Wooster is Haleb

Vahe H. Apelian

 

In a commentary about a segment of Antranig Zarougian’s book “ Yerazayin Haleb - Dreamy Allepo” I had translated and posted in Keghart.com, Viken L. Attarian from Canada noted the following: “Haleb is undoubtedly a milestone in the evolution of our Armenian Diasporan identity of the post-Genocide period.  I believe that it is there that the future community of Beirut was forged.  And from then on to the different realities of our existence in the West.  In the great migration of our people, Haleb was the first place of a Great Gathering after the initial murderous big bang of the Great Dispersion. The above applies to all aspects of community life, whether they be historical, cultural, political, artistic, literary, and so on.  This is not to minimize the roles of other places.  Far from it. But, if there are temporal and geographic points of reference around which our existence coalesced after 1915, Haleb was surely the first.”

By the same token, if there is a temporal and a geographical point of refence about which the Armenian American existence coalesces in the New World, that undoubtedly would be Worcester, MA, made famous by Dr. Hagop Martin Deranian’s book titled “Worcester is America". The book's title is an actual recorded quote. In fact, it was the author Deranian who told me that.  When an immigration officer on the Ellis Island welcomed an Armenian immigrant to America, the person’s response was, «No, no, Worcester is America». His remark came to define Worcester, MA as the epicenter of the Armenian immigration to the United States dating well before the genocide. 

St. Savior Armenian Apostolic Church

The oldest Armenian church in the Western Hemishpher is credited to be the Saint Savior (Sourp Prgitch) Armenian Apostolic Church in Worcester, MA. It was erected in 1891. In 1952 the church was moved to its present location on Salisbury Street. In 1898, Catholicos of Khrimian Hayrig established the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in America, which remained stationed in Worcester, MA for the next two decades or so, until it was moved to New York City.

The Armenian Church of the Martyrs

But the first Armenian church, as a body of believers, is credited to the Armenian Evangelical community in Worcester, MA. A plaque in the church noting the milestones of the church notes that “in 1881 – commenced with a prayer meeting at the Home of Mr. and Mrs. Hovhanes Yaziijian”. In 1892 the believers organized and established themselves as a Congregational Church. On December 1, 1901, they dedicated the sanctuary they built as The Armenian Church of the Martyrs in memory of the martyrs of the Hamidian massacre. In this very church the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America (AEUNA) was established in 1902, and the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA) was established in 1918. The church on Osmond Street, is the oldest Armenian church in the Western Hemisphere that is still in use.

Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church

The Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church affiliated with the Catholicosate of Cilicia was established in 1947 at its present location on Grove Street. 

The three churches are within a few miles to each other.

The following three books paint a captivating picture of the Worcester Armenian community. The first written is “Sacrifice and Redemption” by Marion Der Kazarian. The book is a personal memoir that was published in 1995. The author, nee Der Harootunian, was born on April 5, 1909 in Ashodavan, Armenia and came to America with her mother, brothers  and sisters in 1921 and “settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, the New World’s mecca for Armenian immigrants." 

“Worcester is America” by Dr. Hagop Martin Deranian was published in 1998. The commentaries of the book note that “it is richly detailed illustrated study of the early Armenian community in Worcester” and “a dramatic tale of ferocious conflicts and fierce loyalties, told with remarkable gentleness and candor.” 

“Armenians of Worcester” by Pamela E. Apkarian-Russel was published in 2000. It is about the Armenians who found refuge in Worcester, MA and became an integral part of Worcester culture and history.

The Worcester Armenian community is distinct and a unique community, where up to third generation Armenian Americans continue to perpetuate the legacy their forefathers entrusted to them and sustain the institutions of the community.

The other day, on the way to my dental appointment, a seven miles long stretch of a few interconnecting roads; it dawned on me that there are two farms with distinct Armenian names. They are the Davidian's Farm and the Berberia's Farm. They captured my attention, and I became reflective of the Worcester Armenian community. On that spur of the moment, the two farms made the history of the Armenian community in Worcester MA, more palpable to me. 

