Necmettin Halil Onan, 'To A Traveller'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

To a Traveller

Stop wayfarer ! Unbeknownst to you this ground
You come and tread on, is where an epoch lies;
Bend down and lend your ear, for this silent mound
Is the place where the heart of a nation sighs

To the left of this deserted shadeless lane
The Anatolian slope now observe you well;
For liberty and honor, it is, in pain,
Where wounded Mehmet* laid down his and fell

This very mound, when violently shook the land,
When the last bit of earth passed from hand to hand,
And when Mehmet drowned the enemy in flood,
Is the spot where he added his own pure blood.

Think, the consecrated blood and flesh and bone
That make up this mould, is where a whole nation,
After a harsh and pitiless war, alone,
Tasted the joy of freedom with elation.

by Necmettin Halil Onan
Translated by Tanwir Wasti


*Mehmet is the common name given to Turkish Soldier.

"If you enter the Strait of Dardanelles from Aegean Sea you will see on the right the Hills of Canakkale and on the left the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the Hills of Canakkale you will notice a warning in capital letters colored with white chalk " Halt Traveller!" This warns all people who desires to enter the Dardanelles without permission. In March 18th 1915 British and French tried to enter the Dardanelles without permission and paid their desire with blood and heavy losses."