Diaspora

Entries Tagged as 'Diaspora'

Poetry in Translation (CCXXXIV – CCXXXVI): Ion CAROIAN (1923, Romania – 1986, Switzerland): “Hope”, “Snow” and “You are weary Wanderer”

December 7th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXXXIV – CCXXXVI): Ion CAROIAN (1923, Romania – 1986, Switzerland): “Hope”, “Snow” and “You are weary Wanderer” · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations

“You are weary, wanderer”
Ion CAROIAN (1923-1986)

“You are weary, wanderer,
As we are filing in a single line, hooded,
(a fistful of nothingness).
They – the ignorant retainers,
Digested through the stomach of time.
They – the decent rabble.
Give Caesar his dues!
As for the rest, to Hell!”

(English version by: Constantin ROMAN,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London)

Poetry in Translation (CCXXXIII): Hélène VACARESCO (Elena Văcărescu, b. 1866 Bucharest – d. 1947, Paris): “Romania”

December 5th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXXXIII): Hélène VACARESCO (Elena Văcărescu, b. 1866 Bucharest – d. 1947, Paris): “Romania” · Diaspora, History, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

You may well recognise in these qualities Romania, land of suffering, land of enlightenment and of valour placed across the promontory against the dredge of Asian invasions and like a beacon being mightily conscious of defending the civilization, which gave it its people and its laws”.

(Hélène Vacaresco, Diplomat, Poet,
addressing the Societe des Nations,
Paris, 27th April 1925)

Poetry in Translation (CCXXVI): Mireia CALAFELL, (b. 1980, Barcelona), Catalonia, Spain, “Mâna neatingând mâna”, “ Hand not touching hand … ”

November 22nd, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXXVI): Mireia CALAFELL, (b. 1980, Barcelona), Catalonia, Spain, “Mâna neatingând mâna”, “ Hand not touching hand … ” · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Mâna neatingând mâna, pielea neatingând pielea,
doar gustul misterului care se dizolvă în cerul gurii,
în pauze inundate de atâta melancolie,
tremurând de frigul ce nu-l pot înfrunta,
dealungul acestor nopţi albe, cu obloanele trase.

Ochi nesărutând ochi, versuri de foc
în măduva oaselor, în măduva iubirii,
corp plin de parfum
pe silueta gâtului,
profil adumbrit, aşteptând, în confortul aşternutului.

Îţi scriu doar să-ţi spun că o sa te desluşesc, o să te devorez,
ca să parcurg lungul drum, prescris de soartă,
să te cuprind într-un singur cuvânt, dând bice delirului,
în timp ce ne vom ascunde sub orologiul
care recită versuri,
strângându-ne la piept, la nesfârşit.
Îţi scriu doar să-ţi spun, dacă te-aş desluşi, te-as strânge în braţe,
dar tu nu mai vei fi aici: vei fi început să te desprinzi de mine.

(Romanian version by:
Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN

Poetry in Translation (CCXXV): ANONYMOUS British Poet, “If only … ”, “De aş fi doar…”

November 18th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXXV): ANONYMOUS British Poet, “If only … ”, “De aş fi doar…” · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

If only …
(British Anonymous)

If only I were a mint leaf,
in your cocktail glass,
I would add freshness
to your eyes…

If only I were a glazed cherry,
adding a touch of colour,
I would bring a sweet-bitter taste
to your palate …

If I were a bitter lemon
in your signature cocktail,
I would add a touch of reality
to our stormy Love …

If I were an ice cube,
cajoled in your shaker,
I would extinguish the fire
of your burning desire …

If only …

(Collected by Constantin ROMAN, London,
© 2013, Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

Poetry in Translation (CCXXIII): ANONYMOUS, BRITISH Poet, “Lament”

November 15th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXXIII): ANONYMOUS, BRITISH Poet, “Lament” · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations

LAMENT

Gone are the hopes
In morning’s mist,
Unfolding
London’s spell,
In all my dreams.
Of days gone bye,
Am longing
More and more…
Of our trysts
Do hope, in vain,
In one more night
Of love!

(Chelsea, November 16)

Poetry in Translation (CCXXI): Anonymous, British Author, “Follow Your Path”

November 10th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXXI): Anonymous, British Author, “Follow Your Path” · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

To G.A.
Follow Your Path

Please, just follow your path,
In these sorrowful moments,
Which are, often, so brittle.
Yet, reflect our Love!

For I hope you will worship
Our wonderful longings,
Though we live in the Present,
Just to steal passing Dreams.

Whilst you’ll reach newer Havens,
Leaving the Past behind you,
I shall still be your beacon
Lighting your Road ahead!

