Semiotic and linguo-stylistic aspects of the poems by H. Chergeyev “Listen to What the Dead Man Says!” and “Fate”

Kirimov Tair Nuridinovich PhD in Philology Senior Educator, the department of Crimean Tatar Literature and Journalism, Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University named after Fevzi Yakubov 295015, Russia, respublika Krym, g. Simferopol', per. Uchebnyi, 8 tairkerimoff@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Introduction

Hasan Chergeev is considered as one of the most influential poets-populists in the Crimea of “Awakening period”. His cycle of poems is characterized by literary creativity and originality, and the ways to attract the attention of readers are determined by the laterality of thinking. Of particular interest are his poems in the Crimean Tatar dialect “Hear what the dead man says!” and “Fate” ^{[1; 49]}. At various times, the oeuvre and life of A. Chergeev were discussed in the literary and critical works of authoritative researchers. For example, this is “Crimean book publishers” (1919) by A. Odabash; “Report by A. Latif-zadeh about the Crimean Tatar literature of modern period” (1928); “Parliamentarism and nationalism in Crimean Tatar literature” (1929) by B. Choban-zadeh; “Studies of the Crimea” (1930) by A. Krymskii; “Shamil Tohtargazy and Chergeev” (1935-1936) by A. Altanly; “Our famous essayist and children's poet” (1968) by E. Shemyi-zadeh; “Conversations” (1980) by Z. Dzhavtobeli, “The Crimean Tatars: past, present, future” by M. Ulkusal (1980), etc. ^{[6; 23; 39; 50; 53; 56; 60; 41]}. I. Kerimov makes a significant contribution to the interpretation of the literary process in the pre-war Crimea. Over the years, the professor has published a series of monographs that comprehensively cover the fate of the pleiad of Crimean Tatar writers of the late XIX and early XX century, giving to Hasan Chergeev a place of honour there. Little known archival facts from its poetic heritage are restored by the scientist literally in parts ^{[10; 11; 12; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18]}. Therefore, today we are more or less familiar with the history of the publication in 1909 of the book “Hear what the dead man says!” and its direct impact on the tragic fate of the poet. Not so long ago, the originals of these poems were found in the archives of the state libraries of Berlin and the Crimea. Before proceeding to their discussion, it is worth to highlight some important milestones in the creative life of a literary figure.

Hasan Сhergeev was born in 1879 in the village of Adzhikech (Kharitonovka, Simferopol district). He got his primary education at a local school. After successfully graduating from the Simferopol Tatar teachers' seminary (1899), he returned to work at his native elementary school. In 1909 Chergeev moved to Simferopol and published the poem “Eşit, mevta ne sevleyur!”. Due to its content, openly contradicting the political ideology of the tsarist rule, the poet was arrested in 1912, but then amnestied in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. After military service as a lieutenant, he continued teaching in various villages of the Crimea (1914–1920). Under Stalinist regime, in 1930, the repressive and punitive bodies of NKVD sentenced him to 5 years in camps. In 1944, together with his family, he was exiled to the Urals. In 1946, having received permission, he went to his deported relatives, but on the way he became seriously ill and suddenly died in the hospital of Andizhan (Uzbek SSR) ^[19].

Discussion

According to the “Crimean Tatar Encyclopedia” by prof. R. Muzafarov, the poet's literary heritage includes about 30 plays and poems, 15 poetry collections ^{[24, p. 785–786]}. However, in the unique “Bibliographic index of printed books, articles and works in the Crimean Tatar language (1618–1944)” by I. Kerimov, the number of editions of the poet significantly differs in a smaller way ^[2]. Nevertheless, A. Latif-zadeh notes that in the Chergeev's archives there were many still unpublished poems, plays and stories ^{[56, p. 41]}.

Most of the writer's works are devoted to issues of education, national identity, women's equality, inter-class relations, traditions, faith and morality. At the same time, the author proved to be an expert in child psychology. Today we have his illustrated collections of children's poems, plays and fairy tales published in 1928: “Hayvanlar ne ayta?” (“What do animals talk about?”), “Tilki ve qoyan” (“The fox and the hare”), “Tilki ve köylü” (“The fox and the peHasant”), “Yıl dönümi” (“New year”: drama for children) ^{[2, p. 134]}.

