Light Millennium Presented...
For Media Release>

"YUNUS EMRE: TURKISH MEDIEVAL HUMANIST MYSTIC"

A Poetic Presentation by: Prof. Talat Halman,
The very first Cultural Ministery of Turkey
&
Defne Halman, Actress
Live music by: Jeff Peretz, Udo
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005
Time: 7:30 PM.
@Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey
Organized by: The Light Millennium & Stevens Institute of Technology
Co-producers: Bircan Ünver & Prof. Edward Foster

T. H.
GO AND LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL LOVERS:
I AM THE MAN WHO GAVE HIS HEART TO LOVE.
I TURN INTO A WILD DUCK OF PASSION,
I AM THE ONE WHO TAKES THE SWIFTEST DIVE.

FROM THE WAVES OF THE SEA I TAKE WATER
AND OFFER IT ALL THE WAY TO THE SKIES.
IN ADORATION, LIKE A CLOUD, I SOAR...
I AM THE ONE WHO FLIES TO HEAVENS ABOVE.

D. H.
THIS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN IS FROM A RHAPSODICAL POEM BY YUNUS EMRE THE GREAT TURKISH ANATOLIAN MYSTIC POET WHO LIVED IN THE LATE 13TH AND EARLY 14TH CENTURY.

YUNUS EMRE WAS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT LITERARY FIGURE OF TURKISH ANATOLIA TO ASSIMILATE THE TEACHINGS OF ISLAM AND TO FORGE A SYNTHESIS OF ISLAM’S PRIMARY VALUES AND MYSTIC FOLK POETRY. HIS VERSE STRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HUMAN WORTH AND VIEWED ISLAM NOT IN TERMS OF RIGID FORMULAS BUT IN TERMS OF FREEDOM OF THE CONSCIENCE AND FUNDAMENTAL ETHOS.

T. H.
AFTER SEVERAL CENTURIES OF TURMOIL IN ANATOLIA, WITH THE RAVAGES OF THE CRUSADES, THE BYZANTINE-SELÇUK WARS, THE MONGOL INVASIONS, STRIFE AMONG VARIOUS ANATOLIAN STATES AND PRINCIPALITIES, AND FREQUENT SECESSIONIST UPRISINGS STILL VISIBLE OR CONTINUING3Ú4THERE WAS A CRAVING FOR PEACE BASED ON AN APPRECIATION OF INHERENT WORTH OF THE HUMAN BEING. MYSTICISM, WHICH ATTRIBUTES GOD-LIKE QUALITIES TO MAN, BECAME THE APOSTLE OF PEACE AND THE CHIEF DEFENDER OF HUMAN VALUES. WHILE THE "GHAZI" (WARRIOR, CONQUERING HERO) SPIRIT STILL SERVED AS THE PRIMARY IMPETUS TO TURKISH CONQUESTS, THE INTELLECTUAL TRADITION OF MYSTICISM, WITH ITS CENTRAL CONCERN FOR DIGNITY AND WORTH, FORMED AN ANTITHETICAL, IF NOT ANTAGONISTIC, ALTERNATIVE TO WARFARE AND TO INTER-RELIGIOUS STRIFE AS WELL AS INTRA-RELIGIOUS SECTARIANISM.

D. H.        
THE TURKISH MYSTICS ARTICULATED THE IDEA THAT ONLY ONE ACCEPTABLE STRUGGLE MAY BE UNDERTAKEN: AGAINST THE - INTERNAL ENEMY- WHICH IS SELFISHNESS, VANITY, AMBITION, AND FAITHLESSNESS. THEY DENOUNCED WAR AND DISCORD AS MORALLY INDEFENSIBLE AND ETHICALLY WRONG.

T. H.
HUMANISM IS A SYSTEM OF THOUGHT WHICH EXALTS THE HUMAN BEING IN HIS / HER RELATIONS WITH GOD, NATURE, AND SOCIETY. THE HUMANIST ACCEPTS HUMAN AS THE CRITERION OF CREATION, BUT THE DOGMA OF MANY MAJOR RELIGIONS, INCLUDING ISLAM, SUPPORTS THE CONCEPT THAT HIS / HER EXISTENCE ON EARTH IS DEVOID OF SIGNIFICANCE OR VALUE. AS ELSEWHERE, MYSTICISM AND HUMANISM IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD EMERGED AS THE DIALECTICAL ANTITHESIS TO THIS THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION AND TO RELIGIOUS FORMALISM. YUNUS EMRE THE FIRST GREAT TURKISH HUMANIST, STOOD SQUARELY AGAINST MOSLEM DOGMATISTS IN EXPRESSING THE PRIMARY IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN EXISTENCE.

