Saturday 27 April 2019

A few last poems

As I said last time, I have the poem translations to finish off. So we have translations of Homer, which are the next three posts, then a lot of Sappho, which is the post after those, and then we have a number of other poems which I will throw into this post, which will therefore admittedly be a huge mishmash. Let me list those poems.

  1. London by Blake, which I translated to Italian, verse 3 between 22 and 23 Sep 2011 (actually, on 22/9/11 during English class I made the "original" incomplete version below, and commented «L’Italiano non si piega a rendere poeticamente questa poesia: non c’è proprio verso», «Italian doesn't lend itself to translating this poem poetically: there really is no way»), verses 2 and 4 on Jan 22 2012, and verse 1 on May 8 2012, keeping the rhyme scheme but using hendecasyllabics instead of the 9-syllable lines that would correspond to the original meter;
  2. Correspondances by Baudelaire, which I translated to English and Chinese, keeping the meter (and the rhymes in English too), «sometime after Easter 2012 and before that summer», hahahaha no; so:
    • As far as I can tell, I only got to this thing on 9/7/12; indeed, that's the date where, at 13:53, I last edited the earliest versions of it, the English being as below, and the Chinese being given as "original" below, which is then sent to my corrector that same day at 14:54; the guess was probably based on the expectation that I would have translated this when I met it in school, hence why after Easter (Italian literature only got to that period after Easter) and before the summer (school was over sometime in June), but it was wrong, apparently;
    • The corrector only got around to this on 10/9/12, when he sent an annotated version at 10:00; the annotations lead to the intermediate version;
    • I then metabolized the corrections and produced the below final version by 16:32 the same day;
    For whatever reason, this poem never made it into the files up till 2013;
  3. The final couplet of Shakespeare's "When I do count the clock that tells the time", which I translated to Italian on Sep 16 or 17 2010, originally with the variant form «E nulla contro il tempo fa difesa: / Sol prole che lo sfidi con'/se ti ha presa»; fun fact: IIRC it is this sonnet that I completely transcribed into IPA according to what I could reconstruct to be Shakespeare's pronunciation from the Great Vowel Shift diagram on Wikipedia; I don't feel like completing the translation of sonnet 12 now, but maybe in the future…
  4. Ellens dritter Gesang verse 1, aka verse 1 of the original text of Schubert's Hail Mary, which I translated musically (and almost keeping the rhymes) into Italian on Feb 6 2011, with "Vergin" appearing in the place of earlier "Madre" on Feb 21;
  5. Modern English version of the first few lines of the Geste of Robyn Hode and his meiny, which I translated sometime in spring/summer 2009, after bumping into the poem while doing research on Robin Hood for an English project and deciding to translate it integrally; the meter and rhymes were kept (modulo some eye-rhymes), and some edits were done in the summer of 2012; I give here both the edited and unedited translations; it seems I had a problem with the "except"-ive use of "but", e.g. «There was none inch of his body / But it was worth a groom» meaning «There was no inch of his body / That wasn't worth a (whole) man», which I originally mistranslated as «There wasn't an inch of his body / But it (the body) was worth a groom»; the file I found with the original version was created 1/4/2008 at 14:30 and edited 7/4/2008 15:14, so the translation was done, in its original, within the latter date, and started within the former; and then, out of the blue, I read «Post quem [rosarium] herbam cæsam eferimus et cartellam paro cum Ballatam de Robin Hood repperi et partim traduxi. Ind’in lect» (After the Rosary, we take out the cut grass, and I prepare the schoolbag after finding and partly translating the Ballad on Robin Hood»; excuse me, what? Wasn't this done all in 2008? Well, as it turns out, the 2008 translation only got to l. 36 (that he loved all the most), and then on 11/5 I translated the rest… which I completely lost on the way to the blog! I will not count this as a lost translation since no edits were made to the original at this point save for completing the line «every day before he diner» exactly as I then presumably recompleted it in 2012.

