Nazım Hikmet Poems: Where to Start, From a Prison Cell to The Walnut Tree
Nazım Hikmet (1902–1963) wrote some of the best-known love poems in modern Turkish from a prison cell, and his best-loved poem about home from exile. Where he wrote them: born in Thessaloniki in 1902; in prison in Istanbul, Çankırı and Bursa from 1938; in exile from 1951; The Walnut Tree (Ceviz Ağacı) dated 1 July 1957 in Balçık, Bulgaria; died in Moscow on 3 June 1963. In 1938 two military courts sentenced him to 15 and then 20 more years for inciting cadets to revolt; the main evidence was that cadets read his poems. On Living (Yaşamaya Dair, 1947–48) opens with “Yaşamak şakaya gelmez”: living is no joke. A hunger strike and an amnesty freed him on 15 July 1950; on 17 June 1951 he left by motorboat, and Turkey gave back his citizenship in 2009, 46 years after his death. A myth: he did not write The Walnut Tree while hiding in Gülhane Park. Start with Seni Düşünmek (Thinking of You), Yaşamaya Dair (On Living) and Ceviz Ağacı (The Walnut Tree); in English, read Poems of Nazim Hikmet, translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk (Persea Books). Checked 10 October 2026.
In this video
Video transcript
Nazım Hikmet poems: where to start. He wrote some of the best-known Turkish love poems in prison, and his best-loved poem about home in exile. Where he wrote them: born in Thessaloniki in 1902, in prison from 1938, in exile from 1951, The Walnut Tree in Balçık in 1957, died in Moscow in 1963. In 1938 two military courts gave him 15 and then 20 more years for inciting cadets to revolt. The main evidence: cadets read his poems. Yaşamak şakaya gelmez: living is no joke. On Living, from Bursa prison in 1947–48: life is serious, even in prison. Freed by an amnesty in 1950, he left by motorboat on 17 June 1951. Turkey gave back his citizenship in 2009, 46 years after his death. A myth: that he wrote The Walnut Tree while hiding in Gülhane Park. In fact it is dated 1 July 1957, in Balçık, Bulgaria. Ben bir ceviz ağacıyım Gülhane Parkı’nda: I am a walnut tree in Gülhane Park. Written on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, facing home. Start with three: Seni Düşünmek, Yaşamaya Dair and Ceviz Ağacı. In English, read Poems of Nazim Hikmet, translated by Randy Blasing and Mutlu Konuk. Eight of the poems in full, in Turkish with our English line by line, are in the full guide on turkpidya.com.