D. H.
I SEE MY MOON RIGHT HERE ON EARTH,
WHAT WOULD I DO WITH ALL THE SKIES?
RAINS OF MERCY POUR DOWN ON ME
FROM THIS GROUND WHERE I FIX MY GAZE.

T. H.
THIS NOT A REPUDIATION OF A TRANSCENDENT GOD. RATHER, IT IS THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OR HUMANIZATION OF GOD. THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT IN YUNUS EMRE'S DAY, LIKE THE TRANSCENDENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH, WAS PREACHING SCORN FOR THE HUMAN BEING, PROPAGATING A SENSE OF THE FILTH AND THE FUTILITY OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. IN OPEN DEFIANCE OF THIS TEACHING OF "CONTEMPUS MUNDI," YUNUS EMRE SPOKE OUT FOR "DIGNITAS HOMINIS" AND PUT FORTH AN IMAGE OF THE HUMAN BEING NOT AS AN OUTCAST, BUT AS AN EXTENTION OF GOD'S REALITY AND LOVE:

    WE LOVE THE CREATED
    FOR THE CREATOR'S SAKE.

D. H.      
IN YUNUS EMRE'S VISION THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THE ABYSMAL FALLACY WHICH SEGREGATES GOD AND MAN. HIS PHILOSOPHY IS AKIN TO SOCRATIC HUMANISM WHICH SUPPOSES THAT TRUTH IS IMMANENT IN HUMAN SUBJECTIVITY AND THAT THE DIVINE IS IMBEDDED IN THE HUMAN/ A TRUE MYSTIC, HE WENT IN SEARCH OF GOD'S ESSENCE AND, AFTER SUSTAINED STRUGGLE AND ANGUISH, MADE HIS ULTIMATE DISCOVERY.

T. H.
DESIRING TO FIND THE LOVED ONE
IN THIS WORLD, NO MATTER HOW VAST,
OVER THE EARTH, HITHER AND YON,
THROUGH THE HEAVENS, I ROAMED AGHAST.

THE PROVIDENCE THAT CASTS THIS SPELL
AND SPEAKS SO MANY TONGUES TO TELL,
TRANSCENDS THE EARTH, HEAVEN AND HELL,
BUT IS CONTAINED IN THIS HEART'S CAST.

THIS YEARNING TORMENTED MY MIND:
I SEARCHED THE HEAVENS AND THE GROUND;
I LOOKED AND LOOKED, BUT FAILED TO FIND.
I FOUND HIM INSIDE MAN AT LAST.

D. H.
THIS FAITH IN THE PRIMACY OF MAN PROMPTED THE MYSTIC POET TO REMIND THE ORTHODOX:

      YOU BETTER SEEK GOD RIGHT IN YOUR OWN HEART;
      HE IS NEITHER IN THE HOLY LAND NOR IN MECCA.

SUFFUSED THROUGH THE VERSES OF YUNUS EMRE IS THE CONCEPT OF LOVE AS THE SUPREME ATTRIBUTE OF MAN AND GOD:

       WHEN LOVE ARRIVES, ALL NEEDS AND FLAWS ARE GONE.
.......HE GLORIFIED LOVE AS THE SOUL'S HIGHEST PRIDE AND JOY:

       CAN THERE BE ANYTHING BETTER THAN LOVE?

HE FOUND IN LOVE A SPIRITUAL FORCE WHICH TRANSCENDS THE NARROW CONFINES INTO WHICH HUMAN BEINGS ARE FORCED:

      THE MAN WHO FEELS THE MARVELS OF TRUE LOVE
      ABANDONS HIS RELIGIONS AND NATION.