The only part of the order that isn't random was that "Chantars no pot gaire valer" is the last one, because it had two translations only and I was too lazy to do two tables to have the centered second translation in the middle of the two-column part :), but now that I've moved it to this new post, the order is indeed completely random :). Let's see all of that!



I wander thro’ each charter’d street,
Near where the charter’d Thames does flow,
And mark in every face I meet,
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant’s cry of fear,
In every voice, in every ban,
The mind-forg’d manacles I hear.

How the Chimney-sweeper’s cry
Every black’ning Church appalls;
And the hapless Soldier’s sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls.

But most, thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlot’s curse
Blasts the new born Infant’s tear,
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse.




La Nature est un temple où de vivants piliers
Laissent parfois sortir de confuses paroles ;
L’homme y passe à travers des forêts de symboles
Qui l’observent avec des regards familiers.

Comme des long échos qui de loin se confondent
Dans une ténébreuse et profonde unité,
Vaste comme la nuit et comme la clarté,
Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se répondent.

Il est des parfums frais comme des chairs d’enfants,
Doux comme les hautbois, verts comme les prairies,
Et d’autres, corrompus, riches, et triomphants,

Ayant l’expansion des choses infinies,
Comme l’ambre, le musc, le benjoin et l’encens,
Qui chantent les transports de l’esprit et des sens.
自然是一个寺,那里生活的桓
有时候让些困惑的言语出来;
人类那里去过标志的森林,在
它们的标志用熟悉的目光看。

像长的,从遥远改变得很困惑
在黑暗的深深的同一性,好大
就像黑夜和就像光闪,的声答,
气味,颜色和声音一为别呼作。

并有气味就像儿子的肉爽的,
就像双簧管甜,就像草原绿色,
和其它,腐败的,丰富的,凯凯的,

有无边无际的事物的扩张的,
就像琥珀,麝香,安息香和香烛:
它们歌唱精神和感觉的运输。
自然是一个寺,那里生活着桓
有时候让些困惑的言语出来;
人类从那儿穿过符号之森,
被 它们用熟悉的目光注视着

就像从远处飘来的悠长的回声变得困惑,
在晦涩和深奥的统一中,
浩渺如黑夜与光,
美味,色彩和声音交相呼应

如婴儿嫩肉般新鲜的气味,
如双簧管般悦耳,如草原一般青绿,
还 有其它的,腐败的,丰富的,喜悦的

有着无边无际的食物的扩张,
就像琥珀,麝香,安息香和香烛:
它们歌颂精神和意识的传递。
自然是一个寺,那里生活着桓
有时候让些困惑的言语出来;
人类那里穿过符号的森,并来
被那里的符号用熟悉的眼看。

就像悠长的回声无法被分清
当从远处来,晦涩深奥统一里,
浩渺如黑夜与光般一样,每一
美味,色彩和声音都交相呼应。

有如婴儿嫩肉般新鲜的美气,
如草原般青绿,双簧管般甜蜜,
还别的,腐败的,丰富以及凯欢

有着无边无际的事物的扩展,
就像琥珀,麝香,安息香和香息:
它们歌颂精神和意识的狂喜。




And nothing ’gainst time’s scythe can make defence
Save breed to brave him when he takes thee hence.




Ave Maria! Jungfrau mild.
Erhöre einer Jungfrau flehen
Aus diesem Felsen starr und wild,
Soll mein Gebet zu dir hinwehen.
Wir schlafen sicher bis zum Morgen,
Ob Menschen noch so grausam sind,
O Jungfrau, sieh der Jungfrau Sorgen,
O Mutter, hör ein bittend Kind!
Ave Maria!