I thought of capturing a glimpse of the community in this blog.

 

 

Համազգային՝ Գերանն ու Շիւղը

Վանէ Յ. Աբէլեան

Այն տպաւորութեամբ կը մնամ որ Երեւանի մէջ տեղի ունեցած  Համացգայինի 9րդ պագաւորական ժողովը աւելի շատ կեդրոնացած եղած կը թուի ըլլալ Հայաստանի քաղաքական հարցերուն մեկնաբանութեամբ քան Համահայկական մշակույթային եւ կրթական հարցերուն, մանաւանդ երբ նկատի կ՚առնեմ  սփիւռքի կրթական եւ մշակոյթային տխուր վիճակը։ 

Ահաւասիկ այդ տխուր եւ տխրեցնող վիճակին ներկայխացուցիչներ, որոնք ներկայ եղած են համագումարին որպէս պատգանաւորներ կասեցնելու համար հայ մշակոյթին սանձարձակ վայրէջքը սփիւռքի մէջ, բայց եզրակացուցած են Հայաստանի կառաւարութեան ապազգայնական ըլլալը։ Տակաւին՝ երբ նկատի կ՚առնեմ որ Հայաստանի Հանրապետութեան կրթական նախարարը կամ Կրթական նախարարութիւնէն ներկայացուցիչներ չեն հրաւիրուած համագումարին զեկուցնելու համար Հայաստանի մէջ տիրող կրթական հարցերը՝ աւելիով կը կը հաւակնիմ հաստատել որ այս պատգաւորական համագումարը քաղաքական եղած է իր էութեամբը, քան մշակոյթային եւ կրթական։

Այլապէս ինչպէ՞ս նման եզրակացութեան մը կրնային հանգիլ  համագումարին պատգամաւորները որոնք իրենց խմբագրած յայտարարութեամբ կը յաւակնին հաստատել Հայաստանի «Օրուան իշխանութիւններու ապազգային քաղաքականութիւնը......եւ ազգային ռազմավարական նպատակներէն հրաժարումը»։ 

Զարմանալի եւ զարմացնող յայտարարութիւն մըն. է որ խմբագրած են Համազգայինի 9րդ Համագումարը պատգամաւորները որպէս հաստատում մը։

Զարմանալի եւ զարմացնող երբ նկատի կ՚առնեմ Արա Սանճեանին մատնանշումը որ կը պարզէ Սփիւռքի սիրտը ու հոգին հանդիսացող Լիբանահայութեան մշակութային տխուր չոր իրողութիւնը՝։ Կը մէջբերեմ՝ « Լիբանանի նոր խորհրդարանին մէջ հայ առաքելական եւ կաթողիկէ համայնքներուն յատկացուած վեց աթոռներուն տիրացած երեսփոխաններուն ներկայ փաղանգին մէջ միայն մէկը կայ, որ կրնայ հայերէն կարդալ ու գրել․․․ Մնացեալներէն երեքն ալ մի քանի նախադասութիւն կիսատ-պռատ հայերէն կրնան խօսիլ․․․Եթէ չեմ սխալիր, չորս տարի առաջ ընտրուած վեցեակին պարագային ալ համեմատութիւնը նոյնն էր... (Արդէն այդ վեցէն չորսը վերընտրուեցան։)»

Տակաւին չեմ ակնարկեր Սփիւռքի մեծամասնութեանը որոնք ոչ թէ միայն Հայերէն չեն կրնար կարդալ, այլ չեն կրնար խօսիլ եւ հասկնալ։ Բայց անբացատրելի մեծամտութեամբ մը՝ ջանք եւ ճիք չէ տարուած անոնցմէ ներկայացուցիչներ հրաւիրել Համայզգային պատգաւորական համագումարին որպէսզի պատգաւորական ժողովը արտայայտութիւնը ըլլայ սփիւռքի հայ կրթական եւ մշակոյթային իրողութեանը։