T. H.
AS A PANTHEIST, YUNUS EMRE BELIEVED THAT GOD IS IMMANENT IN THE UNIVERSE. HE IS NOT INDEPENDENT OF, APART FROM OR ABOVE THE COSMOS, BUT INCLUSIVE OF IT AND IDENTICAL WITH IT. TO HIM, ALL MATTER IS IMBUED WITH SPIRIT OR CONSCIOUSNESS, AND ACQUIRES HIGHER VALUES ONLY THROUGH LOVE.

NATURALISTIC AND ECUMENICAL VISIONS FROM AN INTEGRAL PART OF YUNUS EMRE'S THEOLOGY:

   WITH THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS
... I CALL YOU OUT, MY GOD;
.. WITH THE BIRDS AS DAY BREAKS
... I CALL YOU OUT, MY GOD.

   WITH JESUS IS THE SKY,
...MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI,
...RAISING MY SCEPTRE HIGH,
...I CALL YOU OUT, MY GOD.

D. H.       
MANY OF YUNUS EMRE'S FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS ARE STEEPED IN THE SUFI TRADITION, PARTICULARLY AS SET FORTH BY THE 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC PHILOSOPHER AND POET RUMI, WHO LIVED IN ANATOLIA AND UTILIZED THE LEGACY OF PERSIA IN CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC TERMS. LIKE THE MEDIEVAL AUTHORS AND THINKERS OF EUROPE WHO SET ASIDE THEIR NATIONAL LANGUAGES IN FAVOR OF LATIN, RUMI CHOSE PERSIAN AS HIS VEHICLE OF EXPRESSION. BUT YUNUS EMRE, LIKE DANTE, PREFERRED THE VERNACULAR OF HIS OWN PEOPLE. BECAUSE HE SPOKE THEIR LANGUAGE AND GAVE THEM THE SENSE AND THE SUCCOR OF DIVINE LOVE IN SUCH LINES AS

   WHOEVER HAS ONE DROP OF LOVE
   POSSESSES GOD'S EXISTENCE.

HE BECAME A LEGENDARY FIGURE AND S FOLK SAINT. IN HIS LIFETIME, HE TRAVELED FAR AND WIDE AS A "DERVISH," NOT "COLONIZING" LIKE MANY OF HIS FELLOW DERVISHES, BUT SERVING THE FUNCTION OF PROPAGANDA FIDE THROUGH HIS POETRY. FOR SEVEN CENTURIES, HIS VERSES WERE MEMORIZED, RECITED, AND CELEBRATED IN THE HEARTLAND OF ANATOLIA. HIS FAME HAS BECOME SO WIDESPREAD THAT ABOUT A DOZEN TOWNS CLAIM TO HAVE HIS TOMB.

T. H.
IN 1957, WHEN A MODEST CEREMONY WAS PLANNED FOR THE OPENING OF A NEW MAUSOLEUM FOR YUNUS EMRE AT SARIKÖY, THIRTY THOUSAND PEOPLE CONVERGED THERE FROM NEARBY TOWNS AND VILLAGES. THEY CAME BY TRUCKS AND IN OX-CARTS; THEY CAME ON FOOT. AND THIRTY THOUSAND PEASANTS AND TOWNSFOLK PRAYED TOGETHER AND CHANTED A POEM BY YUNUS EMRE, PAYING TRIBUTE TO HIM WITH WHAT IS PERHAPS THE MOST WIDELY CELEBRATED HYMN OF MOSLEM TURKS:

    LISTEN TO THOSE RIVERS OF PARADISE
....FLOWING IN THE NAME OF GOD ALMIGHTY;
....THE NIGHTENGALES OF ISLAM HAVE COME OUT
....TO SING IN THE NAME OF GOD ALMIGHTY

IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY AND IN THE EARLY 20TH, THIS SAME HYMN USED TO BE SUNG BY CHILDREN IN ISTANBUL AND ELSEWHERE ON THEIR WAY TO OR BACK FROM SCHOOL OR JUST BEFORE CLASSES STARTED. SO, IN THE RURAL AS WELL AS IN THE URBAN AREAS, THE POETRY OF YUNUS EMRE REMAINS A VIABLE CULTURAL FORCE AND A CHERISHED AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE. IT WOULD PROBABLY BE CORRECT TO DESCRIBE YUNUS EMRE AS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOLK POET IN THE LITERATURE OF ISLAM. CERTAINLY, HE IS TURKEY'S GREATEST. WRITING AT THE OUTSET OF ANATOLIAN TURKISH FOLK POETRY, HE ACHIEVED THE CONSUMMATION OF THAT TRADITION. NO FOLK POET OF THE LATER CENTURIES HAS BEEN ABLE TO MATCH THAT ACHIEVEMENT, ALTHOUGH GENERATIONS OF MYSTIC AND FOLK POETS TOOK HIM AS THEIR PRINCIPAL STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE.

