quotations

Entries Tagged as 'quotations'

Poetry in Translation (CLVIII): Remco CAMPERT (b. 1929, The Hague), “Lost Cause”, “Cauză pierdută”, “Verloren Partij”

December 30th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLVIII): Remco CAMPERT (b. 1929, The Hague), “Lost Cause”, “Cauză pierdută”, “Verloren Partij” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Cauză pierdută

În inima cetăţii
i-am spus urmează-ţi drumul
case de jur împrejur
prăbuşindu-se în curând
din lipsă de îngrijire

cauză pierdută

faţa ta
aşa cum mi-o închipuiam
nu s-a mai arătat nicăieri

noaptea stau la cheiul canalului
unde curge negura apelor
şi cuget nu încă

(Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London
© 2012, Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

Poetry in Translation (CLVI): Marin SORESCU (1936 – 1996, Romania) – “Translation”, “Traducere”

December 26th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLVI): Marin SORESCU (1936 – 1996, Romania) – “Translation”, “Traducere” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Translation
Marin Sorescu (1936 – 1996)

I was sitting an exam
In a dead language
And I had to transIate myself
From man into ape.

Poetry in Translation (CLV): Marin SORESCU (1936 – 1996, Romania) – “Passport”, “Paşaport”

December 26th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLV): Marin SORESCU (1936 – 1996, Romania) – “Passport”, “Paşaport” · Poetry, quotations, Translations

Passport
(Marin Sorescu, Romania)

To cross the border
Between the sunflower
And the moonflower
Between the alphabet
Of handwritten events
And printed events.
(Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN, London
© 2012, Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

Poetry in Translation (CLII): Jan CAMPERT (1902 – 1943), The Netherlands – “Song of the Eighteen Dead”, (fragment), “Prohod la douăzeci de morţi”

December 24th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLII): Jan CAMPERT (1902 – 1943), The Netherlands – “Song of the Eighteen Dead”, (fragment), “Prohod la douăzeci de morţi” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Jan Campert (1902-1943, Netherlands
The Song of the Eigtheen Dead
A cell is but six feet long
and hardly six feet wide,
yet smaller is the patch of ground,
that I now do not yet know,
but where I nameless come to lie,
my comrades all and one,
we eighteen were in number then,
none shall the evening see come.

Prohod la douăzeci de morţi
În temniţa ce m-au închis
de-abea mă pot mişca,
toţi în picioare-nghesuiţi,
încât nu ştiu cum voi putea,
nevolnic să imi fac culcuş,
pe umeda podea.
Noi douăzeci eram atunci,
dar seara nimenea.
(Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN, London
© 2012, Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

Poetry in Translation (CLI): Grigore VIERU (1935 – 2009), Bessarabia, Romania, now Republic of Moldova – “Salvati-vă prin limbă”, “Survival through Native Tongue”

December 18th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CLI): Grigore VIERU (1935 – 2009), Bessarabia, Romania, now Republic of Moldova – “Salvati-vă prin limbă”, “Survival through Native Tongue” · Diaspora, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

S-a otrăvit dulceaţa poamei
Şi laptele din sânii mamei.
S-a otrăvit barbar văzduhul
De ce s-a otrăvit şi duhul,
De ce şi graiul?!
Sculaţi-vă, sculaţi-vă, sculaţi-vă
Din somnul cel de moarte!
Salvaţi-vă, salvaţi-vă, salvaţi-vă
Prin limbă şi prin carte!

Grigore VIERU (1935-2009)

The fruit of the tree lost its zest
So has the milk from the mother’s breast.
The deadly sky is only doom.
But why should one poison the spirit,
And our tongue with it?
Arise, arise, arise,
From your mortal slumber!
Save your wits, save your wits, save your wits!
Keep your native tongue and your soul with it.

(Rendered in English from the Romanian original verse
by Constantin ROMAN, Londra,
© 2012, Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

Poetry in Translation (CL): Sándor Petőfi (1823-1849), Hungary, “Fa Leszek ”, “I’ll be a tree”, “De-aşi fi un pom”

November 28th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CL): Sándor Petőfi (1823-1849), Hungary, “Fa Leszek ”, “I’ll be a tree”, “De-aşi fi un pom” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Fa leszek, ha fának vagy virága.
Ha harmat vagy: én virág leszek.
Harmat leszek, ha te napsugár vagy…
Csak, hogy lényink egyesüljenek.

I’ll be a tree, if you are its flower,
Or a flower, if you are the dew-
I’ll be the dew, if you are the sunbeam,
Only to be united with you.

Un pom aşi fi, dac-ai fi floarea lui,
Sau o floare, dac-ai fi roua.
Aşi fi rouă, dacă soare vei fi,
Să ne ne iubim în fiecare zi.

