Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Divan poetry was a highly ritualized and symbolic art form. From the Persian poetry that largely inspired it, it inherited a wealth of symbols whose meanings and interrelationships--both of similitude (mr`t nZyr mura'at-i nazir / tnsb tenasub) and opposition (tDd tezad) were more or less prescribed. Divan poetry was composed through the constant juxtaposition of many such images within a strict metrical framework, thus allowing numerous potential meanings to emerge. The vast majority of Divan poetry was lyric in nature: either gazels (which make up the greatest part of the repertoire of the tradition), or kasides. There were, however, other common genres, most particularly the mesnevi, a kind of verse romance and thus a variety of narrative poetry; the two most notable examples of this form are the Leyli and Majnun of Fuzuli and the Husn u Ask of Seyh Galib.
What make up the largest portion of Divan poetry?
gazels (which make up the greatest part of the repertoire of the tradition), or kasides.
The vast majority of Divan poetry was lyric in nature: either gazels (which make up the greatest part of the repertoire of the tradition), or kasides. There were, however, other common genres, most particularly the mesnevi, a kind of verse romance and thus a variety of narrative poetry; the two most notable examples of this form are the Leyli and Majnun of Fuzuli and the Husn u Ask of Seyh Galib.
Divan poetry