 Ահաւասին այսպէս՝ սփիւռքէն հայախօս ընտրեալներու ներկայացուցիչները Հայաստանի մէջ որպէս Համազայինի 9րդ Համագումարին պատգամաւորները՝ իրենք աջքին գերանը մէկդի ձգած, Հայաստանի իշխանութեան տարած կրթանպաստ աշխատաքները անգիտանալով անոր քաղաքականութիւնը «ապազգայնկական» ըլլալու վերագրումները ընելու իրաւասութիւնը տուած են իրենք իրենց՝։

Կրօնական ակնարկ չէ որ կ՚ընեմ, ոչ ալ բարոյախօսութեան, այլ պազապէս չոր իրողութեան զգաստութեան համար ընդհանրացած հրաւէր մըն է որ կը մէջբերեմ Սուրբ Գիրքէն։

՝« Մատթեոս 7:1-9 

«Մի՛ դատեք, որ չդատվեք. որովհետև ինչ դատաստանով որ դատեք, նրանով պիտի դատվեք, և ինչ չափով որ չափեք, նրանով էլ ձեզ կչափվի։ Եվ ինչո՞ւ եղբորդ աչքի միջի շյուղը տեսնում ես, իսկ քո աչքի միջի գերանը չես նկատում։ Կամ ինչպե՞ս ես եղբորդ ասում՝ "Թող շյուղն աչքիդ միջից հանեմ", երբ ահա քո աչքի մեջ գերան կա։ 

Կեղծավո՛ր, նախ քո աչքից գերա՛նը հանիր և այդ ժամանակ կտեսնես, թե ինչպե՛ս է եղբորդ աչքին շյուղը։»  

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

Aal Catalog - عالكتالوك

Vahe H. Apelian

 

One of my greatest regrets in life is that I did not learn Arabic well enough to converse fluently and to get to know the rich Arabic literature, even though I was born and raised in Lebanon. There are many reasons for it and the matter is a subject for study, however in hindsight it is now. I can, with some certainty, state that it was the result of a fundamental fraught of my Armenian schooling. But that is an altogether a different matter.

Having said or stated it, it was natural that we absorbed many local urban sayings and used them. Among them is Aal Catalog  عالكتالوك, which literary means, according to the catalog, where things are shaped and fabricated for you to choose. All you need to do is order from the catalog, like the many others who do the same.

 There may have been reason for the expression Aal Catalog – عالكتالوك because ordering something from a catalog was practically nonexistent then. Evan my pants and shirts, up to my college years were tailor made. I remember one day, my classmate Nerses Festekjian and I, presented ourselves to our pharmacy school class wearing the same kind of pants with a distinctive color, tailored the same way. Both of us had our pants tailored by the same Armenian tailor in Wadi Jamil, where ARF community center was also located. 

Aal Catalog  عالكتالوك, saying came to my mind yesterday. 

Let us admit that social media has become the dominant way of communication.  Way before the social media era, I remember one year I went around from store to store looking for a graduation card that had Rudyard Kipling’s famous “IF” poem to mail to a friend's son congratulant him upon his HS graduation. His mother later told me that her son kept the card on his study desk for a long time. It was not uncommon then to look for an appropriate card a person liked to send for special occasions, such as graduation, birth, death, personalize the card, sign it and mail it. Gifting, be it choosing a card, is as much fun and meaningful as it is receiving it.

During those years it was also a cherished tradition to place the new year’s cards we received around the Christmas tree or on the chimney, or anywhere else for display. That too, seems to have mostly gone into oblivion. 

The social media has spared, if not robed us from all that; from looking for a card, personalizing it, let alone mailing it. Gradually it has become more and more pervasive to congratulate, offer condolences through the social media. 

But yesterday, I was astounded to realize that nowadays a person does not even need to type “congratulations” or express sentimental thoughts for the occasion by typing on the keyboard. It’s all there for you with different "trimmings". All you to do is click your choice and your “heart felt” sentiment is sent away.