The experience of writing plays and inner charisma help the playwright to work closely with the amateur theater company (1917) ^{[2, p. 134, 295]}. In October 1923, the People's Commissariat of education (Narkompros) of Crimea also organized a meeting of the heads of regional and city creative circles in order to resume the work of the Crimean Tatar theatre. The main issue on the meeting's agenda was the opening of the Tatar sector at the Russian drama studio. The names of candidates for the working cast were announced. These were well-known artists, Umer Ipchi, Halit Kurkchi, Emine Chelebieva, Aishe Taiganskaya, Ava Kylycheva, Hasan Chergeev etc. ^[54] Later, the sector received the status of the Crimean Tatar state drama theatre. From the memoirs of the director of the Crimean Tatar theater, E. Grabov, we find out that at first the theater's artists were forced to go on tour to distant villages and districts of the Crimea during the summer season due to poor funding. The theater's repertoire consisted of specially selected plays by Crimean Tatar, Tatar, Turkish, Azerbaijan, German, and English playwrights to reflect local manners ^{[20, p.151 – 178; 22, p. 67 – 80]}.

Along with the author's books, Chergeev is published in collective collections: “Yaş tatar yazğıçları” (“Young Crimean writers”, 1913), “İnqilâbiy şiirler” (“Revolutionary poems”, 1925); in issues of newspapers and magazines: “Vetan hadimi” (“Servant of the people”, 1908), “Voice of the Tatars” (1917), “Yeşil ada” (“Green island”, 1920), “Yeñi dünya” (“New world”, 1924), “Yañı Çolpan” (“New Venus”, 1924), “Azat Qırım” (“Liberated Crimea”, 1942) ^{[33; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48]}.

After the author's death, a collection of poems “Saadet içün” (“For happiness”, 1976) edited by A. Altanly, Sh. Aliadin, Yu. Bolat, and A. Dermendzhi was released. Here, along with poems and a play by Chergeev, poems by his colleagues in the pen of Usein Tohtargazy, Dzhemil Kermenchikli, Jakub Shakir-Ali are published. His children's books “Hayvanlar ne ayta?” (“What do animals talk about?”), “Quşlar ne aytalar?” (“What do birds talk about?”) have been reprinted with translations into Russian, Ukrainian, Uzbek languages ^{[30, p. 67–70; 34; 35; 36; 37]}.

In the poem “Hear what the dead man says!” (“Eşit, mevta ne sevleyur!”) readers recognize in the living dead the Crimean Muslim who was experiencing a difficult situation during the tsarist rule in the Crimea. The plot of the work tells about the transformation of national moral and ethical foundations in the Crimean Tatar society under the influence of foreign settlers. The seen leads the «dead man» to extreme confusion. Being in desperation, he decides to return to his grave forever.

Fearing to be caught by the tsarist censorship, the author deliberately uses the pseudonym “Belgisiz” (“Unknown”) and the Russian alphabet in place of the Arabic script generally accepted at that time. Due to the fact that the Crimean Tatars completely switched to Cyrillic graphics only in 1938, there are enough spelling errors in A. Chergeev's poetic texts. Naturally, the poet could not have guessed about the new spelling rules specially developed for the Russian alphabet in the Crimean Tatar language. However, as noted by academician A.E. Krymskii, because of the poem was written in Russian letters and not Arabic ones, it has preserved fine dialect sound features ^{[23, p. 170]}. We can assume that Chergeev's Cyrillic alphabet was taken over from a well-known lexicographer, a graduate of the Simferopol Tatar teacher's school, O. Zaatov. In 1906, in order to facilitate cross-cultural communication between residents and guests of the Crimea, he published the “Complete Russian-Tatar dictionary”. The dictionary includes about 11 thousand vocables ^{[31, p. 19–21]}. In the introductory word the author of the dictionary explains his choice of the Cyrillic graphics: “In the Tatar text I used Russian letters instead of Arabic ones with the intention that the proposed dictionary could be used not only by Tatars but also Russians, for example, students of the Oriental faculty of St. Petersburg University, Lazarev's Institute and all who will need it” ^[28].