D. H.
A SIMPLE MAN "A PURE SOUL" IN THE STARK BEAUTY OF THE ANATOLIAN LANDSCAPE, CELEBRATING LOVE AND ITS TRIUMPHS:

WHEN LOVE ARRIVES, ALL NEEDS AND FLAWS ARE GONE.
I LOVE YOU BEYOND THE DEPTHS OF MY SOUL.
I WAS BORN WITH DIVINE LOVE.
DEATH IS FOR BEASTS, IT IS NOT THE LOVER'S DESTINY.
I LOVE YOU, SO THE HAND OF DEATH CAN NEVER TOUCH ME.

BUT LOVE CAN ALSO SPELL SUFFERING FOR THE MYSTIC:

ASKIN ALDI BENDEN BENI
BANA SENI GEREK SENI
BEN YANARIM DÜN Ü GÜNÜ
BANA SENI GEREK SENI

T. H.
YOUR LOVE HAS TAKEN ME AWAY FROM ME,
YOU'RE THE ONE I NEED, YOU'RE THE ONE I CRAVE.
DAY AND NIGHT I BURN, GRIPPED BY AGONY,
YOU'RE THE ONE I NEED, YOU'RE THE ONE I CRAVE.

D. H.
NE VARLIGA SEVINIRIM
NE YOKLUGA YERINIRIM
ASKIN ILE AVUNURUM
BANA SENI GEREK SENI...

T.H
I FIND NO GREAT JOY IN BEING ALIVE,
IF I CEASE TO EXIST, I WOULD NOT GRIEVE,
THE ONLY SOLACE I HAVE IS YOUR LOVE,
YOU'RE THE ONE I NEED, YOU'RE THE ONE I CRAVE

D. H.     
ASKIN ÂSIKLAR ÖLDÜRÜR
ASK DENIIZINE DALDIRIR
TECELLIS ILE DOLDURUR
BANA SENI GEREK SENI...

LOVERS YEARN FOR YOU, BUT YOUR LOVE SLAYS TEHM,
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA IT LAYS THEM,
IT HAS GOD'S IMAGES - IT DISPLAYS THEM;
YOU'RE THE ONE I NEED, YOU'RE THE ONE I CRAVE.

T. H.   
ASKIN SARABINDAN IÇEM
MECNUN OLUP DAGA DÜSEM
SENSIN DÜN Ü GÜN ENDISEM
BANA SENI GEREK SENI...

D. H.
LET ME DRINK THE WINE OF LOVE SIP BY SIP,
LIKE MECNUN, LIVE IN THE HILLS IN HARDSHIP,
DAY AND NIGHT, CARE FOR YOU HOLDS ME IN ITS GRIP,
YOU'RE THE ONE I NEED, YOU'RE THE ONE I CRAVE.

T. H.
EGER BENIÖLDÜRELER
KÜLÜM GÖGE SAVURALAR
TOPRAGIM ONDA ÇAGIRA
BANA SENI GEREK SENI...

D. H.
EVEN IF, AT THE END, THEY MAKE ME DIE
AND SCATTER MY ASHES UP TO THE SKY,
MY PIT WOULD BREAK INTO THIS OUTCRY:
YOU'RE THE ONE I NEED, YOU'RE THE ONE I CRAVE.

"YUNUS EMRE THE MYSTIC" IS MY NAME,
EACH PASSING DAY FANS AND ROUSES MY FLAME,
WHAT I DESIRE IN BOTH WORLDS IS THE SAME:
YOU'RE THE ONE I NEED, YOU'RE THE ONE I CRAVE.

