quotations

Entries Tagged as 'quotations'

Poetry in Translation (CCCXCII), ROMANIA, George TOPÂRCEANU (1886, Bucharest – 1937, Jassy): “Jealousy”, “Gelozie”

April 24th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCXCII), ROMANIA, George TOPÂRCEANU (1886, Bucharest – 1937, Jassy): “Jealousy”, “Gelozie” · Books, Diaspora, Famous People, International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Jealousy

Had we never met before
(Incidentally, by mistake)
You’d have loved, for Goodness’ sake,
Any lad and any bore.

Poetry in Translation (CCCXCI), SERBIA / VLACH, Vasko POPA (1922 – 1991): “In the Village of my Ancestors”, “Satul de obârşie”

April 12th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCXCI), SERBIA / VLACH, Vasko POPA (1922 – 1991): “In the Village of my Ancestors”, “Satul de obârşie” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

I ask one of them
Tell me for God’s sake
Is George the Wolf still living

That’s me he answers
With a voice from the next world

I touch his cheek with my hand
And beg him with my eyes
To tell me if I’m living too

Poetry in Translation (CCCXC), ROMANIA, Adrian MUNTEANU (b. 1948, Braşov): “Ia-mă de mână! Mit 3”, “Take My Hand! – Myth 3”

April 5th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCXC), ROMANIA, Adrian MUNTEANU (b. 1948, Braşov): “Ia-mă de mână! Mit 3”, “Take My Hand! – Myth 3” · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Forget me not, whilst trying to distinguish,

In vain, the image of an elusive cast,

As I can hardly see afar the blemish

Of distant sails and of a tilted mast…

Discard the oar and let the doubt to perish…

Give me your hand, take me afar, at last.

Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2016 Copyright Constantin ROMAN

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 1 OF 6)

March 28th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 1 OF 6) · Books, Diary, Genealogy, History, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews, Short Stories & Cameos

Sărut mâna pentru masă
C-a fost bună şi gustoasă
Şi bucătăreasa grasă.

Which, in the English vernacular translation, would more or less sound like:

Kiss your hand, Ma’am, for the pastry,
And the meal, which was so tasty,
For the coffee and all that,
As the cook was nice and fat’.

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 2 OF 6)

March 28th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 2 OF 6) · Books, Diary, Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, quotations, Short Stories & Cameos

The King? What King? I thought you were a republic and just shot one president to replace him with another, I said tartly
– This is His Majesty the King of Romania. He is the guest of His Beatitude the Archbishop of Argesh and is coming to visit the royal graves at the monastery in the Carpathians. The King and his family were specifically assigned these rooms and the hotel will be full with the Press from abroad and dignitaries.
The King of Romania! How very odd – he was turned away before by the new Communist President and marched off all the way to the airport under military escort to have him expelled from the country: only the year before! The old commies were still afraid that he might command some unwelcome popular support and overthrow the rascals who usurped the power after Ceausescu.

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (part 3 OF 6)

March 27th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (part 3 OF 6) · History, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews, Short Stories & Cameos

Still, during the dictatorship years the Continental was no more than a gilded cage for tourists, a kind of ghetto, where all foreign visitors were huddled together, as they were easier to keep in check. A hub of Securitate operatives and professional prostitutes were at hand. A mall of hard-currency shops, where luxury goods could be bought only with dollars, were completing the landscape. Dollars were at the time a currency, which native Romanians were not allowed to obtain: if found out, or denounced, they could spend years in prison.

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART SIX OF SIX)

March 26th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART SIX OF SIX) · Diary, Genealogy, Genealogy, History, PEOPLE, quotations

– There was this stranger, who joined us during the service, attracted by Angelica’s surname: she thought that it was the same family as that of “Prince Lambrino” and assumed that you, as chief mourner, you were the Prince himself! So I reassured her that you were, indeed, the real thing!
– God forbid! Perish the thought!
For a split second I believed that Aunt Angelica’s funeral turned into a scene from Eugene Ionesco’s Theatre of the Absurd, one that my Aunt, as a blue stocking, will have enjoyed.
– Farewell Angelica and God bless you!

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXIX), Nichita STĂNESCU (1933-1983), ROMANIA: “Vitraliu”, “Stained Glass”

March 23rd, 2016 · Comments Off on POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXIX), Nichita STĂNESCU (1933-1983), ROMANIA: “Vitraliu”, “Stained Glass” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Când te vei trezi, lipiţi de geamuri,
arlechini din sticle colorate
vor lăsa prin ei să-ţi cadă-n braţe
soarele, mereu la jumătate.
As you will find it, early in the morning,
the arlequin will start his joyful dancing:
as all resplendent sunrays will be donning
the immortality in which you will be basking.
Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2016 Copyright Constantin ROMAN

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCXXXVII): Pablo NERUDA (1904-1973), CHILE – “Ode to Age”, “Odă Bătrâneţii”

March 23rd, 2016 · Comments Off on POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCXXXVII): Pablo NERUDA (1904-1973), CHILE – “Ode to Age”, “Odă Bătrâneţii” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Now,
time, I roll you up,
I deposit you in my
bait box
and I am off to fish
with your long line
the fishes of the dawn!
Acum a sosit
timpul să te înfăşor,
să te pun în
cursă
si să pescuiesc
cu undiţa ta lungă
peştii zorilor.
Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXVIII): Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Italy/Tuscany: “Bătrâneţe”

March 20th, 2016 · Comments Off on POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXVIII): Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Italy/Tuscany: “Bătrâneţe” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

În cursul vieţii lungi ce am avut
Bătrâna barcă vântul a-nfruntat
S-ajungă-n portul unde-a ancorat
Să ispăşesc păcate din trecut.

Mânat de fantezia mea şi arta
Din care am creat un Dumnezeu
Iluziile şi vanitatea, tot mereu
M-au amăgit, ademenindu-mi soarta.

Visul de-amor acum e prea puţin…
Ce-oi deveni, să mor de două ori,
O dat-aici şi-o alta la răscruce …

Centre for Romanian Studies