Shavkat Rahmon: life and poems

Shavkat Rahmon was born on 12 September 1950 in the city of Osh. His parents were trade workers bringing food to herders on the mountain pastures, so as the eldest child the housework fell to Shavkat; at thirteen he worked in a brick factory and later built a two-room house himself. He finished school with top marks and applied to Tashkent University two years running but did not get enough points. He worked in Osh as a typesetter and proofreader on the newspaper, guided by the poet Tursunboy Adashboyev. He translated his poems into Russian himself and sent them to a creative contest of the Gorky Literary Institute in Moscow, passed, and studied there alongside Halima Xudoyberdiyeva, Murod Muhammad Do‘st and others. He published “Rangin lahzalar” (1978), “Yurak qirralari”, “Ochiq kunlar”, “Gullayotgan tosh”, “Uyg‘oq tog‘lar” and “Hulvo”. He translated the poems of the Spanish poet Lorca first from Russian, then, after learning Spanish, directly from Spanish into Uzbek. He died of a long serious illness on 2 October 1996; his book “Saylanma” was printed in 1997. In “Tong ochar ko‘zlarin...” the morning scene reveals a human condition: the ant is the emblem of a person who only works and does not see beauty. In “Turkiylar” the poet writes with bitter pain that Turkic peoples have lost their courage and unity. In “Jangda o‘lgan emas biror bahodir” heroes are said to have perished not in battle but through betrayal. In “Baxt so‘zi” the poet wants to say “I am happy” only after his people.