This Be The Verse
PHILIP LARKIN
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
Căci omul moşteneşte din străbuni
Mizeria din sufletul adânc:
Să pleci din casa asta de nebuni,
Dar mai ales să n-ai cumva vre-un prunc!
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Tu vis près de moi, telle que moi :
comme une pierre
dans la joue affaissée de la nuit.
…
Ô cet œil ivre
qui erre ici comme nous
nous confond à lui
et s’en étonne.
Exişti alături de mine, ca şi mine însumi:
ca o piatră
în obrazul supt al nopţii.
O, acest ochi beat
rătăcitor ca şi noi
ne confundă
şi este surprins.
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Since you betrayed me I am more becoming
A body’s carcass glowing in the dark
My fragile self, invisible, yet stark,
With frozen looks and body which is pining.
My wretched fingers can’t feel any more
My useless walk, is pining with desire…
My cruel stare invisible, yet sore –
The halo of my body still on fire.
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Am vrut
chiar să mă bag în closet şi să trag lanţul ca să mă evacuez.
Mi-am băgat pumnul în gură şi am încercat să-mi smulg
esofagul. Mi-am închipuit, dacă îmi voi fi dat suflarea,
cugetul va fi acolo. Taraful a promis că vine
la şapte. Este chiar ora şapte.
I wanted to
push myself down the toilet and flush myself away.
I stuck my hand down my throat and tried to rip my
insides out. I thought if I let out all my breath
the mind would be over there. The band promised to call
by seven o’clock. It’s seven o’clock now.
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Tata aţipeşte la gura sobei,
după o săptămână de muncă.
Sigur – nu i-aşi putea mărturisi
că aici oamenii
îşi pun ştreangul la gât, unii altora?
Father dozes by the stove
after six days’ labour.
No–surely I can’t tell them
that people are at each
other’s throats.
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Virgil Gheorghiu, Sonet (fragment):
Asemeni lui, purtând un vis în minte,
Poeţii îşi ating desăvârşirea
Zidind iubirea vieţii în cuvinte.
Now minstrels sing his praise and utter Glory
The good and great will bring his fame abroad:
His monument to Love enshrines his Story.
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She looks so bored, yet she is still so pretty,
her ebony composure is upset …
her hand so bright, her face appears so witty…
she had forsaken me – I feel too wet!
Ea stă plictisită şi foarte frumoasă
părul ei negru este supărat
mâna ei luminoasă
demult m-a uitat,
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Cortexul prefrontal
este cea mai mare cameră din casă
pe care o numim creier.
Este motivul pentru care foloseste ca debara,
ca să păstrăm acolo toate lucrurile:
The Prefrontal Cortex
is the largest room of the home
we call the brain.
That’s why it’s used as the storeroom
to keep everything:
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I was nice to him
He was nice to me
Only
Our doors, our windows
Kept closed
Lest we smell each other.
Nu mă gândesc la tine
Dar când pământul aprig îmi va cuprinde pieptul
Voi visa tot mai mult la acele zile.
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Cercul în care alerg ca şi cum nu există.
Este zi şi noapte ziua şi noaptea
interminabila ultimă sută de metri
voinţa de a te lăsa siluit de regulile ei
As I run round in non-existing circles
day and night, day in day out
the last endless one hundred yards
determined to allow oneself being put to the test by the rules
with one’s shadow running distorted
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