A Prosody (Aruz) Master: Mehmet Akif Ersoy

Abstract

Prosody (aruz), born in the Arab literature in the 8th century, was used in Islamic literature, especially the Iran literature. After the conversion of the Turks to Islam in the 10th century, it also took its place in the Turkish poetry. Mehmet Âkif Ersoy, beginning from his childhood, had a particular interest in poetry. One of the strongest assets of his poetry was the ivan tradition. Having been raised in tradition of classical literature, Âkif's poems carries many components and features of the past in terms of form. The poet wrote all of his poems with aruz, by using the shape of verses of the divan literature. Certain characteristics of Mehmet Âkif's poetry are his solid expression, successful adaptation of aruz to Turkish language and adorement of the narrative style. Mostly consisted of narratives written in verses, Mehmet Âkif's book, Safahat is accepted, in a way, as a modern masnavi or a novel written in verses. Mehmet Âkif clearly showed with his poems that the aruz could be successfully implemented to the Turkish poetry. Mehmet Âkif's poems proves that aruz is compatible with Turkish language.