Should you have received a picture evoking sentiments of a bygone time. You have choices to click, such as:

         Or

Should you want to congratulate, you have the option of choosing from those already prepared and packaged for you.

A friend commented that “it’s like having a chewed food.” I say, it’s like  chewed food and regurgitated for other's use.

Another friend commented that she felt “bad for the new generation for their lives have become generic.”

Indeed, it is generic, prepared and packaged for our convenience with no "trademark". Sort of the "fast food" version of sentiments. In this new "brave" world, but in many ways impersonal world and yet connected world like never before, sentiments also appear to be packaged for the person much like an over the counter medication for quick fixes. Instead of being on a shelf, or displayed in a kiosk for your choosing, these are on your computer screen and a click away, à la Aal Catalog  عالكتالوك.

 

 

On May 26, 451

“In 451, the Armenians were the First Christians to Take up Arms in Defending their Right to Worship.”

By Antranig Chalabian, “Military History”, December 1996

 

“The Vardanian War, as it came to be called in Vardan’s honor, began on May 26, 451, but the Armenian church celebrates the event in February.”

The year 428 ad brought an end to Armenia’s Arsacid (Arshakuni) monarchy, which had ruled the country since 52 ad, when its founder, Trdat I, received his crown from the Roman emperor Nero. Most of Armenia then fell under the rule of the Persian Sassanids and was governed by marzbans (governors-general), appointed by the king of Persia. The marzban was invested with supreme power, including the power to impose death sentences, but could not interfere with the privileges of the Armenian nobility. Of the 35 successive marzbans who ruled during a 200-year period, six were Armenians.

In spite of the Arsacid monarchy’s demise, the Armenians preserved their cultural identity through the spiritual power of their Christian faith. King Trdat III (286¬336) had declared Christianity to be the state religion in 301 ad, thereby making Armenia the first officially Christian nation on earth. (The first Christian emperor of Rome, Constantine the Great, did not announce his conversion until 312.) Following the invention of the Armenian alphabet in 405, the Bible and works of the church fathers were translated into Armenian between 422 and 432, filling the soul of the nation with a fervent Christian zeal.

During the marzbanic period, the Persians launched a series of intermittent persecutions against the Christian Armenians. In particular, King Yazdegird II (438¬457), wanted to pressure the Armenians to accept Zoroastrianism, which included the worship of the supreme god Ahura Mazda. By doing so, he hoped to prevent any future alliance based on religion between the Armenians and Persia’s archenemy, the Eastern Roman Empire.

Yazdegird called the Armenian nobles to his court at Ctesiphon. Mihr-Nerseh, the grand vizier, promulgated an edict enjoining the Armenians to give up "the erroneous and foolish ways of the Romans, thus depriving themselves of the benefits of the Persian perfect religion."

After returning to their country in 449, the Armenians held a general assembly in Artashat to ponder an answer to the edict. Catholicos Hovsep presided over the meeting. It was attended by 17 bishops, 18 major nakharars (feudal lords), many noblemen and prominent priests, whose spokesman was the Erets (priest) Ghevond.

The Armenians’ reply to Mihr-Nerseh concluded with the following words: "From this belief [Christianity] no one can move us; neither fire, nor sword, nor water, nor any other horrid tortures. All our goods and our possessions are in your hands, our bodies are before you; dispose of them as you will.

"If you leave us to our belief, we will here on earth choose no other lord in your place, and in heaven choose no other God in place of Jesus Christ, for there is no other God but him."

When the Persian king was informed of their rejection, he flew into a rage and sent an order for the chief dignitaries of Armenia to appear before him in Ctesiphon. Fifteen came, headed by Vassak Siuni and Vardan Mamikonian. Before receiving them in audience, Yazdegird had sworn "by the Sun God, that if tomorrow morning, at the rise of the magnificent one [the sun], the nobles would not kneel before it with him, and acknowledge it as god, they would be imprisoned and chained, their wives and children exiled into distant lands, and the imperial troops and herds of elephants would be sent to Armenia to demolish their churches."

