Old Words for an Undying Story

Today, I wanted to write something special. A few days ago, while pondering the subject, I thought of the “Independence March”. As I slowly and deliberately ran through all its verses in my mind, I wondered how it would be received today. As we know, Atatürk's “Address to the Turkish Youth” remains sadly relevant. Our “Student Oath” and march are also well known and much loved, and are still recited loudly and with feeling. I had no intention of writing a march or a speech, but I wondered what I would say if I were a young person travelling through time, experiencing the emotions of the periods when these works were written and seeing the current situation. I asked myself, “What would I say if I dared to address the present day as our Father did?” Naturally, I tried to use the vocabulary of that era. I titled the poem “Old Words for an Undying Story”. I based the rhyme scheme on our anthem.

Let us keep the spirit of rebellion alive in our hearts, cleanse the surrounding corruption and let our Turkish identity and values shine once more.

However, I do not believe I can translate this poem which I wrote with special feelings, in the same way as my previously translated poems. For this reason, I must state that I am sharing the version translated by artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, after generating a translation that captured the most of the essence of the poem, I made several edits to finalise it. In particular, I adjusted the rhymes to maintain the flow and corrected errors arising from the different meanings of older words.

The colourised version of the oldest known photograph of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Second-year student at the Military Academy (Harp Okulu). 1900–1901 Abdullah Frères — Source / Original black-and-white version Source / With his classmates — Source

Words from the Father are a cherished legacy, my phrasing plain and lowly

If tongue should slip, forgive it kindly—my state is frail and humbly

I've learned a few quatrains, I pen them modestly

May my decree not seem imperious, overbearingly

I cannot point the way, nor offer balm to the Turk's wound

What I'll share is ours alone—private, profound

Gather the throng, let us be comrades now, unbound

If our banner from the tomb be plundered, we're grave-bound

Drunk beneath the withered fruit, we've grown inebriate

In due time, the hand we sent returned empty, desolate

Foes have encircled us, streets lie lawless, profligate

Turk, open your eyes—dash at once to the light, make haste

The soldier who lost his helm meets a captive fate

Were not the wars the Turk's bridal eve, so great?

All fall silent! One sole honor lingers, innate

To lose it too—that's the grandest nightmare, straight

Cut this nonsense! Veils and veils of propriety

When did you forget the good, the health, society?

A heart-tie with your neighbor—yet what of penury?

Tell me, is the Turk's end a funeral bark's frailty?

What's fallen on this folk? The vendetta cast away

No one seeks an out, a path to brighter day

Fetid rot has seeped through all, corroding the mainstay

Wake, O Turk! Or is thy trance a dream's dismay?

In a word, the regret festers within, a longing untried

With so many reasons, now the onus is ours, our pride

Guard the young, revere the elder—our oath as guide

The Turk never prostrates himself before the invader's stride

Behold, oppression circles around—you can't feign unaware

When the citizen's crushed, spouse and kin will share

There are many like you—greet the true Turk with care

From unity springs strength; thus victors declare

The Turkish nation toils with peerless virtue, grace divine

Altruism lifts the folk to heights sublime

Deceive not by the cursed fool; foes are sly, malign

Spitting venom, they seek no mirror for their own design

The Turk's son must be swift in every circumstance

Don't await the twenty-ninth—seize fervor in advance

Youth must awaken now, this instant, from its trance

Know you not: millions of souls share thy steadfast stance

It matters not—seek no virtue where the witless fools belong

Stand firm! It ill suits the Turk to be led astray along

Embrace the comers, release the absent, the wrong

Not all harbor loyalty to the homeland's song

The Turk's might lies whole and one! Let not unity fray

Even if unforeseen assaults pierce the bosom someday

Woe to us if we can't safeguard the zeal we array

Imagine no homeland for the heirs of tomorrow's day

Did not the Father warn? Does his speech not endure?

If you can't swallow it, pause—first, let truth demur

Tremble and return to your core! Immortal Turk, secure

Defend it with all your might, despite all, ever pure

Defend it with your whole self, against all, ever sure