D. H.
WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHICH ARTICULATES THE DRAMATIC CONTRAST OF LOVE AND HOSTILITY. WAR IS RENOUNCED AS THE IMMEDIATE EVIL AND THE ULTIMATE CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY. LOVE IS RECOGNIZED AS THE CELEBRATION OF LIFE. A MIGHTY SLOGAN OF THE 1960'S AND 1970'S WAS "MAKE LOVE / NOT WAR." MIRACULOUSLY, THIS FORCEFUL STATEMENT IS AN ECHO FROM SEVEN CENTURIES AGO, FORM YUNUS EMRE WHO EXPRESSES THE SAME IDEA IN A RHYMED COUPLET.
       I AM NOT HERE ON EARTH FOR STRIFE,
       LOVE IS THE MISSION OF MY LIFE.

T. H.   
YUNUS EMRE'S POEMS REVEL IN THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD. HE EXPRESSES THE TYPICAL HUMANISTIC JOY OF LIFE:

THIS WORLD IS A YOUNG BRIDE DRESSED IN BRIGHT RED AND GREEN;
LOOK ON AND ON, YOU CAN'T HAVE ENOUGH OF THAT BRIDE.

D. H.    
YUNUS REVELS IN THE WONDER OF LOVE

T. H.    
MY LORD GRANTED ME SUCH A HEART
AT ONCE, IT BEGAN TO ADORE...
NOW, ONE MOMENT IT BASKS IN JOY;
NEXT MOMENT ITS TEARS START TO POUR.

D. H.       
ONE MOMENT IT SEEMS LIKE A BIRD
IN THE DEAD OF WINTER, STRANDED.
NEXT MOMENT IT REVELS - GARDENS
AND ORCHARDS ARE BORN AT ITS CORE.

T. H.  
ONE MOMENT IT BECOMES TONGUE-TIED
AND LEAVES ALL THINGS UNCLARIFIED.
NEXT MOMENT, PEARLS SPILL FROM ITS MOUTH:
TO THOSE WHO SUFFER, IT GIVES CURE.

D. H.      
ONE MOMENT IT SOARS TO HEAVEN
IT DESCENDS INTO THE EARTH, THEN...
ONE MOMENT IT SEEMS LIKE A DROP,
THEN BECOMES THE OCEAN WHOSE WAVES ROAR.

T. H.       
YUNUS EMRE SPURNED BOOK LEARNING IF IT DID NOT HAVE HUMANISTIC RELEVANCE, BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN HUMAN GODLINESS:

IF YOU DON'T IDENTIFY MAN AS GOD,
ALL YOUR LEARNING IS OF NO USE AT ALL.

D. H.    
UNLIKE THE DOGMA, MYSTICISM HOLDS THAT THE HUMAN BEING IS NOT ONLY GOD'S CREATION BUT ALSO GOD'S REFLECTION. AS YUNUS EMRE STATED IT:

THE IMAGE OF THE GODHEAD IS A MIRROR;
THE MAN WHO LOOKS SEES HIS OWN FACE IN THERE.

MAN IS GOD'S IMAGE, AND YEARNS TO RETURN TO GOD'S REALITY FROM WHICH HE OR SHE, AS THE IMAGE, HAS TEMPORARILY FALLEN APART. THE AGONY OF THE MYSTIC IS SEPARATION FROM GOD.

T. H.
YUNUS ARTICULATES THE JOYS AND PAINS OF MYSTIC PASSION:

D. H. 
DEAR FRIENDS, LET ME PLUNGE IN THE SEA OF LOVE,
LET ME SINK INTO THAT SEA AND WALK ON.
LET BOTH WORLDS BECOME MY SPHERE WHERE I CAN
DELIGHT IN THE MYSTIC GLEE AND WALK ON.

LET ME BECOME THE NIGHTINGALE THAT SINGS
A SOUL FREED FROM THE DEAD BODY'S YEARNINGS;
LET ME BURRY MY HEAD IN MY TWO HANDS,
TAKE THE PATH TO UNITY AND WALK ON.

THANK HEAVEN, I SAW THE FRIEND'S LOVELY FACE
AND DRUNK THE WINE OF THE LOVER'S EMBRACE.
IT SEVERS ME FROM YOU IT'S A DISGRACE...
I'LL ABANDON THIS CITY AND WALK ON.