The dignitaries opted to make a pretense of yielding, for the sake of their homes and families. Yazdegird, in great joy, heaped honors and gifts upon them and sent them off to Armenia accompanied by 700 Magi, to convert the entire country to Zoroastrianism, or Mazdaism.

Scarcely had the strange cavalcade crossed the frontier, 420 miles east of Dvin, when a horde of Armenian peasants, armed with clubs and slings and led by the fiery priest Ghevond, assailed the trespassers and sent them fleeing.

The Armenian leaders, most of them ashamed of their sham apostasy, avoided appearing in public. Many young men and women were ready to fight and die for their Christian faith if the Persian king made good his threat of an armed invasion. They had implicit confidence in their commander, Vardan Mamikonian.

Vardan was the son of Sparapet (general) Hamazasp Mamikonian and Sahakanush, the daughter of the Catholicos Sahak Bartev, a descendent of Gregory the Illuminator. The Roman Emperor Theodosius II (408¬450) and the Persian King Bahram V (421¬438) had both conferred the rank of general upon Vardan. He had visited Constantinople on diplomatic missions. As a commander of Armenian contingents of the Persian army, with a record of service in 40 engagements, he had won laurels in campaigns in Khorassan (modern Turkestan).

With war now inevitable, Vardan dispatched a delegation to the Eastern Roman court for help, but he was met with bitter disappointment. Atilla the Hun, ruling over a territory that stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Rhine, was threatening Constantinople. The Roman emperor had drained his meager treasury to purchase peace with the barbarian. As long as the Huns menaced the very gates of the capital, no Roman emperor dared irritate that other great enemy, the king of Persia.

On Easter Day, April 13, 451, the Persian army, numbering 300,000 men, arrived at a location between Her and Zarevand (Khoy and Salmast in present-day Iran). The army’s center was held by the division of the "Immortals"–10,000 horsemen. A herd of trained elephants, each carrying an iron tower full of bowmen, was another menace. The rear guard was reinforced by a column of elephants, on one of which, in a barbed tower, sat the commander, Mushkan Nusalavurd, viewing the entire battlefield and directing movements.

Battle of Avarayr

The Armenian forces, comprised of 66,000 cavalry and infantry and accompanied by a considerable number of clergy, camped near the village of Avarair in the Plain of Shavarshakan (modern Maku, in the northwestern corner of Iran). The rivulet Ighmud ("muddy"), a tributary of the Araxes River, separated the two armies.

On May 26, Vardan, who from childhood had been well versed in the Holy Scriptures, read aloud the heroic deeds of the Jewish Maccabees, who successfully fought against the Seleucid tyrant Anthiochus IV (175¬164 bc) in defense of their faith. Then Ghevond delivered a discourse.

Eghishé, a contemporary chronicler, described the Battle of Avarair, to which he was an eyewitness: "One should have seen the turmoil of the great crisis and the immeasurable confusion on both sides, as they clashed with each other in reckless fury. The dull-minded became frenzied; the cowards deserted the fields; the brave dashed forward courageously, and the valiant roared. In a solid mass the great multitude held the river; and the Persian troops, sensing the danger, became restless in their places; but the Armenian cavalry crossed the river and fell upon them with a mighty force. They attacked each other fiercely and many on both sides fell wounded on the field, rolling in agony."

Upon seeing his left flank crumbling before the Persians, Vardan led a counterattack that cut off and destroyed the Persian right wing. Mushkan, however, rallied his troops and committed his reserves. Vardan and his warriors were surrounded by the Persian vanguard and went down fighting.

The battle continued until evening. By that time, 1,036 Armenians and 3,544 Persians lay dead in heaps on the battlefield. The survivors were scattered over the hilltops and in more protected valleys. Despite the heavier Persian casualties, Mushkan had won the day. Vardan had fallen in battle, and there was no longer any chief who could rally his remaining troops.

Though beaten, however, the Armenian army was far from destroyed. Vahan Mamikonian, son of the great Vardan’s brother Hmayak, took charge and led the Armenians in a guerrilla war that flared around strongholds and along impregnable heights for the next 33 years.

