However, in the past the Kazakh language wasn't written down-there weren't any books. So people didn't read poems, they lotened to them. They were often performed with music Poets sang theP poems while musicians played traditional Kazakh instruments, such as the dombra These poems were sometimes thousands of tines long. and the poets had to remember eveything by heart The poems were passed from generation to generation. If that didn't happen, the poems were sometimes lost forever. pue sunod pakoluo sAPmje aney uesunezeN jo ajdoad a Many of these poems were about nature or about love. Others were atout fierce battles and heroic watriors. A lot of the poems were composed in the 15" and 16 centurie5, when the Kazakhs had to fight other tribes and invaders. One of the poems was more than 6.500 lines long! It was about the famous warrior Koblandy toften called The Lion'), The poem tells us that he detended his people from 40,000 warriors with just one hand! Although a lot of the stories in the poems aren't true. they give us important information about historical events and the way of ife of the Kazakh people in the past. In the 19 century, people like Chokan Valikhanov wrote down many of the traditional Kazakh poems and stories, so now we have a record of them, Other people began to write their own poems. One of the most famous poets was Abay Kunanbaev, who was born in 1845, as about horses. He's most famous. however, for his poetry about love. wrote about the seasons and nature as well Today. it's commón to hear Kazakh poetry at weddings, funerals and national celebrations. There are traditional poems and songs for particular events. For example. Tol Bastar is sung at the beginning of a wedding, and Synsu is sung when the bride leaves the place where she grew up. Read the text, then answer these questions. 1 Why didn't people read poetry in the 15 and 16 centuries? 2 What happened at poetry performances? 3 What were the old poems about? 4 Why are the old poems important? 5 What happened in the 19th century? 6 What did Abay Kunanbaev write about? 7 Where is Kazakh poetry heard nowadays?

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