(Rendered in Romanian
by Constantin ROMAN, Londra,
© 2012, Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

Poetry in Translation (CXLIX): Antonio MACHADO (1875-1939), SPAIN, “Proverbios y cantares”, “Proverbe şi cântece”

November 28th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CXLIX): Antonio MACHADO (1875-1939), SPAIN, “Proverbios y cantares”, “Proverbe şi cântece” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino, y nada más;
caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino,
sino estelas en la mar.

Trecătorule, paşii tăi sunt chiar
calea aceasta şi nimic altceva;
trecătorule, calea nu există,
calea se naşte din mers.
Mergând creăm drumul,
iar privind înapoi
vedem cărarea
ce nu mai trebuie străbătută, din nou, niciodata.
Trecătorule, calea nu există…
Doar stele pe cer.

(Rendered in Romanian
by Constantin ROMAN, Londra,
© 2012, Copyright Constantin ROMAN)

Poetry in Translation (CXLVIII): Sergiu MANDINESCU (1926-1964), ROMANIA, “. “Amen – (Prison Prayer)”, “ AMIN (Reeducare)”

November 25th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CXLVIII): Sergiu MANDINESCU (1926-1964), ROMANIA, “. “Amen – (Prison Prayer)”, “ AMIN (Reeducare)” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations, Uncategorized

Sergiu MANDINESCU (1926-1964), ROMANIA, Poet of the Communist Prisons. “Amen – (Prison Prayer)”, “ AMIN (Reeducare)”, “ AMIN (Reeducare)” If I only had an angel’s quill
and the dark ink of night
perhaps only then I might
gather from all my vagaries
to write my memories
telling why I’m bleeding, I will.

“ AMIN (Reeducare)”
Sergiu MANDINESCU (1926-1964), ROMANIA,

De-aş avea o pană de înger
Şi cerneală de bezne,
Poate că abia atunci mi-ar fi lesne
Să mă adun din toate risipirile,
Să-mi scriu amintirile
Şi să spun tuturor de ce sânger.

Era o noapte jefuită de stele…

Poetry in Translation (CXLVII): Aleš ŠTEGER (b. 1973), SLOVENIA, “Europe”, “ Europa”

November 23rd, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CXLVII): Aleš ŠTEGER (b. 1973), SLOVENIA, “Europe”, “ Europa” · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

“Still you think you’ll give the lie to all of us.
When I close my tired eyes, you appear
In the form of a hairy fat woman who gives birth while snoring
And of the man in the dark beside her secretly masturbating,
Thinking about America.”
Şi totuşi te încăpăţânezi să ne vinzi minciuna ta.
De câte ori închid pleoapele ochilor mei obosiţi, tu reapari
Ca fantoma unei codoaşe grase si păroase, fătând în timpul somnului,
În timp ce lângă ea, culcat în întuneric, un bărbat se masturbează pe furiş,
Visând despre America.

Poetry in Translation (CXLVI): Sergiu MANDINESCU (1926-1964), ROMANIA, “Prison Warder”, “ Suflet de călău”

November 22nd, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CXLVI): Sergiu MANDINESCU (1926-1964), ROMANIA, “Prison Warder”, “ Suflet de călău” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

A muffled night
a bottomless abyss
a peacock’s cry
that never goes amiss.
Great panthers watching in the night
and tigers ready for the pounce,
the pythons flawlessly advance
a path so trite.
The shadow’s silence so profound
fills to the brim the darkest mind –
a jungle full of beasts of any kind,
but human soul is nowhere to be found!

Sergiu MANDINESCU (1926-1964) – Biographical Note:

Sergiu Mandinescu was a son of Bucovina, who died prematurely at the age of 38, of which 14 years, between 1949 and 1963, were spent in the harshest Communist prisons: Jilava, Pitesti, Gherla, Aiud and more.
He died within one year of being released from prison, having barely had time to put pen to paper – his own poems that he memorized in the darkest prison cells.
Sergiu was only 23 years of age when he was imprisoned by the Communists and was discharged at the age of 37, only to pass away a year later.

Even after the demise of Ceausescu, 25 years after Mandinescu’s death, Romania was not ready to confront the demons of its past, as the “post-Communist” publishing houses still blackballed the publications of the poet’s verse. However, a handful of these appeared in print, first, before 1989, through the effort of the Romanian Diaspora and of late, in Romania, on the Internet and in some provincial literary magazines.
Considering the aforesaid, one can reasonably state, without fear of contradiction, that the conspiracy of silence is still alive and well in the Carpathian lands, in the guise of a pre programmed amnesia, through the good offices of overt and covert gremlins, perched in lucrative sinecures: the latter are at work, full time, like termites, until the whole shebang would implode: never too soon!

Addendum:
There seems to be no portrait extant of Sergiu Mandinescu, even though, given the assiduous efforts of the Romanian secret services, there ought to be some prison photos when he was indicted and therefore available in the late poet’s Securitate files.

Centre for Romanian Studies