During that time, the Sassanids underwent three changes of rulers, and also had to deal with external conflicts with Rome and a new wave of eastern barbarians known as the Ephthalites, or White Huns. After the death of King Peroz at the hands of the White Huns in 484, his brother and successor, Balash, made a serious reassessment of the long, inconclusive conflict in Armenia and sued for peace. Vahan sent messengers to the Persian camp, with proposals for liberties in Armenia, the main one being: "Religious worship in accordance with Christian doctrines and rites to be declared free in Armenia, and fire altars to be removed."

Balash accepted Vahan’s terms, and in 484, a treaty was signed in the village of Nuwarsak. Vahan was appointed marzban of Armenia. His victory was celebrated in the Cathedral of Dvin, with the Catholicos Hovhan I Mandakuni (478¬490) officiating. Armenia had regained her autonomy and freedom of the national church and culture. Vahan ruled for 20 years (485¬505). 

Vardan Mamikonian’s analogy comparing the Armenians’ struggle to that of the Jewish Maccabees proved to be remarkably apt. In both cases, followers of the Bible had fought for the right to worship in the face of religious oppression, and in each case the long, protracted struggle ended in a negotiated settlement assuring those rights. Both struggles also produced martyred heroes–Judas Maccabee the Hammer and Vardan Mamikonian the Brave.

The Vardanian War, as it came to be called in Vardan’s honor, began on May 26, 451, but the Armenian church celebrates the event in February. In the past, spring was considered the season for warfare. Armenia’s ecclesiastical fathers had decided to commemorate the event in February, before spring, in order to inspire the youth and prepare their minds for battle, in defense of church and fatherland. 

 

 

 

Bedros Tourian’s Portrait.

Vahe H. Apelian

"None sought the boy’s sad heart to read,"

The attached is a drawn portrait of the eminent Armenian poet Bedros Tourian. It is reproduced whenever a portrait of the poet is included in a text or in a book.

Bedros Tourian was born on born on May 20, 1851, in Üsküdar, a suburb in Constantinople, the greater capital of the Ottoman Empire, and died on February 2, 1872, at the age of twenty-one. He did not have any picture taken of him during his lifetime. Moushegh Ishkhan quoted the following about fashioning a portrait of Bedros Tourian in his two-volume sequel about modern Armenian literature (Արդի Հայ Գրականութիւն). 

 In 1892, twenty years after his death, Megerdich Barsamiants (Մկրտիչ Պարսամեանց), started shaping a portrait of him based on the information he gathered from his parental family members, relatives, and friends. However, he passed away before completing his task. Years later Diran Chrakian (Տիրան Չրաքեան) (1875-1921) who was also painter along being a writer who wrote under the penname Indra (Ինտրա), completed the task. However, Arshag Chobanian (Արշատ Չոպանեան), the eminent man of letters and social activist who studied the literary works of Bedros Tourian and wrote about him found the portrait “cold and without a soul” and refused to include a copy of the portrait in the book he wrote about “The Life and Work of Tourian” (Դուրեանի Կեանքն որ Գործը). 

In 1957 the Turkish government opened a road that passed through that part of the Armenian cemetery in Üsküdar where Bedros Tourian was buried. His remains were unearthed and re-entered further away in the cemetery. But his skull was sent to Armenia to the eminent surgeon Antranig Jazarian (Անդրանիկ Ճազարեան) who undertook a more plausible rendering of Bedros Tourian portrait based on the features of his skull. It is that portrait that is used to this day.

Bedros Tourian’s family members have described him as follows: “His hair was chesnut or auburn, dense and straight. He combed his hair upward and like a girls’ hair splitting it in the middle. His eyebrows were curviform or arched and were wide under a broad forehead.  He had large eyelids, dark colored eyes and long and black eyelashes. His nose was avian (eagle like), with little facial hair, fresh skin, and thin lips. He was the personification of a handsome young man, with an effeminate beauty. His friends would jokingly tell him to shave the few hairs under his nose so they would pass him as a girl!”

