Taniel Varoujan

Quite ironic that a week after I post Vahan Tekeyan's poem a great tragedy happens in Instanbul with the death of Hrant Dink. It would have been fitting to post the poem after his death, since it speaks on the effects of genocide on the Armenian psyche.

Nonetheless, I have another poem that may apply to the situation. It is titled argaydz jrac (chrag), which means A Flickery Lamp. The poem is written through the eyes of a father whose son is about to arrive victorious from battle and subsequently marry his love. The father constantly tells his son's future bride to light the lamp, yet he ultimately realizes that his son isn't arriving victorius, yet fatally wounded. The last remark poignantly captures the sudden grief experienced by the father. This grief was experienced by me when I found out about Hrant Dink's death, and I'm sure the same can be said about Armenians all over the world.

ԱՌԿԱՅԾ ՃՐԱԳ

Յաղթանակի գիշերն է այս տօնական.-

Հա՛րս, եղ լեցուր ճըրագին:

Պիտի դառնայ կռիւէն տըղաս յաղթական.-

Հա՛րս, քիթը ա՛ռ պատրոյգին:

Սայլ մը կեցաւ դըրան առջեւ, հորին քով.-

Հա՛րս, վառէ՛ լոյսը ճրագին:

Տըղաս կու գայ ճակատն հըպարտ դափնիով.-

Հա՛րս, բե՛ր ճըրագը շեմին:

Բայց… սայլին վրայ արի՞ւն եւ սո՞ւգ բեռցեր են…

Հա՛րս ճրագդ ասդի՛ն երկարէ:

Հերոս տըղաս հոն զարնուա՜ծ է սըրտէն.-

Ա՜խ հարս, ճըրագըդ մարէ՜…

An english translation can be found here http://www.geocities.com/hjanoyan/poets/varoujan.html
Credit to Daniel Janoyan for the translation, his website is a gold mine of Armenian poems translated to english.

Vahan Tekeyan-Armenian Poet

I've recently begun reading Armenian poetry with the help of Dr. Kevork Bardakjian's Reference Guide to Modern Armenian Literature. We have a mini library of Armenian books and poems in our house that my grandfather brought over from Beirut and I was perusing through them and I found an old piece by Vahan Tekeyan called Hayerkoutyoon (or Hayergoutyoon) which translates to Ode to Armenia. It was published in Cairo in 1943 and is a collection of his works gathered up from newspapers. After reading through a couple of poems, I looked up Tekeyan in Dr. Bardakjian's book and read up on him, and immediately I had an affinity for the poet's works.

Tekeyan was born in Istanbul, but unlike his contemporaries Taniel Varoujan and Siamanto who were assasinated on April 24, 1915, Tekeyan was in Jerusalem teaching and therefore escaped death. He lucked out, and this realization is seen throughout his poetry and complements his lamentations for the death of his people.

Perhaps Tekeyan's character and poetry can be best described by Dr. Bardakjian,

"Tekeyan's poetry was on the whole cerebral, austere yet poignant, subtle and elegiac, distressful yet lyrical and dignified. There was something of the stoic in him; personal love remained elusive, and only dreams and hopeful anticipation of reciprocal affection periodically illuminated his otherwise sad life."

Here is one piece by Tekeyan entitled Piti esenk Astutzoh (We shall say to God). Here Tekeyan grieves over the death of his people by rhetorically asking God if he will once again allow the Armenians to enter hell (the first time being the Genocide).

Պիտի Ըսենք Աստուծոյ

Թէ պատահի որ այսօր անհաւասար այս կռուին

Չըկարենանք դիմանալ և ուժասպառ, ոգեվար

Գետին ինկած՝ չըկրնա՜նք ոտքի ելլել վերըստին

Ու յաղթէ՛ մահը կեանքի ոգորումին մեր երկար

Թէ լըրրանա՜յ այս ոՃիրն ու վերջին հայը փակէ

Վըրիժավառ իր աջքերն՝ որն յաղթութեան չողջունած...,

Ահ, թո՛ղ այժմեն երդուըննայ իւրաքանչիւրը մենէ՝

Որ հանդերձեալ կեանքին մէջ երբոր գտնենք մենք զԱստուած

Ու երբոր Ան՝ երկրային մեր մեծ ցաւին փոխարէն,

Ուզէ ըզմեզ ըսփոփել, վարձահատո՜յց մեզ ըլլալ...

Իր այդ շնորհն ապաժամ մենք մերժելով ուժգնօրէն՝

Պիտի ըսենք. - «Մեզ դըժոխք, դըժո՜խք ղրկէ՛ անգամ մ'ալ.

ՉԷ՞ որ զայն լաւ կը ճանչնանք, զայն ճանչցուիր մե՜զ շատ լաւ,

Եւ Թուրքերուն յատկացո՛ւր արքայութիւնըդ ամբաւ...:»

Alpha Epsilon Omega Scholarship Fund

Well it feels good to be back and blogging, especially after the fact that our little en devour was noted in the AGBU Magazine.

Although there are some interesting things happening around the world today, I will not talk about them. As the title of this thread is pretty much self explanatory, you probably already guessed what I am going to talk about today; yes ladies and gents it's our very own Scholarship Fund .

The idea was brought up in one of our chapter meetings by our fellow brother Edgar K., and we all liked it; in fact we liked it so much that we decided to offer a scholarship to our studious and socially aware Armenian males who are graduating from high school this year. Of course to make sure that the awarded amount goes towards purchasing books and university units and not rims and cigarettes the student has to show not only a proof of his acceptance to one of the six eligible universities, but also a proof of attendance. Only after that he will get the scholarship award ($500).

Since this is the first time that our organization is doing such a thing, we decided to keep the award amount relatively small. If it turns out to be a "great success" (I had to quote Borat somewhere), we will do this again next year and most probably offer a higher award.

So if you or anybody else that you know, are an Armenian male, graduating from a high school, with an 100% intent of studying in either CSUN, UCLA, Cal State LA, UC Irvine, Cal Poly Pomona, or UC San Diego, please do not hesitate for a second and grab the application form from AEOSF.ALPHAEPSILONOMEGA.ORG, complete it by following the instructions, and send it to the address provided in the application by March 13, 2007.

Armenian Independence as seen through the eyes of Sport

I came across an article by chance yesterday on armenianow about the decline in Armenian athletic performance at the Olympics since independence, the article can be found here:

http://www.armenianow.com/?action=viewArticle&AID=1910&IID=1111&lng=eng


To summarize, Armenia has been quite a source for gold medalists during its tenure in the Soviet Union, but ever since independence the infrastruce and resources necessary to train athletes have disappeared. Dodi Gago, the current chair of the Armenian olympic committee, is promising a return to excellence, but mainly by attracting foreign athletes to compete for Armenia for cash incentives (he is also building up resources as well).

I couldn't help but see this as a microcosm of Armenian independence. Although independence is what we all dreamed of, some of the vital tools for success and sustenance blew away with the collapse of the Soviet Union. It just reminds me that it's always easy to point out the negative influence of communism, only to forget the most apparent benefits that existed back thenn.