11
Poems by Rasul Hamzatov
Textbook: pp. 41–45
GoalUnderstand Hamzatov’s poems “Ona tilim” and “Kenja nevaram Shahrizodga”.
New words
mother tongue · ona tiligranddaughter or grandson · nevaraorphan · yetimanguish · iztirob
Explanation
In “Ona tilim” the lyrical hero sees himself in a dream lying lifeless among the mountains. Just then two people pass, chatting cheerfully in Avar, and the hero, hearing words in his mother tongue, comes back to life. The poet holds his mother tongue sacred: even if his language is not famous in the world, it is dear to him. In “Kenja nevaram Shahrizodga” a grandfather asks his crying granddaughter why she weeps. Orphaned young and having lost two brothers in the war, the grandfather recalls his own sorrows; in the child’s crying he senses that there are sorrows of tomorrow too.
Worked examples
Example: a single word in the mother tongue revives the “dead” hero, showing that language is medicine for the soul.
Example: the grandfather counts a peaceful sky as the child’s happiness, because he has seen war himself.
Class activity
Write the one word in your mother tongue dearest to you and say in a sentence why it is dear.
Practice
1
What brings the hero back to life in “Ona tilim”?
Hearing two people speaking in Avar.
2
How does the poet regard his mother tongue?
As sacred and great, even if it is not heard from the world’s platform.
3
What does the grandfather ask in “Kenja nevaram Shahrizodga”?
Why his granddaughter is crying.
4
Why does the grandfather speak of his own sorrows?
Being orphaned and losing his brothers in war hurt him, so he compares the child’s crying with it.