Bedros Tourian was also a playwright and had the plays he wrote staged, but he remains the eminent poet. All in all, 39 poems have survived from Bedros Tourian and there is no documentary evidence that he wrote more, and the rest were lost. Of those 39 poems, 26 were written during the last two years of his life. Bedros Tourian remains an immortal in the annals of our tortous history for the 39 poems he wrote.

Anecdotes about Bedros Tourian:

Khrimian Hayrig was elected as the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1869. The eighteen years old Bedros Tourian, who had already established a reputation for himself as a playwright and a poet, moved by the reputation that had preceded the election of the young clergy from the interior of the country, and dedicated a poem to the newly elected patriarch. Three years later, in 1872, the dying poet asked his friends to have him buried in a funeral procession that was accompanied by a musical band. But it was against the customs of the day to have such a procession. Consequently, the church forbade the mourners of the young poet to have him buried having a band in the funeral procession. In desperation Bedros Tourian’s friends, who were determined to carry the young poet’s wishes, appealed to the Patriarch Khrimian Hayrig who, in turn, famously told them that he too would not permit them to have such procession but would forgive them for having it done.

Robert Haddejian, the dean of the Armenian journalists and a literary icon in his own right noted that when Levon Der Bedrossian, as the newly nationally elected first president of Armenia, paid a visit to Istanbul, the only request he had for an unscheduled event was visiting Bedros Tourian's tomb and pay homage to the young poet as his homage to all the Armenians buried in the famous Armenian cemetery in Üsküdar, Istanbul. Robert Haddejian claims that Bedros Tourian's tomb remains the most popular visitation site for Armenians visiting Istanbul. 

Bedros Tourian is often remembered for the last quatrain of his poem titled "My Death". it is a mistaken understanding that the same is inscribed on his tombstone. The inscription on his tombstone in classical Armenian depicts his birth and death dates and the anguish it caused. 

Alice Stone Blackwell (September 14, 1857 – March 15, 1950) translated Bedros Tourian’s poems into English (http://armenianhouse.org/blackwell/biography-en.html).  Two translated poems are  attached below. 

1. LITTLE LAKE

 

WHY dost thou lie in hushed surprise,

Thou little lonely mere ?

Did some fair woman wistfully

Gaze in thy mirror clear?

 

Or are thy waters calm and still

Admiring the blue sky,

Where shining cloudlets, like thy foam,

Are drifting softly by ?

 

Sad little lake, let us be friends!

I too am desolate ;

I too would fain, beneath the sky,

In silence meditate.

 

As many thoughts are in my mind

As wavelets o’er thee roam ;

As many wounds are in my heart

As thou hast flakes of foam.

 

But if heaven’s constellations all

Should drop into thy breast,

Thou still wouldst not be like my soul, — 

A flame-sea without rest.

 

There, when the air and thou are calm,

The clouds let fall no showers ;

The stars that rise there do not set,

And fadeless are the flowers.

 

Thou art my queen, O little lake !

For e’en when ripples thrill

Thy surface, in thy quivering depths

Thou hold’st me, trembling, still.

 

Full many have rejected me :

“ What has he but his lyre ? ”

“ He trembles, and his face is pale ;

His life must soon expire ! ”

 

None said, “ Poor child, why pines he thus ?

If he beloved should be,

Haply he might not die, but live, —

Live, and grow fair to see.”

 

None sought the boy’s sad heart to read,

Nor in its depths to look.

They would have found it was a fire,

And not a printed book !

 

Nay, ashes now ! a memory !

Grow stormy, little mere,

For a despairing man has gazed

Into thy waters clear !

 

                                        MY DEATH

 

WHEN Death’s pale angel stands before my face?

With smile unfathomable, stern and chill,

And when my sorrows with my soul exhale,

Know yet, my friends, that I am living still.

