Okan ÖZKARA

The most childish poet of the Second New Poetic Movement, Ülkü Tamer generally focuses upon death and escape themes and uses the child image as a means of freedom from the difficulties of life. Children, mostly known as symbols of purity, cleanliness and unspoliedness, have a great role in the creation of an ideal human type in the process of establishing a desired world. Tamer, who often proposes rural life as an ideal setting rather than the urban life in his poetry, deals with how an individual cannot retain his/her own values in the face of society, construct his/her existence on his/her own, and therefore, cannot keep him/herself from falling into despair. Accordingly, in this analytical study, which embarks on Ülkü Tamer’s poetry, markedly formed through child images, the main aim is to critically evaluate the existence domain of children in the establishment of a world reflecting the ideal.

Key Words: Existence, New World, Second New Poetry, Ülkü Tamer, Child