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Entries Tagged as '“The Nation’s Youth”'

Poetry in translation: Mihai Eminescu (LXXXIII) – Ai nostri tineri (The Nation’s Youth)

June 15th, 2011 · Comments Off on Poetry in translation: Mihai Eminescu (LXXXIII) – Ai nostri tineri (The Nation’s Youth) · Diaspora, PEOPLE, Poetry, Translations

The Nation’s Youth

(Mihai EMINESCU)

The Nation’s Youth, to Paris go to study

The art of tying round its neck a tie.

And so, to demonstrate at home the mindset,

Of being wiser than a half-baked pie.

*

In town, the down-and-outs look up astounded

To see them twist their whiskers in their carriage,

Or, gripping with their teeth a long Havana

When traipsing up and down, along the Passage.

*

Their nasal vowels smirk their clownish faces:

They prop the pillars of cafes and brothels

To show they do not earn a living, they parade it.

*

Yet all these air-heads vie for the impression

Expressed in their forgotten, native language

That they are our brightest constellation.

***

English Version by Constantin ROMAN

(All rights reserved, copyright, 2011)

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