LITHE and listen, Gentlemen,
That be of free-born blood:
I shall you tell of a good yeoman,
His name was Robin Hood.
Robin was a proud outlaw,
The while he walked on ground;
So courteous an outlaw as he was one
Was never none y-found.
Robin stood in Barnèsdale,
And leaned him to a tree;
And by him stood Little John,
A good yeoman was he.
And also did good Scathèlock,
And Much, the miller’s son;
There was none inch of his body,
But it was worth a groom.
Then bespake him Little John
All unto Robin Hood:
‘Master, an ye would dine betimes
It would do you much good.’
Then bespake him good Robin:
‘To dine I have no lest,
Till that I have some bold baron,
Or some uncouth guest,
Till that I have some bold baron
That may pay for the best,
Or else some knight, or some squièr
That dwelleth here by West.’
A good mannèr then had Robin;
In land where that he were,
Every day ere he would dine
Three masses would he hear:
The one in worship of the Father,
The other of the Holy Ghost,
The third was of Our dear Lady
That he loved alder-most.
Robin loved our dear Lady;
For doubt of deadly sin
Would he no company do harm
That woman was therein.
‘Master,’ then said Little John,
‘An we our board shall spread,
Tell us whither we shall go,
And what life we shall lead;
‘Where we shall take, where we shall leave,
Where we shall abide behind,
Where we shall rob, where we shall reave,
Where we shall beat and bind.’
Per ogni strada vago, sto vicino
Al letto del Tamigi, e in ogni viso
Che vedo, i segni del dolor ravviso
E della debolezza

In ogni grido d’uomo, in ogni strillo
Di terrore d’Infante, in ogni voce,
In ogni divieto,


Come il grido dello spazzacamino
Spaventa ogni Chiesa che s’annerisce;
E il sospir del soldato al[=dal] mal destino
Giù dal Palazzo in sangue si finisce.

Ma il peggio, a mezzanotte per la via
Sento puttane giovani gridare
Maledizion che ai piccol strappan via
Lacrime, e il matrimonio rovinare.
Vago per ogni strada cartierata,
Vicino al letto del Tamigi, e vedo
Che dal dolore ogni faccia è segnata
E dalla debolezza, e ben lo credo!

In ogni grido d’Uomo, in ogni strillo
Di terrore d’Infante, in ogni voce,
In ogni divïeto, odo lo squillo
Delle manette che la mente cuoce.

Come il grido dello spazzacamino
Spaventa ogni Chiesa che s’annerisce;
E il sospir del soldato dal destino
Mal, dal Palazzo in sangue giù finisce.

Ma il peggio, a mezzanotte in strada sento
Giovani troie urlar maledizioni
Al pianto dei neonati e, come un vento,
Con piaghe rovinare i matrimoni.




Nature a temple is where living pillars will
From time to time a few confusèd words let out;
Man through forests of symbols there doth walk about
That him observe with looks that are familiar still.

Just like long echoes that mix up from far away
Within a tenebrous and profound unity,
As vast as night and light unto the mortal eye,
Good scents, colours and sounds to one another say.

There’s scents that are as fresh as infant flesh can be,
As sweet as oboes, and as green as grasslands are,
And others, rich, triumphant, and corrupted, see,

That, just like infinite things, expand to way afar,
Like amber, musk, benzoin and frankincense: those we
Can hear the transports sing that senses and spirit see.
Zìrán shì yīgè sì, nàlǐ shēnghuó de huán
Yǒu shíhou ràng xiē kùnhuò de yányǔ chūlái;
Rénlèi nàlǐ qùguò biāozhì de sēnlín, zài
Tāmen de biāozhì yòng shúxī de mùguāng kàn.

Xiàng zhǎng de, cóng yáoyuǎn gǎibiàn de hěn kùnhuò
Zài hēi'àn de shēnshēn de tóngyīxìng, hàodà
Jiùxiàng hēiyè hé jiùxiàng guāng shǎn, de shēngdá,
Qìwèi, yánsè hé shēngyīn yī wéi bié hū zuò.

