Meeting Benches World art in all forms
Nazim Hikmet, the beauty of everyday life between love, exile and nostalgia
Nâzım Hikmet was one of the greatest Turkish poets of the 20th century, known for his innovative style and political commitment. Born in Thessaloniki, then part of the Ottoman Empire, he came from an aristocratic family. From a young age, he showed extraordinary talent for poetry, introducing free verse into Turkish literature. A committed communist, Hikmet lived a life marked by exile and imprisonment due to his political ideas. He studied in Moscow, where he came into contact with Marxist thought and the great Russian poets. Upon returning to Turkey, he was persecuted for his views and spent many years in prison. In 1951, deprived of his Turkish citizenship, he moved permanently to the Soviet Union. His works, including The Most Beautiful of Seas and Letters from Prison, are characterized by deep human sensitivity, a strong sense of justice, and an optimistic vision of life. He passed away in Moscow in 1963.
“The Most Beautiful of Seas” is one of the most famous and moving poems by Nâzım Hikmet, a Turkish poet who made freedom, hope, and love for humanity the pillars of his work. In just a few powerful lines, the poem encapsulates a profound vision of life and the value of every human experience, urging one to live fully, without regrets or illusions. The poem opens with a series of negations that, paradoxically, highlight the beauty of what is yet to come—what has not been lived or said. The “most beautiful of seas” is not the one already sailed, but the one still unexplored; the “most beautiful of children” is the one not yet born, and the “most beautiful of days” are those yet to arrive. This future-oriented perspective is not naive illusion but rather a declaration of faith in life’s inexhaustible potential: “The most beautiful of seas is the one we haven’t sailed. The most beautiful of our children has not yet grown up. The most beautiful of our days we have not yet lived. And the most beautiful thing I want to say to you, I haven’t said yet.”
Nâzım Hikmet invites us to reflect on true wealth, which does not lie in the past—no matter how glorious or meaningful—but in the ability to look ahead with hope and anticipation. The emotional and philosophical climax of the poem is reached with the negation of the already spoken word: “And the most beautiful of poems / is the one I haven’t told you yet.” Here, the poet not only reinforces the idea of inexhaustibility but intertwines it deeply with artistic expression and the intimacy of communication. The most authentic poetry, the one that resonates most powerfully, is the one that remains in the heart—a silent desire, a promise yet to be fulfilled. This does not diminish what has been said; rather, it elevates the power of the unspoken—the communicative and emotional potential that has yet to manifest. Hikmet’s style, as often happens, is direct, essential, and stripped of any superfluous rhetoric: “Life is no joke. Take it seriously, like the squirrel does, for example, without expecting anything from the outside or the afterlife. You will have nothing else to do but live.”
Nâzım Hikmet‘s extraordinary ability to condense complex concepts into short, incisive phrases makes his poetry both accessible and deeply reflective. The anaphoric repetitions (“The most beautiful of seas is the one we haven’t sailed yet…”) amplify the message and create a compelling rhythm that captivates and engages the reader. Ultimately, The Most Beautiful of Seas is a true hymn to hope, a projection toward the future, and a belief in life’s infinite potential. Hikmet urges us not to settle for what we have already experienced but to keep alive our curiosity, our thirst for discovery, and the certainty that the best is yet to come. This poem conveys courage and instills a profound sense of gratitude for life itself—in its past, present, and, above all, future manifestations. It reminds us that the greatest beauty often lies in the unknown, waiting to be discovered and lived: “I love you as if I were eating bread sprinkled with salt, as if, rising in the night burning with fever, I were drinking water with my lips at the faucet.”
Alternative ways to capture and make Nâzım Hikmet poem’s core concept your own, applying it to your life? Value anticipation, whatever form it takes, because the most authentic beauty is not what has already been experienced, but what still awaits you—full of potential and promise. Appreciate the allure of the unknown, as what you have yet to discover, live, or say often holds more richness and meaning than what has already passed. Never forget—never, ever—those unspoken words, journeys not yet taken, and dreams still waiting to be realized carry an irreplaceable emotional power. The future is a vast, open horizon, built on hope and trust in tomorrow—the true sources of beauty and personal growth. And why not? Every moment yet to come carries the promise of evolution and discovery: “You are my slavery, you are my freedom, you are my flesh burning like the bare flesh of summer nights, you are my homeland.”
To conclude, here is one last short poem by Nâzım Hikmet, Goodbye brother sea: “And here we go as we came goodbye brother sea, I take with me a bit of your gravel a bit of your blue salt a bit of your infinity and a little of your light and your unhappiness. You were able to tell us many things about your destiny sea here we are with a bit more hope here we are with a bit more wisdom and we go as we came goodbye brother sea.” This poem expresses a deep bond with the sea, seen as a traveling companion and a reflection. If you want other poems by Hikmet, you can find them here. If you have never sailed, then you will never be able to say the most important goodbye of your life. So, let yourself go to the charm of the blue, even if only on a very modest sailing boat, a Flying Junior, and even if only acting as a bowman.
“The most beautiful sea is the one we have not yet sailed. The most beautiful of our children has not yet grown up. The most beautiful of our days we have not yet lived. And the most beautiful thing I would like to tell you, I have not yet said.” This is one of the most famous and touching poems by Nâzım Hikmet, a Turkish poet who made freedom, hope and love for humanity the pillars of his work. Drawing on his words, which contain a profound vision of life and urge us to live without regrets or illusions, Dastilige Nevante visually highlights the beauty of what is yet to come, of what has not been lived or said. This far-sighted perspective, enriched by the soundtrack “It Start Here” by FiftySounds, is for Nevante a declaration of faith in the inexhaustible potential of life. Type dastiligenevante.com for a comprehensive overview of his digital works.