Considering the linguistic features of «Eşit, mevta ne sevleyur!» it may be noted that in the vocabulary of the poet we meet the dialectal forms of the lexemes like açeli (lit.: acele – soon), taçip (lit.: taacip – amazement), tecirbe (lit.: tecribe – knowledge), çanı (dial.: canı – new) çaillik (lit.: cahillik – ignorance), çami (lit.: cami – mosque), çumle (lit.: cumle – together), çeza (lit.: ceza – penalty). In these examples, we can note the phenomenon of spirantization (replacement) of the sounds «c» (dzh) / «ç» (ch) at the beginning and middle of words. These examples can help to understand better some features of the old Crimean Tatar Latin graphics. Here it is appropriate to recall the famous «Dead souls» by N.V. Gogol. In 1931, by order of the Committee of the new Turkic alphabet, it was translated by U. Ipchi into the Crimean Tatar language with Latin graphics. However, a reader who is used to the modern Turkish alphabet may find inconvenient to read the title of an old book as “Ɵly çanlar” / “Ölü çanlar” (“Dead bells”) instead of “Ölü canlar” (“Dead souls”). No less demonstrational is the verb “sevlemek” (“to speak”) and its variants of its conjugation in the poem by Chergeev: “sevle”, “sevleme”, “sevlene”, “sevleyur”, “sevler”, “sevlep”, “sevliyiz” ^{[22, p. 71–73]}.

In the folklore and dialectological studies of A. Samoilovich, B. Falev, and B. Erdzhilasun, the word «sevlemek» is classified as a variety of ancient Kipchak dialects ^[29]. However, in the works of some researchers of the poem this dialect word is presented differently: “söyleyur”, “söyliyor” , “söyleyor”. Indeed, the misinterpretation of this term also leads to a blurring of the original language color. In the announcement of the Simferopol newspaper “Millet” (“Nation”) dated 1917 about the publication of the poem “Fate”, the reissue of the known book is announced, however with some changes in the title, namely, “Hear what the grave says!” (“Eşit, mezar ne sevleyur!”) ^[59]. The plot of the poem in general resembles the “Airship” by M. Lermontov and “Conversation with a mummy” by E. Poe ^{[25; 55]}. The poetic narrative of the resurrected wanderer begins with the following lines:

“Yuqlay idim, aqsurup uyandım

Ben bir tatlı yuqudan,

Açtım közüm, inan, ötüm

Patlayazdı qorqudan.

Ay üstümde, kündüz kibi

İde yerin aq-yaruq

Ey, ya Rabbim, ne yerdemen?!.

Aldum-artum qayaluq” ^{[1, p. 1]}.

(“A [loud] sneeze disturbed my sleep,

It was sweet and carefree .

When you open your eyes, it's hard to believe,

There is no way to measure my fear.

The moon is like a day star,

The radiance blinded everything.

Where am I, let me know oh, most high!

The rocks surrounded me and captured me”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

These lines from the poem are similar to folk verse in their simplicity of language and scan. Some elements of enjambement are rather evident. The poet, focusing on the semantic load of the poetic passage, divides the sentences into parts, that is, considers each event in more detail. As a result, this work can be regarded as a great intellectual work not only of the poet, but also of the reader. A. Chergeev, in order to reduce the doubts of the reader caught in the trap of the title «Hear what the dead man says!» at the beginning of the poem brings to the fore the sneezing of the deceased, that is, his revival. As we know from life practice, someone's sneezing is always given meaning. Sudden and loud, uncontrolled and attracting the attention of others sneezing can be perceived in different ways: with fear and shuddering; with the wish of health and longevity; as a reason to confirm the truth, correctness. Finally, the plot of the poem's beginning may be an allusion to the story of the creation of the first man, Adam. In this way, the spirit, at the behest of the most high, entered through the head into a lifeless body made of a piece of clay. Back the spirit came out through the nose while making Adam sneeze, figuratively speaking, to breathe life ^[57]. In general, the phenomenon of sneezing is a literary method by which the poet easily moves the characters from one state to another.

It is noteworthy that the expected image of a deceased person who rose from the grave named Omer does not correspond to the tradition of the genre of mysticism. Instead of horrific supernatural creature before the reader appears pitiful, scared and poor man:

“Çuqurdır em duran yerim,

Bitmuş qırtuş üstümde.

Ne olduğun eç añlamam:

Közler körmez kimerde.

Baqdum, dürbe üstümdesi

Tap yazısı qırulğan.

Añlaşıla, ben ölgenmen,

Oña vaqut çoq olğan.

Ağlayup ellerimnen,

Keñ eyledim mezarım.

Düşünemen – eger çıqsam,

Bo yanınan ne yasarım?..” ^{[1, p. 1]}.

