“Centre for Romanian Studies

Entries Tagged as '“Centre for Romanian Studies – London”'

Poetry in Translation (CCCIV): Peter LEWIS, GERMANY & ENGLAND: “Ballad of the Ages”, “Balada vârstei”

October 26th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCIV): Peter LEWIS, GERMANY & ENGLAND: “Ballad of the Ages”, “Balada vârstei” · Diaspora, International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Ballad of the Ages
Wilhelm BUSCH, Theodore FONTANE & Eugen ROTH

When you’re a kid, your life’s a breeze
A time to do just as you please
But being small you’re much too keen
To grow into a sulky teen.

At eighteen, though, you blithely say
By twenty I’ll be tired and grey
But when you duly reach that stage
Why, thirty seems a ripe old age.

And in your fourties what you fear
Is tour approaching fiftieth year
But when it comes, lo and behold…
You really don’t feel all that old!

Poetry in Translation (CCCIII): Christina ROSSETTI (1830 – 1894), England, Poet: “The hope I dreamed of was a dream ”, “Speranţa ce-am visat”

October 26th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCIII): Christina ROSSETTI (1830 – 1894), England, Poet: “The hope I dreamed of was a dream ”, “Speranţa ce-am visat” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

The hope I dreamed of was a dream,
Was but a dream; and now I wake,
Exceeding comfortless, and worn, and old,
For a dream’s sake.
I hang my harp upon a tree,
A weeping willow in a lake;
I hang my silent harp there, wrung and snapt
For a dream’s sake.
Lie still, lie still, my breaking heart;
My silent heart, lie still and break:
Life, and the world, and [mine] own self, are changed
For a dream’s sake.

Poetry in Translation, (CCCII): Robert FROST (1894-1963), U.S.A.: “Fire and Ice”, “Foc şi viscol“

October 22nd, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCCII): Robert FROST (1894-1963), U.S.A.: “Fire and Ice”, “Foc şi viscol“ · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Fire and Ice
(Robert FROST)
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Poetry in Translation, (CCC): ANONYMOUS, ROMANIA: “Christmas Carol”

September 15th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCC): ANONYMOUS, ROMANIA: “Christmas Carol” · Diaspora, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Father Christmas we do beg
Bring us butter, bring us egg.
If you ever come on foot
Bring some cabbage, or beetroot.
If your bag is large enough
Add some maize and garlic cloves.
Christmas Father don’t miss either
The potatoes and the flour.
Should you come, though, in a sleigh,
Don’t forget, for the New Year,
Toilet paper that’s so sparse,
To wipe at least our arse.”

Poetry in Translation, (CCXCIX), Elizabeth Barrett BROWNING, (1806 – 1861), ENGLAND: “The Soul’s Expression”, “Glasul sufletului”

September 14th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCXCIX), Elizabeth Barrett BROWNING, (1806 – 1861), ENGLAND: “The Soul’s Expression”, “Glasul sufletului” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

With stammering lips and insufficient sound
I strive and struggle to deliver right
That music of my nature, day and night
With dream and thought and feeling interwound

Cu buze trenurând şi fără glas
Încerc cu greu ca să înalţ, la cer,
Corala mea din sufletu-mi stingher
Fiind năpădit de gânduri de pripas.

Poetry in Translation, (CCXCVI), Flavia TEOC (b. 1971), ROMANIA: “Fata în casă, sau despre trupul poetului”, “Maiden at home, or about the poet’s body”

September 10th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCXCVI), Flavia TEOC (b. 1971), ROMANIA: “Fata în casă, sau despre trupul poetului”, “Maiden at home, or about the poet’s body” · Diaspora, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

A small flag will hoist itself boldly
From the carefully pleated bun
It’s still young and it will not yield, easily,
Without a brief fight.

(English version by Constantin ROMAN)

Un steag va flutura îndrăzneţ
Din cocul bine împletit
E încă tânăr, şi n-are de gând să se predea
Fără o scurtă încăierare.

Poetry in Translation, (CCXCV), Andrei-Tiberiu Majeri, (ROMANIA/Transylvania): “Poezie “, “Poem“

September 9th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCXCV), Andrei-Tiberiu Majeri, (ROMANIA/Transylvania): “Poezie “, “Poem“ · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

you, my soul
take a look at other souls
to get to know yourself
men of deep sadness

suflete,
priviţi în alte suflete
să vă cunoasteţi
oameni de profundă tristeţe

Poetry in Translation, (CCXCIV), Constantin ROMAN, ENGLAND: “Sermon”, “Predică”

September 5th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCXCIV), Constantin ROMAN, ENGLAND: “Sermon”, “Predică” · Diaspora, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Predică
C. ROMAN (Londra)

Iarăşi şi iarăşi
Luaţi aminte
Că veţi afla
Atâta
Desfătare
în
Dăruire
Cât veţi găsi
în
Primire.

Remember,
forever and ever,
there is, always,
as much
Pleasure
in
Giving,
as there is
in
Receiving!

Poetry in Translation, (CCXCIII), Mihai CODREANU (1875, Iaşi -1957, Iaşi), ROMANIA: “Corbii”, “The Ravens”

September 2nd, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCXCIII), Mihai CODREANU (1875, Iaşi -1957, Iaşi), ROMANIA: “Corbii”, “The Ravens” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

The sky is darkened and the stars are blinded
As whirlwinds cause my body to be blighted…
With greater force I’m carried by the storm…

As ravens guessing that I am forlorn,
They dart straight to my heart, which is half-dead,
To quench their beastly thirst, of dragon’s head.

… Iar corbii, presimţindu-şi trista pradă,
Spre inima-mi pe jumătate moartă
Îşi năpustesc sălbatica grămadă…

Poetry in Translation, (CCXCII), Alfredo Cortes DAZA: “Amo el pasado”, “Îmi place trecutul”

August 30th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCXCII), Alfredo Cortes DAZA: “Amo el pasado”, “Îmi place trecutul” · PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Amo todo aquello que quedó escrito
en los caminos de arena
lo que cincelaron los relámpagos
en el azul…
Îmi place tot ce a fost scris
pe drumuri de nisip
pe fulgerul gravat
în albastru …
Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN
© 2014 Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London

Centre for Romanian Studies