YUNUS DRIFTS IN THE THROES OF LOVE'S TORTURE;
OF ALL WOES, HIS IS THE WORST TO ENDURE.
FOR MY DISTRESS ONLY YOU HOLD THE CURE,
I'LL ASK FOR THAT REMEDY AND WALK ON.

T. H.       
HIS IS A SUBLIME LOVE WHICH REMAINS UNREQUITED UNTIL HE SUFFERS SO INTENSELY IN HIS SPIRITUAL EXILE THAT HE REACHES3Ú4FINALLY3Ú4A BLISSFUL STATE OF THE SUBMERGENCE IF HIS EGO. YUNUS EMRE'S POEMS VOICE THE ANGUISH:

ONE OF YUNUS EMRE'S MOST TOUCHING POEMS IS ABOUT THE PLIGHT

OF THE LOVER:

BEN YÜRÜRÜM YANA YANA
ASK BOYADI BENI KANA
NE ÂSIKEM NE DIVANE
GEL GÖR BENI ASK NEYLEDI.

D. H.
BURNING, BURNING, I DRIFT AND TREAD.
LOVE SPATTERED MY BODY WITH BLOOD.
I AM NOT IN MY SENSES NOR MAD,
COME, SEE WHAT LOVE HAS DONE TO ME

NOW AND THEN LIKE THE WINDS I BLOW,
NOW AND THEN LIKE THE ROADS I GO,
NOW AND THEN LIKE THE FLOODS I FLOW,
COME, SEE WHAT LOVE HAS DONE TO ME.

HOLD MY HAND, LIFT ME FROM THIS PLACE
OR TAKE ME INTO YOUR EMBRACE...
YOU MADE ME WEEP, MAKE ME REJOICE,
COME, SEE WHAT LOVE HAS DONE TO ME.   

LOVELORN, I TREAD; MADLY I SCREAM.
MY LOVED ONE IS MY ONLY DREAM;
I WAKE AND PLUNGE INTO DEEP GLOOM.
COME SEE WHAT LOVE HAS DONE TO ME. 

T. H.       
THE MYSTIC THINKS OF GOD AS "KEMAL-I MUTLAK" (ABSOLUTE PERFECTION) AND AS "CEMAL-I MUTLAK" (ABSOLUTE BEAUTY). THUS, FOR THE MYSTIC, SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENT GOES TOGETHER WITH AN AESTHETIC SENSE, AN INFATUATION WITH DIVINE AND EARTHLY BEAUTY. GOD HIMSELF IS CONCEIVED OF AS POSSESSING "AS¸K-I ZATI" (SELF LOVE) AND, IN TERMS OF ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF THE SUFI VIEW OF THE WORLD'S CREATION, GOD WAS INITIALLY MOTIVATED TO CREATE THE UNIVERSE AND THE HUMAN BEING AS A MIRROR IN WHICH HE/SHE COULD SEE THE IMAGES OF HIS OWN PERFECT BEAUTY. "GOD'S HUMAN REVELATION" AND "THE HUMAN BEING AS A TRUE REFLECTION OF GOD'S BEAUTIFUL IMAGES" ARE CURRENT THEMES IN YUNUS EMRE'S POEMS:

   HE IS GOD HIMSELF... HUMAN ARE HIS IMAGES.
   SEE FOR YOURSELF: GOD IS MAN, THAT IS WHAT HE IS.

D. H.   
WHO WAS YUNUS EMRE? THIS MAN WHO CALLED HIMSELF "YUNUS THE LOVER," "YUNUS THE DERVISH"? WAS HE A "PERFECT MAN"? WHAT MANNER OF MAN? WHAT WAS THE LIFE HE HELD?

ABOUT HIS LIFE WE KNOW PRECIOUS LITTLE. WHAT WE DO KNOW TENDS TO BE LEGEND RATHER THAN ASCERTAINABLE FACT. INTERNAL REFERENCES IN HIS POEMS CLARIFY VERY LITTLE IN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TERMS; BESIDES, SOME OF THEM ARE MISLEADING, SOME FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS. THEY ARE MOSTLY EXPRESSIONS OF MYSTICAL VIEWS OR POETIC DEPICTION OF PSYCHIC VICISSITUDES.

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