As I’ll shepherd your Yearnings,
Striving for new Horizons,
I shall beg now to snuffle
All I cherished in you!

Cameo: Queen Anne de Romania, Princess of Denmark and of Bourbon-Parme

November 7th, 2013 · Comments Off on Cameo: Queen Anne de Romania, Princess of Denmark and of Bourbon-Parme · Diaspora, Genealogy, Genealogy, PEOPLE

King Mihai de Romania and Anne Princess of Denmark and of Bourbon-Parme[/caption] Anne de Bourbon-Parme, Queen of Romania, is a descendant of Jeremy Movila, Voyevode of Moldavia, via Maria Leczynska Queen of Louis XV of France and through their descendants to the Bourbon-Parme branch of the French and Danish Royal Families.
Prince Ieremia Movila was a great patron of the arts and founder of the painted monasteries of Bucovina. During his reign the Principality of Moldavia experienced a Rennaissance of its decorative arts, especially the post-Byzantine religious embroideries.
Pornind pe linie directa ascendenta a familiei de Bourbon-Parma, deci pe linie barbateasca, ajungem la Ferdinand I de Bourbon, Duce de Parma (1751-1802) nepotul Lui Filip V regele Spaniei si Duce de Anjou (1683, Versailles – 1746 Madrid).
Acest Ferdinand I Infante de Spania (1751-1802), care preceda cu sase generatii pe Ana de Bourbon-Parma a noastra [sper si a domniei tale] era casatorit cu printesa Louise Elisabeth de France (1727-1759), fiica lui Ludovic al XV regele Frantei si a sotiei lui Maria Leczynska, (1703-1768) regina Frantei, care, la randul ei, era fiica lui Stanislas Lesczynski regele Poloniei si Duce de Lorena (1677-1766).

Poetry in Translation (CCXIX): Vasko POPA (1922-1991), SERBIAN -VLACH, Poet of Serbo-Croat Expression, “Soare Orb”, “Blind Sun”

November 4th, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXIX): Vasko POPA (1922-1991), SERBIAN -VLACH, Poet of Serbo-Croat Expression, “Soare Orb”, “Blind Sun” · Books, Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Two blighted legs
Holding a blind Sun.

The morning rays – gone to work
On the other side of the sky,
Rather than its threshold.

The Noon is beyond the Pale.
Cavorting with thunders,
She’s never at home.

The evening takes to the road,
The bedstead on her back,
She’s begging on some constellation.

Only the Night appears,
With outstretched arms,
To welcome a blind Sun.

Collection of Antique Prints and Engravings (16thc – 19th c), (Part II)

November 2nd, 2013 · Comments Off on Collection of Antique Prints and Engravings (16thc – 19th c), (Part II) · Art Collections, Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, Reviews

From a prima facie evidence it seems that this collection is not matched by similar efforts in the public domain, either in Romania, or elsewhere. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, also has not got this material although it covers immediately adjacent areas, such as the Levant and the Middle East, through the recent acquisition of a collection from a retired Shell executive.
The late Professor’s Oprescu’s collection, given to the Romanian Academy Prints Department, has some beautiful examples of watercolours and sketches, some by Count Prezziosi, but does not overlap with our prints. Prince Nicholas of Romania’s collection of maps has been dispersed soon after the Second World War. Sadly “Ceausescu’s surrogate “Muzeul Colectiilor” of Calea Victoriei, in Bucharest has relegated an important inter-war collection of historic engravings, donated by a private collector, to a “deposit” in a damp basement, sadly forgotten and most certainly ruined: such is the wisdom of our Wallachian luminaries, otherwise, known as “boierii mintii”(…).

Collection of Antique Prints and Engravings (16thc – 19th c), (Part I)

October 29th, 2013 · 1 Comment · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Reviews

Constantin ROMAN bought his first prints whilst a postgraduate student in Cambridge, in the early 1970s, when very few people were interested in the subject and prices were accessible. Over the following thirty years, as a Geophysicist, he had the opportunity to travel extensively and added substantially to his collection, mostly from dealers in England, France and Holland. His particular interest concentrated on images from the Ottoman Empire in Europe, with emphasis on Wallachia and Moldavia (the Lower Danube and the Carpathians) as well as the Eastern part of the Habsburg Empire, (the Principality of Transylvania). Auxiliary themes of a wider regional interest (Polish, Russian, Balkan, Hungarian, Austrian, Turkish) are also present.

Subject Matter:

The subject of the collection has a strong topographical interest. It consists of maps (including plans of battles and strategic fortifications), views (landscapes and townscapes), costumes, portraits of historical characters, scenes of social and political interest, architectural / natural monuments, political cartoons of the 19th century, etc.

Centre for Romanian Studies