2009 November

Entries from November 28th, 2009

Confluente culturale Anglo-Romane – Romancele la Londra

November 28th, 2009 · Comments Off on Confluente culturale Anglo-Romane – Romancele la Londra · Books, Diaspora, PEOPLE, quotations

CONFLUENTE CULTURALE ANGLO-ROMANE (I) – ROMANCELE LA LONDRA Hotelul Savoy, din Strand, in inima cartierului Westend, era uneori resedinta Martei Bibescu cand trecea pe la Londra si care consemna in jurnalul ei: Regele mi-a intrerupt visarea cu un mesaj de bun-venit – dar refuz sa fiu deranjata. Personajul acesta era George al V-lea, varul reginei […]

Orwell Diaries (ed. Peter Davison, Harvil Secker, London 2009)

November 17th, 2009 · Comments Off on Orwell Diaries (ed. Peter Davison, Harvil Secker, London 2009) · Books, Diary, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews

Orwell Diaries 1931- 1949 Edited by Peter Davison, Publ: Harvil Secker ISBN 9781846553295 (sourced from ten original diary notebooks) I bought Orwell’s Diaries thinking that I could glean more information about his philosophical conversion from Spanish Republicanism to what had become later a lucid critic of left-wing dictatorship. It appears, sadly, that two notebooks of […]

Mircea Milcovitch – Retrospective

November 8th, 2009 · 6 Comments · Art Exhibitions, Diary, Diaspora, PEOPLE

Romanian-born French man, Mircea Milcovitch is a sculptor, painter and engraver whose profile in the French artistic landscape gained not only national but international recognition. His latest retrospective at the Hôtel Montulé, Dreux is open to 30th November 2009. Here the visitor could see for the first time the most representative oeuvre of the artist’s […]

ARGIA – Basque weekly Magazine – 90th Anniversary

November 6th, 2009 · 2 Comments · International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, Reviews, Translations

Why ARGIA? This Basque-speaking weekly published on its front page of October 2009 a feature article on “Herta MULLER – THE JOURNEY TO THE 2009 NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE” We asked San Sebastian journalist Karlos Zurutuza, to tell us something about ARGIA: “ARGIA ASTEKARIA is a Basque-speaking weekly which covers Basque culture and both national […]

Poetry in Translation (LXXI): Melina Mercouri (1920-1994) – “Mes Amis d’Hier”

November 3rd, 2009 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (LXXI): Melina Mercouri (1920-1994) – “Mes Amis d’Hier” · Poetry, Translations

[caption id="attachment_821" align="alignright" width="194" caption="Melina MERCOURI (1920-1994)"]

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Melina MERCOURI (1920-1994):

AMICI DE DEMULT

Amici de demult, tovarasi de drum
Cu pasii pierduti
Prin ce tari ratacind prin coclauri de scrum
Sunteti toti disparuti?
La ce lupte ne luam
Trup la trup inclestati
Ne credeam neinvinsi, desi fragezi eram
La cei doua’s’ de ani.
Rasul nostru voios rasuna peste tot
Cand pe lume-am venit
Cu nevolnice maini ne strangeam cot la cot
Rascolind din adanc un oras amortit.
Printre voi mai zaresc, doar priviri din trecut
Doar vre-un zambet fugar
Pe o poza de-album dintr-un timp nestiut
Si uitata-n sertar.
Caci la voi ma gandesc, amici de demult
Retraind un parcurs incercat de destin
Cu speranta aprinsa intr-un proaspat tumult
Ca pe-un vesnic taram sa ne reintalnim.
Amici de demult, tovarasi de drum
Cu pasii pierduti
Prin ce tari ratacind prin coclauri de scrum
Sunteti toti disparuti?

