| Orhan Veli's first entry into the literary world came through formal lyrics which were published under the pseudonym Mehmet Ali Sel in the influential literary magazine Varlik. Most of these early poems show an impressive mastery of classical forms and meters. The lyrics in trict stanzaic forms and syllabic meters followed conventional patterns. Some of them are interesting for their preoccupation with Greek or Western literary themes as evidenced by such titles as "Oaristys" "Eldorado" "Ave Maria" "Lied" "For Helene"etc. like most of the leading poets of the previous generation Orhan Veli's early work combines French influences with Turkish modes and forms. He even wrotelyrics in conventional meters for songs composed in traditional alla turca vein. Some of these early verses were praised by the pominent neo-classical poet Yahya Kemal Beyath for their excellence in prosody and structure. Not long after this, however, Orhan Veli abandoned traditional forms. He wrote later that it was only a year or two after he was twenty when he felt it was time to search for new horizons in poetry. Traditional verse was too turned in upon itself; it suffered from stereotyped words, idioms, and imagery. |