hope your road is a long one,

full of adventure, full of discovery.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:

you’ll never find things like that on your way

as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,

as long as a rare excitement

stirs your spirit and your body.

Laistrygonians, Cyclops,

wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them

unless you bring them along inside your soul,

unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.

May there be many summer mornings when,

with what pleasure, what joy,

you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;

may you stop at Phoenician trading stations

to buy fine things,

mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,

sensual perfume of every kind—

as many sensual perfumes as you can;

and may you visit many Egyptian cities

to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.

Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

But don’t hurry the journey at all.

Better if it lasts for years,

so you’re old by the time you reach the island,

wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,

not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.

Without her you wouldn't have set out.

She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.

Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,

you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

And if the branches tap my pane
And the poplars whisper nightly,
It is to make me dream again
I hold you to me tightly.

And if the stars shine on the pond
And light its sombre shoal,
It is to quench my mind's despond
And flood with peace my soul.

And if the clouds their tresses part
And does the moon outblaze,
It is but to remind my heart
I long for you always.

(Translated by Corneliu M. Popescu)

From that mountain high.

What was your grandfather called?

A cloud up in the sky.

Who is your mother?

The rainstorm.

How did you come down to the land?

To water the fields

and to turn the mills.

Stay a while so we can watch you,

our dear little river.

I am in a hurry to leave,

to meet the shore and the sea.

As if were friends, I embraced so many, 

My faithful beloved is the black earth.

Wandered in vain, tired for nothing, 

My faithful beloved is the black earth.

Devoted, I abode with so many beauties, 

Neither saw any devotion, nor any benefits, 

All my wants, I received from the earth,

 My faithful beloved is the black earth.

Gave me sheep, gave me lamb, gave me milk, 

Gave me food, gave me bread, gave me meat, 

When not tilled with a pick, it gave, but scant, 

My faithful beloved is the black earth.

I split its belly with pick and spade,

 Ripped its face with nail, with hand, 

Still, it welcomed me with a rose, 

My faithful beloved is the black earth.

If you have wish, ask God for it

To receive it, do not go far from soil

Generiosity is given to soil by the Lord,

My faithful beloved is the black earth

Whom ever learns this secret

S/he leaves an immortal wonder behind for the world

A day comes when it (black earth) hugs Veysel deeply

My faithfull beloved is black earth