(“Lying [on his back] in the devastated grave,

Layers of dust and dust my body covered.

I don't understand what's going on:

Eyes sometimes do not see at all.

On the slab at the head of the grave,

The inscriptions [long ago] were worn and faded.

Obviously I'm dead, I'm dead,

Since then, not a little time has passed.

I'm crying, but my hands are [anxious],

I'm probing the ground around the grave.

I think: here, if I get out,

What will I do next here...”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

The story told by the «dead man» takes us to a rocky valley, brightly illuminated by the moonlight. Here you can hear heart-rending screams and moans coming from the depths of a forgotten ancient cemetery. However, the existence between life and death is also subject to controversy in existential subjects of the works of the poet's contemporaries, for instance, I. Gasprinskii's “Conversation of sultans” (“Mukâlemeyi selatin”), Dzh. Seidahmet's “Holy graves” (“Nurlu qabirler), B. Choban-zadeh's “The best death” (“Yahşı ölüm”), N. Chelebidzhihan's “I swore!” (“Ant etkenmen”), Dzh. Kermenchikli's “Don't die, revive!” (“Sen ölme, doğ!”), M. Nuzhet's “Sorrow of my broken heart” (“Qırıq qalbimniñ qayğısı”), H. Giraibai's “You” (“Sen”), M. Kurtii's “Den of demons” (“Cinler yatağı”) ^{[5; 21; 27; 38; 42; 51; 52]}. These writers treat the death or the past as a way of approaching the ancestors to discuss the future of the nation either a reason to release the burden of an outdated way of life of the people under the influence of revolutionary slogans or the liberation of two loving hearts from the barriers of the mortal world.

Returning to the poem by Hasan Chergeev, we become convinced that Omer's mission is to warn fellow countrymen about the approaching danger of ethnic assimilation. The very appearance and teachings of the deceased may be prophetic for the common people, who are in a deep sleep of ignorance.

“Dünya bağlı ahirete,

Çail olsa bir adam

Ölgende de çeker çeza

Eksilmez başı belâdan.

Birlik olmay kitseñiz şay,

İşiñiz ğayet çoq fena.

Ne dünyade, ne ahirette

Bulunmaz derde eç deva!..”^{[1, p. 10]}.

(“The world is ordained to a day of judgment,

If a person has lived an ignorant life,

In the netherworld, he cannot escape [God's] punishment,

Troubles and sufferings will overcome him [forever].

If you forget about peace and unity,

[Then] your affairs will be very bad.

[Nowhere] will you find salvation

Neither in the mortal world, nor in the afterlife!..”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

Here various metamorphoses of semantic shades of the dream paradigm are presented. Correctly understanding the strategy of thinking of the poet, even in the title you can see the philosophical and didactic principles of the work. In the poet's lyrics, an important place is given to the motives of death and separation, old age and despair, a wounded bird and a cage. They sum up the fate of the poet himself.

It was said hereinbefore that A. Chergeev subjected to political persecution by the tsarist and Soviet authorities. Despite the appalling conditions in prisons and camps, he continued to write. Here is the poem “Aqay” (“Man”), written by the poet in duress.

“Qartayğanda, men ğarip yañğız qaldım,

Şu ecelsiz ölümi boynuma saldım.

Ah, desem, “Ah” der kimsem yoq, ölsem – cılar,

Açıq qalğan közümi kimler cumar...

Qavuşmağan, dünyadan “Ah” dep keter

Sıratlarda ödelgen ölümden beter...”^[61].

(“When I got old I was all alone,

The thought of death haunts me.

[Only] there's no one to mourn if I die,

There is no one to cover my frozen eyes…

With longing to leave this world without comprehending,

More terrible than waiting for the Judgment day”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

Rereading these heartbreaking lines, scratched with a needle on the walls of an aluminum pot in the 1930’s, we imagine the poet's fingers pricked in blood. Before us there is a picture of farewell to life when looking into the eyes of the cursed death. The desperate poet is more concerned that there will be no one to close his eyes after his death. Alone in this world and the main character of the poem “Hear what the dead man says” Omer effendi feels himself like a complete stranger in his own homeland. Wandering through the land of his ancestors in search of relatives, he meets people who are totally hostile to him:

“Eles oldu köze bina,

Sandım − murza sarayı.

