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Poetry in Translation, (CCLXXIII) – USA, Robert FROST (1874-1963): “A Question”, “Întrebare”

March 12th, 2014 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation, (CCLXXIII) – USA, Robert FROST (1874-1963): “A Question”, “Întrebare” · International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.

Ghiciţi-mi într-o ceaşcă de cafea
Şi spuneţi sincer, oameni din trecut,
Dacă necazul, tot, din viaţa mea,
N-a fost prea mult de a mă fi născut.

Rendered in Romanian by Constantin ROMAN,
© 2014 Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London

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POETRY IN TRANSLATION (CCLXVII): IRELAND – Oscar WILDE (1856 – 1900): “At Verona”, “Verona”

February 27th, 2014 · 1 Comment · Diaspora, International Media, PEOPLE, Poetry, quotations, Translations

At Verona
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

HOW steep the stairs within Kings’ houses are
For exile-wearied feet as mine to tread,
And O how salt and bitter is the bread
Which falls from this Hound’s table,–better far

That I had died in the red ways of war,
Or that the gate of Florence bare my head,
Than to live thus, by all things comraded
Which seek the essence of my soul to mar.

‘Curse God and die: what better hope than this?
He hath forgotten thee in all the bliss
Of his gold city, and eternal day’–
Nay peace: behind my prison’s blinded bars
I do possess what none can take away,
My love, and all the glory of the stars.

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Poetry in Translation (CCXV): Anonymous, ROMANIA, “The Ecologic Princess and Prince Charming“, “Prinţesa Ecologică şi Făt Frumos”

September 23rd, 2013 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CCXV): Anonymous, ROMANIA, “The Ecologic Princess and Prince Charming“, “Prinţesa Ecologică şi Făt Frumos” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations, Uncategorized

Once upon a time,
In far-away lands,
There was a beautiful princess
Who just found a frog
Whilst she was contemplating ecologic aspects,
On the shore of an unpolluted lake,
In a green meadow
(recently re-granted by the Constitutional Court).

A fost odată
Ca nici odată
Şi dacă n-ar fi
Nu s-ar povesti.
A fost odată,
Pe meleaguri îndepărtate,
O mandră prinţesă
Care tocmai zări o broască,
În timp ce contempla aspecte ecologice,
Pe malul unui lac nepoluat,
Dintr-o luncă verde,
Lâng-un vechi castel,
(Restituit de Curtea Constituţională).

Adaptare liberă după un poet Anglo-Saxon anonim,
Copyright Constantin ROMAN, London, 2009

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Poetry in Translation (CXXXIX): Novica TADIC (1949-2011, Serbia) “Sonet Nocturn”, “Night Sonnet”

November 9th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CXXXIX): Novica TADIC (1949-2011, Serbia) “Sonet Nocturn”, “Night Sonnet” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Novica TADIC, Serbia
Noapte adâncă plină de inţelesuri
Sub zidurile cetăţii
Tu ma scapi
Din ghiarele balaurului
Călăuzindu-mă abea dezmeticit
În inima cetăţii
Ca să învăţ sa descopăr din nou
Crezul meu
Sa reclădesc încrederea
Să fiu din nou
Un suflet viu
Zămislit din foc si pară
Fiu rătăcitor
Singur şi trist – un Nimic.

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

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Poetry in Translation (CXXXVIII): W.H. AUDEN (1907-1973) – “Epitaph On A Tyrant”, “Epitaf pe Mormântul unui Tiran”

November 7th, 2012 · Comments Off on Poetry in Translation (CXXXVIII): W.H. AUDEN (1907-1973) – “Epitaph On A Tyrant”, “Epitaf pe Mormântul unui Tiran” · International Media, Poetry, quotations, Translations

Epitaph On A Tyrant
W.H. AUDEN (1907-1973)

Perfection, of a kind, was what he was after,
And the poetry he invented was easy to understand;
He knew human folly like the back of his hand,
And was greatly interested in armies and fleets;
When he laughed, respectable senators burst with laughter,
And when he cried the little children died in the streets.

Epitaf pe Mormântul unui Tiran
W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

Perfecţia, din mintea lui, era tot ce voia,
Iar lozincile ce le gândea erau lesne de înţeles;
El ştia pe de rost folia lumii,
Şi era obsedat de forţele terestre şi navale;
Când râdea, cei mai inţelepţi senatori hohoteau de râs,
Iar când plângea, copiii mureau la colţ de stradă.

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

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