. Then with similar expressions to Necati Bey, he touches on the ascension of the Prophet Muhammed and as it can be seen that they approach to the event with the same point of view.
Evliya Celebi who took note of this similarity accused Sehi Bey of plagiarizing. While there is no clear information in the sources regarding Sehi Bey’s being his master’s son-in-law, it is noteworthy that Evliya Celebi made such an accusation on the topic of closeness which the relevant period’s biography writers did not pay attention to approximately a century before. Until now, such a record supporting Evliya Celebi’s claim that Sehi Bey was Necati Bey’s son-in-law has not been found by us. As it may be seen in this work in which we compare the two poets, Sehi Bey regarded his master Necati Bey’s poetry as a type of legacy and therefore added some of his verses into his own poems only differing by a few words. While it is normal in earlier divans and mesnevis for poets to quote former poets, the reason behind Evliya Celebi’s accusation may be the excessive amount of quotes and replication of the style. It is also possible that Evliya Celebi’s accusation was prompted by the gossips found in literary gatherings and circles.
In this article Evliya Celebi’s accusation will be evaluated after the introductory information about Sehi Bey’s life and works is covered as well as the student-master relationship is compared in terms of the poems of both these poets’ Diwans.
