England

Entries Tagged as 'England'

David OLDROYD – Book Review: Continental Drift, Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures

February 20th, 2017 · Comments Off on David OLDROYD – Book Review: Continental Drift, Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures · Books, Diary, Education, Famous People, History, PEOPLE, Reviews, Science

Constantin Roman a Romanian patriot and is presently a professor honoris causa in Bucharest, while residing with his family in salubrious Glyndebourne. Roman must, by his account, surely be one of the world’s most upwardly mobile earth scientists. Starting in England with only £5 in his pocket, by ability, persistence, and charm, and using Newcastle as a stepping‐stone, he became acquainted with the right people and obtained a scholarship to Peterhouse, Cambridge, to do a Ph.D. on the tectonics of the Caucasus and across into Central Asia.

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (407), Anonymous, ENGLAND: “Epitaf pe o lespede de mormânt”

December 30th, 2016 · Comments Off on POETRY IN TRANSLATION (407), Anonymous, ENGLAND: “Epitaf pe o lespede de mormânt” · Diaspora, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Educated at the University of Cambridge, as a Scholar at Peterhouse. For a number of years Constantin ROMAN lived in France, Norway, Holland and Indonesia and traveled extensively, as guest speaker to Academia and Industry. He published articles in scientific journals (“Nature”, “New Scientist”, etc.), newspapers and magazines (“The Times”, “Cambridge Review”, “Encounter”, “Revista Monumentelor Istorice”, “Manuscriptum”, “Magazin Istoric”) on a variety of subjects relating to History of Art, Architecture, Conservation, Poetry and Earth Sciences (Seismology and Petroleum Geology).

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 1 OF 6)

March 28th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART 1 OF 6) · Books, Diary, Genealogy, History, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews, Short Stories & Cameos

Sărut mâna pentru masă
C-a fost bună şi gustoasă
Şi bucătăreasa grasă.

Which, in the English vernacular translation, would more or less sound like:

Kiss your hand, Ma’am, for the pastry,
And the meal, which was so tasty,
For the coffee and all that,
As the cook was nice and fat’.

ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART FIVE OF SIX)

March 26th, 2016 · Comments Off on ETERNAL REST IN BUCHAREST (PART FIVE OF SIX) · Books, Diary, Diaspora, Genealogy, History, PEOPLE, Short Stories & Cameos

I remember grandfather was telling me that before the war there was a kind of popular bistro across the road from the Bellu Orthodox cemetery whose name was “Better here than Opposite’ (Mai bine aici decat vis-à-vis). This was very handy because the mourners, instead of going all the way to the home of the dearly departed, for the traditional post-funeral meal, they would instead have the drinks across the road from the cemetery, once the funeral was over and the alms given to the poor. And so there was so much merry-making at the bistro, with gypsy brass band and even dancing – all of course in memory of the deceased, that people started complaining for the lack of decorum, especially as the mourners were approaching the cemetery gate with the hearse and all and they were hearing were the fiddles and bassoons playing away drinking songs…
Eventually the police shut the establishment and now it is all history!

POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCCLXXXVI): Adrian MUNTEANU (b. 1948-Brasov), ROMANIA – “Scriu un sonet. Deplină amăgire”, “The Sonnet – an Eternal Tease”

March 18th, 2016 · 1 Comment · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Adrian MUNTEANU
(b. 1948, Brasov)
“The Sonnet – an Eternal Tease”

I write a sonnet as a constant tease –
Its rules are there to liberate my dream,
To be myself and follow, as I seem
To play with empty words of love and ease.
Rendered in English by Constantin ROMAN,
© 2016 Copyright Constantin ROMAN

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXXIII): Sophia PARNOK (1885-1933) RUSSIA: “Today I do not want you”, “Astăzi nu vă vreau”

February 12th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXXIII): Sophia PARNOK (1885-1933) RUSSIA: “Today I do not want you”, “Astăzi nu vă vreau” · Books, Famous People, History, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Don’t seduce me down dark alleys,
To the places left behind –
To the bold or to the timid
Lips I’ve kissed so many times.
Nu mă-mbia să merg pe căi de noapte,
Spre locuri ce-am lăsat demult departe.
Celui mult prea timid, sau prea adept
De sânuri, ce demult am strâns la piept.

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXXI): Rosalia de CASTRO (1837-1885) SPAIN/GALICIA: “He Who Weeps Goes Not Alone”, “Cel ce plange nu-i singur ”

February 9th, 2016 · 1 Comment · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Cel ce plânge nu-i singur mereu,
Voi, lacrimi, să curgeţi din plin!
O singură jale este mult prea puţin;
Căci ferice să fi este greu.

Când destinul hain, mă-nconvoaie din plin,
Sufletul e pierdut pe cărare;
Resemnată păşesc spre destinul divin:
Când amarul mă-ndreaptă spre zare.

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXX): Jordi DOCE (b. 1967), SPAIN/GALICIA: “Somewhere”, “Undeva”

February 8th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXX): Jordi DOCE (b. 1967), SPAIN/GALICIA: “Somewhere”, “Undeva” · Books, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations

You live in a city where the map of the side streets dangerously resembles that of your heart. A city where the stains and chips in the walls are windows that follow your steps, doors that no one dares to enter. Where the hung laundry sends coded messages and the glassy eyes of fish exchange glances of recognition with the copper coins of the servants.
Trăieşti într-un oraş a cărui hartă a mahalalelor arată incomod de asemănătoare cu o hartă a inimii. Un oraş unde petele şi cioburile din pereţi şi ferestre îţi urmăresc paşii acolo unde nimeni nu vrea să intre. Unde rufele atârnate pe frânghie trimet mesaje codificate, unde ochii sticloşi ai peştilor schimbă priviri asemănătoare bacşişului mărunt al servitorilor.

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXIX): Roald DAHL (1916 – 1990), UK/ENGLAND: “Hot and Cold”, “Cald şi Frig”, “Chaud et Froid”

February 7th, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXIX): Roald DAHL (1916 – 1990), UK/ENGLAND: “Hot and Cold”, “Cald şi Frig”, “Chaud et Froid” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

A woman who my mother knows
Came in and took off all her clothes.
Said I, not being very old,
‘By golly gosh, you must be cold!’
Ma belle voisine, elle est venue
Un jour, d’emblée, se mettre nue.
Étant trop jeune et sans émoi,
Lui dis-je: Mon Dieu, vous aurez froid!
Mais, pas du tout! même au contraire!
Je suis à voile et à vapeur…
‘No, no!’ she cried. ‘Indeed I’m not!
I’m feeling devilishly hot!’

Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXVIII): James FENTON (b. 1959, Lincoln) UK/ENGLAND: “In Paris With You ”, “La Paris cu tine”

February 1st, 2016 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCCLXXVIII): James FENTON (b. 1959, Lincoln) UK/ENGLAND: “In Paris With You ”, “La Paris cu tine” · Books, Famous People, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Do you mind if we do not go to the Louvre
If we say sod off to sodding Notre Dame,
If we skip the Champs Elysées
And remain here in this sleazy
Old hotel room
Doing this and that
To what and whom
Learning who you are,
Learning what I am.

Centre for Romanian Studies