 

When at my head a waxen taper slim

With its cold rays the silent room shall fill,

A taper with a face that speaks of death,

Yet know, my friends, that I am living still.

 

When, with my forehead glittering with tears,

They in a shroud enfold me, cold and chill

As any stone, and lay me on a bier,

Yet know, my friends, that I am living still.

 

When the sad bell shall toll—that bell, the laugh

Of cruel Death, which wakes an icy thrill—

And when my bier is slowly borne along,

Yet know, my friends, that I am living still.

 

When the death-chanting priests, dark browed, austere,

With incense and with prayers the air shall fill,

Rising together as they, pass along,

Yet know, my friends, that I am living still.

 

When they have set my tomb in order fair,

And when, with bitter sobs and wailing shrill,

My dear ones from the grave at length depart,

Yet know, my friends, I shall be living still.

 

But when my grave forgotten shall remain

In some dim nook, neglected and passed by,—

When from the world my memory fades away,

That is the time when I indeed shall die!

 

Bedros Tourian's Tombstone

Համբարձման Տօնի վիճակախաղեր

 Հաւաքեց Զուարթ Աբէլեան

Մայրս է որ հաւաքած է այս ժողովրդական առօրեայ ընդհանրապէս քառեակները որոնք գործածուած եղած են Համբարձման Տօնին խրախճանքներուն ընթացքին որպէս վիճակախաղեր։

Մայրս կը պատմէր որ Հայաստնի լեռնաշխարհին մէջ Համբարձման Տօնը միշտ տօնուած է աւելի խանդաւար քան նախորդ տօները՝ ինչպէս Նոր Տարին, Ս. Ծնունդը եւ Մեծ Զատիկը տրուած ըլլալով որ օդը համեմատաբար մեղմացած եղած է Համբարձման Տօնին։ Այդ տօնը, կը պատմեր, առիթըը տուածէ նոր հարսերուն իրենց ծնողական տան առաջին այցելութիւնները ընել, իսկ երիտասարդները իրար հանդիպած են խիստ ձմեռուընէ ետք։ 

Հոս նաեւ պէտք է յիշել որ Հայաստանի լեռնաշխարհի մեղմ շրջանը նկատուած եղած է տարուան այն ամիսները ուր «ր» տառը բացակայ է՝ Մայիս, (Համբարձման Տօնին ամիսը), Յունիս, Յուլիս, Օգոստոս։

Համբարձման տօնակատարութեան մտնոլորտը լաւապէս բնորոշած է «Անուշ» Օբէրան տեղի ունեցած խրախճանքով,պարերով եւ վիճակի խաղերով՝ «Համբարձում յայլա, յայլա ջան յայլա.Լաւ օրեր յայլա, յայլա ջան յայլա։"

1. Համբարձման Տօնի Առթիւ Վիճակախաղեր (1/4): 1 - 25

Սեղմել - http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/04/14.html

Կգաս, բայց ուշ կլինի,

Աչքս մշուշ կլինի.

Սէրդ մինչեւ խելքի գայ՝

Վարդի տեղ փուշ կլինի։

2.  Համբարձման Տօնի Առթիւ Վիճակախաղեր (2/4):26 - 50  

Սեղմել - http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/05/blog-post.html

Սեւ աչքերիդ ես գերի,

Սէգ Մասիսի պէս գերի,

Նա կազատուի ուշ թէ շուտ

Ես յաւիտեան քեզ գերի։

3. Համբարձման Տօնի Առթիւ վիճակախաղեր (3/4): 51 - 75

Սեղնել - http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/05/34.html

Աղջի՜կ, դու խակ մնացիր,

Պատերու տակ մնացիր,

Ո՞ւր է հոգիս, ընկերդ,

Ի՞նչու մենակ մնացիր։

4. Համբարձման Տօնի Առթիւ Վիճակախաղեր (4/4): 75 - 100

Սեղնել - http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/05/44.html

Սրտիս թագուհի

Կարօտել եւ քեզ,

Ախ ինչ կը լինի

Յանկաարծ յատնուես։