Sürüp kelsem, ne baqayım –

İçinde qazaq alayı.

Düştüm düşman qapqanuna,

Qaldum, sandım qabaatke.

Quvdılar beni, dediler: “Poşol,

Tatarske lapatke!”^{[1, p. 2]}.

(“It seemed like a long way from home,

I thought it was a palace of nobles.

Barely got there, but what do I see –

The house is full of strangers.

I thought I was in a trap,

What to do, because it's my own fault.

They started chasing me with words:

Go away, Tatar shoulder bone!”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

In the Crimean Tatar text, the interspersed Russian speech in the form of a phrase such as “Go away, Tatar shoulder bone!” attracts a special attention. Exploring the history of the origin of this expression, one can go to the famous works by M. Gorky “The life of Matvey Kozhemyakin” , V. Shishkov's “Surly river” , P. Znamensky's “Kazan Tatars”. It becomes clear that the “Tatar shoulder bone” was primarily called forcibly baptized or colonized Tatars, Circassians and other peoples of Russia. It should be noted that A. Chergeev creates throughout his work a collection of types of tragic fates. For example, these are poems like “Közyaş-Han çeşmesi” (“Fountain of tears”), “Ömür – çıraq” (“Life candle), “Ömürnen küreş” (“Life is struggle”), “Taqdir” (“Destiny”) ^{[45; 48; 49]}.

The epilogues in the poems “Taqdir” and “Eşit, mevta ne sevleyur!”, to some extent, have some similarities: “Yol yanına kömüldi o. Aq türbesi şindi tura, / Kelen kitüb, baqup oña ete rahmet, qıla dua. / Azat olup uçan quşçuq, qonar başına türbe taşın. / Allah rahmet eylesin der, yırlap anda töker yaşın”. (“She is buried at the side of the road. There is a white tomb now, / Passing prayer read. / A bird freed [by her once] on a marble grave / Weeps, prays to God for forgiveness [of sins]. The “fate”) or “Örtüldi üstü topraqnen, / Kene bitti çöp-ölen. / Ufaq quşçuq yanına kelüp / Oldu onu tek kören; / Allah rahmet eylesin, dep / Dürbesinde bağırdı. / Kün doğğancıq baş ucunda / Faqırın ağladı!” (“The grave was covered with earth again, / Overgrown with grass and bushes. / A small bird / Was near him; / begged the Almighty for forgiveness / Until dawn, she wept for the poor man. – “Hear what the dead man says!”) ^{[1, p. 12; 49, p. 34]}.

In the next poem, which will be discussed, the central character is a Crimean Tatar girl named Esma. This is the daughter of a well-to-do peasant who, at the cost of her life, dared to resist national norms that degrade the human dignity of a Muslim woman.

As mentioned, the poem “Taqdir” was additionally subjected to author's revision and reissue in 1917. This was published in the printing house of the newspaper “Millet” (“Nation”) – the main printing body of the first Crimean Tatar Parliament. The whereabouts of the books is not known, but fragments of works can be found in the report of Abdulla Latif-zadeh, published in the journal “Oquv işleri” (“Business education”) in 1928 ^{[56, pp. 29–44]}.

The text of the poem “Taqdir” (“Fate”), considered in the works of Altanly and Z. Dzhavtobeli, apparently was taken from the poetic collection of young Crimean writers of the 1913 edition.

“Babañ seni nişanladı, muradı zengine vermek,

Şimdi para iş bitiren, itmez çare, qarğış-dilek.

Benim işim degil qızım, söyliysiñ sen yañlış bütün!..

Bunı söylep uy içinde, tarqadı qart, olup tütün.

Şaştı Esma, qaltıradı, qorqtı, yüzü ağardı,

Diküp qaldı közün kökke soñra: “Haq!”, dep ağladı.

İstemem, versin Haq belâsın, varmam ere, hiç zati!

Ey, ya Rabbim, al tez canım, itme halete tek müti…”^{[49, p. 32]}.

(“Your father decided to marry you to a rich man,

Now everything is decided by money, pleading will not help.

This isn't about me, you're wrong…

Having said this, the old man disappeared into the fog.

Esma turned pale in fright and lost her mind,

To the heavens, her eyes fixed, she pleaded in tears.

