Outstanding writer

Alikhan Ayazhan,
The student of the 11^th «B»   Grade
#140 gymnasium named after M.Makataev
(A classic of Kazakh poetry Mukagali Makatayev is 90 years old)

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the great Kazakh poet Mukagali Makatayev. His name is known to all Kazakhs today. He is an outstanding figure, who has been working in the field of literature for about twenty-five years, and has written more than a thousand poems. His creative art was manifested in so many ways.

Mukagali Makatayev is a poet who gave Kazakh poetry of the sixties a proud spirit and made a great contribution to the Kazakh art of literature. Song lines born by his pen enriched our national spiritual fund with their unique images. His poems «The Moor», «Ilyich», «The Bolsheviks», and «Chili is My Light» are works that realistically convey the feelings and moods, faith and spirituality of the people who lived in the Soviet period. The poet did not write poems for fun, but set himself the goal of writing «to heal wounded souls.» He is a poet who simultaneously experienced both the joys and sorrows of life, who early learned what life is and what death is, seeking healing for the spiritual wounds of his contemporaries. Perhaps, that is why his many poems such as «Sarjailau», «Grandmother, your light will not fade», «Go, my dear, to your Alatau» were accompanied by music, which people listen to and sing with pleasure. If so, the poet Mukagali, who gave Kazakh poetry a special sound and a unique impulse, will remain in the heart of every Kazakh as a song forever.He devoted his poems to his Motherland  and loved it so much,as he said in his poem ‘Three happy things’

My biggest happiness in life is you, my people,

And if my people live, it means that I live too.

I give the honey of my poems to my nation

This simple happiness means more than gold to me.

My second happiness is you, my dear native tongue,

The hard stone granite heart I melted with the words,

And all because I always learn from my native tongue,

That taught me all the truth and kindness in the world.

And my third happiness is you, my dear Motherland,

Whoever stands for different things in life, and I will stand for you,

Could an extinguished home fire be lit again?

Come here, my friend and I will share my fire with you.

Three things of happiness lie there on my caring palms,

I am the richest man and no one would deny,

Like bright three suns in the cloudless sky are shining,

And underneath are Atyrau, Alatau and Altai!

In conclusion, I would like to say that Mukagali Makatayev made a great contribution to the development of Kazakh literature, and one might even say more… not just the development of the national literature, but also the development of each of us. It’s as if each of his works was pouring fresh rain on our souls in a terrible drought.

His life was not easy, but despite all the difficulties he never stopped being a great man and  brought benefit to society, he never for a moment stopped believing in the power of love, love for the country, love for each of us. And studying the works of such a man, we involuntarily want to straighten our posture, to become nobler and more honest, even to ourselves, not to mention society, to become a little kinder and more polite.I want to sum up with the poem»Remember me»

…When in sad solitude you go
Filled with sorrow in the forest,
Think that I am in this world,
Do not believe the words that I am not….