This study explores the elegy written by 16th century Ottoman poet Taşlıcalı Yahya for Prince Mustafa through Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s five-stage grief model: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Each couplet is analyzed in relation to these stages to reveal the emotional depth and psychological structure of the text. Denial reflects the rejection of death, anger expresses feelings of injustice, bargaining suggests inner negotiation with fate, depression conveys deep sorrow, and acceptance illustrates submission to divine will. The elegy’s final verses portray death not as an end, but as a return to the divine, signaling the poet’s arrival at acceptance. This interdisciplinary approach demonstrates how classical Ottoman poetry can be revisited through modern psychological theory. By integrating literary and psychological analysis, the study offers insight into the emotional complexity of Classical Turkish literature and illustrates its potential for reinterpretation through contemporary frameworks.
Classical Turkish Literature, Taşlıcalı Yahya, Şehzade Mustafa, elegy, Kübler-Ross Model.