(Mes Amis d’hier, cuvinte de C. MESLE pe muzica de S. Xarhakos, pentru Melina Mercouri, 1971)

(Copyright – In Romaneste de Constantin ROMAN, Londra 20 August 2006)

———————————————————————————————-

MES AMIS D’HIER …

Mes amis d’hier, mes compagnons,
Mes amis perdus,
Dans quelle île, quelle ville, dans quelle prison
Où avez-vous disparu ?
Nous prenions la vie au corps à corps
Nous mordions dedans
Nous étions fragiles et pourtant si forts
D’avoir ensemble vingt ans
Nous avions des rires à faire chanter
Les taudis du port
Et de ses révoltes à faire se dresser
Une ville qui s’endort
Aujourd’hui je n’ai de vos sourires
Et de vos regards
Qu’une ou deux photos qui s’en vont jaunir
Dans un livre ou un tiroir
Et pourtant c’est vous mes camarades
Que je vois toujours
Quand l’espoir nous prend dans ses embuscades
Quand nous parlons de retour
Mes amis d’hier, mes compagnons
Mes amis perdus
Dans quelle île, quelle ville, dans quelle prison
Où avez-vous disparu ?

Melina MERCOURI

Paroles: C. Lemesle

Musique: S. Xarhakos

(1971)

Poetry in Translation (LXX): Hector de Saint-Denis GARNEAU (1912-1943) – “Compagnie”, “Companie”

November 3rd, 2009 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (LXX): Hector de Saint-Denis GARNEAU (1912-1943) – “Compagnie”, “Companie” · Poetry, Translations

Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau (1912 – 1943) was a French Canadian regarded to be the first modern Quebec poet. Together with his friends Paul Beaulieu, Robert Charbonneau and Robert Élie he founded the monthly journal La relève. —————————————————————————– Hector de SAINT-DENIS GARNEAU (1912-1943, Quebec, Canada) COMPANIE (ACCOMPAGNEMENT) Pasesc alaturi de o bucurie De o bucurie […]

Poetry in Translation (LXVIII- LXIX): Two Poems – Abu NUWAS (756 – 810)

November 3rd, 2009 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (LXVIII- LXIX): Two Poems – Abu NUWAS (756 – 810) · Poetry, Translations

NOTITA BIOGRAFICA:

ABU NUWAS [Abu,Ah Hal-asan ibn Hani’al-Hakami] (c. 756-810) este recunoscut ca cel mai mare poet classic Arab din timpul Califului Harun al-Rashid, al carui favorit era si apoi al succesorului lui, Abu’Ubaida. Fiu al unui soldat din Damasc, casatorit cu o Persana, Abu Nuwas a studiat la Basra si Kufa, dupa care a petrecut un an cu nomazii Arabi pentru a invata o limba araba pura, care a reusit sa o stapaneasca la un inalt grad de rafinament. Aceasta i-a permis geniului sau sa supravietuiasca timpului si sa continue, pana in ziua de azi, sa fie citat de expertii culturii arabe. Viata sa a fost caracterizata de o licentiozitate extrema si de un nonconformism relligios, ca sa sfarseasca, pana la urma, in asceza.

Poetry in Translation (LXVII): Alfred de Musset – “The Moon Ballad”, “Balada Lunii”

November 3rd, 2009 · 2 Comments · Poetry, Translations

BALADA LUNII

Era in noaptea neagrà
Pe un turn din câmpii
Luna, luna
Ca un punct pe un “i”

Lunà, ce spirit sumbru
Te plimb-asa tiptil
Din umbrà
Rotundul tàu profil?

Esti ochiul chior al cerului profan?
Sau înger care
Priveste prin ochean
Sub masca lui palidà?

O minge esti, fireste?
Sau doar gandacul care
Se tot rostogoleste
Din lipsa de picioare?

(Tradus din franceza de Constant, Londra, Iulie 2008)

It was, in the dark night,
On the yellowed steeple,
The moon, the moon
Like a dot on an i.

Moon, what dark spirit
Walks at the end of a leash
Through the gloom,
Your face and your profile?

Are you the one-eyed heavens’ single eye?
Which bigoted cherub
Peers at us
Beneath your pale mask?

Are you merely a ball?
A big fat daddy-long-legs
That rolls, that rolls
Without legs and arms?
——————-

Ballade à la lune

C’était, dans la nuit brune,
Sur le clocher jauni,
La lune, la lune,
Comme un point sur un i.

Lune, quel esprit sombre
Promène au bout d’un fil,
Dans l’ombre,
Ta face et ton profil?

Es-tu l’oeil du ciel borgne?
Quel chérubin cafard
Nous lorgne
Sous ton masque blafard?

N’es-tu rien qu’une boule?
Qu’un grand faucheux bien gras
Qui roule, qui roule
Sans pattes et sans bras?

Centre for Romanian Studies