May God punish me, I will never marry him,

Rather take your soul, so that you don't cause trouble”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

The poet continues the story of the difficult emotional experiences of the daughter of a well-to-do peHasant. Being forcibly engaged to an old man, she is faced with a choice: to live in misery without love or to die by suicide. Esma has become a hostage to outdated traditions and risks committing an unforgivable sin. In the last lines of the second quatrain there are these words: “zati”, short for “zaten” (at all) and “itme halete tek müti” (literally: don't just leave me in a hopeless position). А. Altanly and Z. Dzhavtobeli the same row read as follows: “zaten” and “halqqa etme mütig sen” (literally: don't tie me to people). In the word “mutig”, the letter “g” probably arose from a misinterpretation of the Arabic letter “ain” as “gain”. This changes the sense and rhyme of the quatrains ^{[6, p. 128; 30, p. 69]}.

Being well aware of the spiritual and edifying significance of the poem, the poet discovers the inner image of Esma in her appeal, a plea to the Almighty. The young girl conjures God to quickly take her soul, otherwise she will take her own life. That quiet evening, neither her father nor her family heard the pleading and bitter crying outside the house. Only the agitated birds in the garden gave warning of the coming storm with their nocturnal cries. This psychologically tense situation is masterfully described even in the very beginning of the poem by means of figurative parallelism, that is, the fusion of nature and man.

“Yüksek saray töpesinden qara bulutlar gider tez-tez...

Söndi ateş, gece köyde, yuqlamaya yattı her kes.

Vurmaz aynıñ şevqı yere, vira bulutlar olur siya,

Bağçada quşlar bağrışırlar, fena havasını duya.

Bir ağaynıñ yurtu bu yer, onu sarğan bütün hisar.

Anda canlar azaplana, öler, doğar bayğuş qullar.

Yattı saray yuqlamaya, tındı davuş, ses ayağı,

Baynıñ qızı, Esma yalñız, onuñ çıqa tek yarığı" ^{[49, p. 31]}.

(“Black clouds glide over the high hall,

The lights went out, it was night in the village, everyone had fallen asleep long ago.

The moonlight is no longer visible, and the clouds are gathering.

In the garden, the birds are screaming, anticipating foul weather.

There is a gentleman who lives here, and the walls are high,

Here souls suffer, born unhappy and die.

The palace has fallen asleep, voices have died away, no more footsteps are heard,

Only the light in the window of Esma does not go out”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

Further, when considering the “Fate”, one should pay attention to other interesting semantic accents that help you see the most successful author's attempts to portray the historical image of a Muslim woman of the era. Mothers, sisters and daughters who have not had the right to speak for centuries, are weakly grumbling at fate. They do not dare to demand, only quietly with tears in their eyes beg for light in the darkness: “Etmez fayda altın-kümüş, bizge teren yarıq kerek!..” (“We do not need gold bracelets, we need a little light!”). In the not irreproachable transliteration of the text of the poem from Arabic graphics to Cyrillic made by Z. Dzhavtobeli, A. Altanly we notice a slightly different semantic shade: “Etmez fayda altın-kümüş, bizge teren yarıq kerek!..” (“No need for gold bracelets, we need bright light!”). In a similar way, we see a type of domineering, rather than the author's intended image of a diffident, under-privileged woman ^{[6, p. 128; 30, p. 68]}.

“Esir kibi qullanırlar, kimisi söyler: “Sus kade!”,

Kimisi tışta ne yapsa da, körsetir evde soy zade.

Bu cahillik belâsıdır, olmaq kerek biz ziyade

Sanki ğarip qısqayaqlı millet yaşı bu dünyade.

Añlamazlar, nafle sözler... Çapalanma ğarip yürek,

Etmez fayda altın-kümüş, bizge tiyaran yarıq kerek!..

Açıl, hisar, ögümden tez!.. Yere batsun aq taşları!..

Bizge bunu yapan taqdir... Belâsın versin közyaşları!”^{[49, с. 32]}.

(“They treat us like slaves, saying “Keep your mouth shut, sister!” ,

Lustful and sinful in the people, at home-arrogant beyond measure.

Ignorance is our problem, we should all unite,

Were women born to suffer in this world?

They will not hear, words are in vain... my heart hurts in my chest,

We don't need gold bracelets, just a little light!

