Centre for Romanian Studies

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXVIII), France, René DAUMAL (1908-1944): “Poème”, “Poem”

René Daumal (1908-1944)
Poème (1943)

Je suis mort parce que je n’ai pas le désir,
Je n’ai pas le désir parce que je crois posséder,
Je crois posséder parce que je n’essaye pas de donner.
Essayant de donner, on voit qu’on n’a rien,
Voyant qu’on n’a rien, on essaye de se donner,
Essayant de se donner, on voit qu’on n’est rien,
Voyant qu’on est rien, on désire devenir,
Désirant devenir, on vit.

Poem
René Daumal (1908-1944)

Sunt mort pentrucă îmi lipseşte dorinţa,
Nu am dorinţă pentru că îmi închipui că îmi aparţine,
Îmi închipui că îmi aparţine pentru că nu încerc s-o ofer,
Încercând s-o ofer, îmi dau seama că nu am nimic,
Văzând că nu am nimic, încerc să ofer,
Încercând să ofer, văd că sunt un nimic,
Văzând că sunt un nimic, doresc să devin,
Dorind să devin, trăiesc.

Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2015 Copyright Constantin ROMAN

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SHORT BIO: Born in the Ardennes, René DAUMAL (1908-1944) was an avant-garde poet and founder of a literary movement called “The Simplists”, which included the poet Roger Gilbert-Lecomte . He is best known in the English-speaking world for two novels: A Night of Serious Drinking, and the Mount Analogue, both based upon his friendship with Alexander de Salzmann.
Daumal taught himself Sanskrit and translated some of the Tripitaka Buddhist canon into the French language, as well as translating the literature of the Japanese Zen scholar D.T. Suzuki.
Daumal died prematurely from tuberculosis, on 21 May 1944, in Paris. His unfinished novel Mount Analogue was made posthumously into a film: Jodorowsky’s psychotropic creation – “The Holy Mountain” (1973).