7
The elegy for Alp Er To‘nga
Textbook: Part 1, pp. 61–62
GoalExplain the content of the “Elegy for Alp Er To‘nga” and the way grief is expressed in it.
New words
elegy, a lyric poem of mourning · marsiyahero · qahramontrap, snare · tuzoqgrief, sorrow · g‘am-qayg‘u
Explanation
The elegy expresses deep grief after the death of Alp Er To‘nga and is built of four-line stanzas. In the first stanza the speaker asks whether the hero has died and whether the world has been left alone, and he pictures time as a force that has taken its revenge. The next stanzas say that time weakens people, the learned are crushed and good manners decline. The begs arrive with exhausted horses and faces faded by grief to mourn, while the people howl like wolves and weep, tearing their collars. In later stanzas the lyric hero says that sorrow has burned his heart, so personal and national mourning merge.
Worked examples
Example: Saying the begs wore out their horses shows they came a long way without rest to mourn; this expresses inner grief through an outward sign.
Example: People howling like wolves and tearing their collars shows how heavy the loss is and how much the people loved the hero.
Class activity
Give the stanzas of the elegy short headings by content: write three or four headings in the order of the stanzas.
Practice
1
What is the elegy dedicated to?
To the death of Alp Er To‘nga and the general grief that followed.
2
By which outward signs is the grief of the begs and the people shown?
The begs’ horses are worn out and their faces yellow; the people howl like wolves and weep, tearing their collars.
3
What meaning does the phrase that time took its revenge give in the elegy?
Time, that is fate, is shown as a merciless force that took away a matchless hero.
4
Why does the poet also mention that the learned are crushed and good manners weaken?
Because he wants to show that the hero’s death means the loss not of one person only but of order and goodness in the whole society.