Dismantle the high fortress before me quickly, people,

What fate does to us ... we swear tears until dawn”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

The growing emotional background of the poem is supported by an adjacent rhyme. This type of rhyme gives the text mobility, brings it closer to a live spoken speech. This is especially felt in poems for children: “What do animals say?”, “The fox and the hare”, “The fox and the peasant”. If we combine the divided lines of the poem “Hear what the dead man says!”, we get a similar scheme of paired rhyme: aabb. The everyday situation and ease of dialogue with the word-painter is also achieved by inversions. It is curious to observe the evolution of Hasan Chergeev's judgements. If you compare the versions of the poem published during the author's lifetime, you can see how he selects interesting, effective forms of highlighting the spiritual side of the character.

In the expanded edition of the poem “Taqdir” published in 1917, Esma expresses feelings and thoughts more specifically.

“Kimi sifilis – çürme hasta:

Ketirirler bize elden.

Mezar körmey darqar vira

Künden künge sağlam beden”.

(“Syphilis – the disease of rottenness

They infect us, but there is no mercy for us.

Even before death day in day out,

Living bodies turn into shadows”).

****

“Açıl divar ögümden tez,

Batsın aq taşları!

Zülum vergen taqdiriniñ

Virsin belâ(sın) köz yaşları!”^{[56, с. 42]}.

(“Open the walls, quickly

Disappeared in the darkness of the white blocks!

Tears curse the spilled ones

The fate that gave birth to violence!”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

Complementing the psychological portrait of Esma, the poet highlights the dark side of life in Crimea. He analyzes the causes of the cultural crisis and ways out of it. This period is also notable for the active feminist movement of Crimean Muslim women in 1917, who fought for the realization of their religious, political, and social rights. Within the framework of organized women's committees, various creative circles, courses in needlework and sewing, and reading rooms functioned. Delegates of women's committees took part in congresses dedicated to socio-political and economic issues in Crimea and beyond. The brightest representatives of the movement were Sh. Gasprinskaya, I. Tokhtarova, D. Bulgakova, A. Bodaninskaya, A. Iskhakova, A. Kurtiyeva, H. Avdzhy etc. Among them were those who took part in the first Crimean Tatar Parliament ^[22].

In the following passage, the poet warns women against the influence of foreign fashion, which may be detrimental to the nation in terms of losing their native language.

"Çıqsan eger sen yarıqqa

Ondan da ömür çoq beter,

Avrupanıñ tış modası

Qızçığım, başına yeter:

Pek çoqsu ana dilin

Yoq itmege çalışa

Cahilliginen çıqmış yoldan

Bir birinen talaşa”^{[56, p. 42]}.

(“If you suddenly go out into the world

A worse life awaits you,

External fashion in Europe

Can ruin, daughter:

Most of all they try

Destroy your native language.

Ignorance has led them astray,

They live in war with each other”) /Loose translation. – T.K./.

Conclusion

Interweaving lyrics and journalism in the poetry of Hasan Chergeev is intended to provide a deep impression on the reader. The recipient becomes a witness to the drama of life. In fact, the tragic fate of a poor girl in the writing reveals the problems of the whole society. Gender inequality, domestic tyranny, cultural appropriation, and lack of education have become threats to the nation's life. The poet not accidentally mentions the destruction of the native language. As far as the language of the Crimean people was unprotected in the context of globalized society and ethnic inequality. The overlapping motifs of death, vision, fog, and sleep in the poems “Fate” and “Hear what the dead man says!” tell of the poet's continuous search for the meaning of life in the mortal and sepulchral world. A strong desire to master the sacred knowledge is also expressed in the oeuvre of like-minded poets. For example, the semantic core of the poem by N. Chelebidzhihan “I swore» is the line: “I vowed, pledged my word to die, to experience / the pain and suffering of my people” (“Ant etkenmen, söz bergenmen bilmek içün ölmege, / Bilüp körüp milletimniñ köz yaşını silmege”) ^{[22, p. 167]}. Literary works of Chergeev one can evaluate as a great intellectual labor. The selection and various ways of representing the material of life turn the poet's writings into living canvases. They show the depth of emotional experiences of the characters, reveal the depth of the national language, demonstrate the energy and power of the pen.

Unexplored remains the journalistic activity of H. Chergeev. Researchers will have to work on identifying and studying lost manuscript materials, as well as literary and publicistic works published in the pre-war Crimean Tatar press. It is important to take into account the fact that the writer used pseudonyms. In this case, it will be necessary to resort to the consideration of textual and stylistic features of texts.