Bìng yǒu qìwèi jiù xiàngérzi de ròu shuǎng de,
Jiùxiàng shuānghuángguǎn tián, jiùxiàng cǎoyuán lǜsè,
Hé qítā, fǔbài de, fēngfù de, kǎikǎi de,

Yǒu wúbiān-wújì de shìwù de kuòzhāng de,
Jiùxiàng hǔpò, shèxiāng, ānxíxiāng hé xiāngzhú:
Tāmen gēchàng jīngshén hé gǎnjué de yùnshū.
Zìrán shì yī gè sì, nàlǐ shēnghuózhe huán
Yǒu shíhòu ràng xiē kùnhuò de yányǔ chūlái;
Rénlèi cóng nàr chuānguò fúhào zhī sēn,
Bèi tāmen yòng shúxī de mùguāng zhùshìzhe

Jiù xiàng cóng yuǎn chù piāo lái de yōucháng de huíshēng
Zài huìsè hé shēn'ào de tǒngyī zhōng, [biàn dé kùnhuò,
Hàomiǎo rú hēiyè yǔ guāng,
Měiwèi, sècǎi hé shēngyīn jiāo xiāng hūyìng

Rú yīng'ér nèn ròu bān xīnxiān de qìwèi,
Rú shuānghuángguǎn bān yuè'ěr, rú cǎoyuán yībān qīnglǜ,
Hái yǒu qítā de, fǔbài de, fēngfù de, xǐyuè de

Yǒuzhe wúbiān wújì de shíwù de kuòzhāng,
Jiù xiàng hǔpò, shèxiāng, ānxíxiāng hé xiāngzhú:
Tāmen gēsòng jīngshén hé yìshí de chuándì.
Zìrán shì yī gè sì, nàlǐ shēnghuózhe huán
Yǒu shíhou ràng xiē kùnhuò de yányǔ chūlái;
Rénlèi nàlǐ chuānguò fúhào de sēn, bìng lái
Bèi nàlǐ de fúhào yòng shúxī de yǎn kàn.

Jiùxiàng yōucháng de huíshēng wúfǎ bèi fēnqīng
Dāng cóng yuǎn chù lái, huìsè shēn’ào tǒngyī lǐ,
Hàomiǎo rú hēiyè yǔ guāng bān yīyàng, měi yī
Měiwèi, sècǎi hé shēngyīn dōu jiāo xiāng hūyìng.

Yǒu rú yīng’ér nèn ròu bān xīnxiān de měi qì,
Rú cǎoyuán bān qīnglǜ, shuānghuángguǎn bān tiánmì,
Hái bié de, fǔbài de, fēngfù yǐjí kǎihuan

Yǒuzhe wúbiān-wújì de shìwù de kuòzhǎn,
Jiùxiàng hǔpò, shèxiāng, ānxíxiāng hé xiāngxī:
Tāmen gēsòng jīngshén hé yìshí de kuángxǐ.




E nulla contro ’l tempo ti difende:
Sol prole che lo sfidi se ti prende.




Ave Maria! Mitē vērgīne.
Ascolta una vergin che ti prega
Da quella āspra rūpe, deh,
Che la preghiēra mïa ti vēda.
Dormiam fino al mattin sicūre,
Per quanto uōm crudēl può far,
O Vergin, guarda a vērginali cūre,
O Madre, ōdi un bimbo pregar!
Ave Maria!

Hearken and listen, Gentlemen,
that be of free-born blood:
I shall tell you of a good yeoman,
his name was Robin Hood.
Robin was a proud outlaw,
The while he walked on ground;
so courteous an outlaw as he was one
was never ever found.
Robin stood in Barnèsdale,
and leaned against a tree;
and by him stood Little John,
a good yeoman was he.
And all so did good Scathèlok,
and Much, the miller’s son;
there wasn’t an inch of his body,
That wasn't worth a groom.
And then spoke up our Little John
All unto Robin Hood:
“Master, if you would dine soon
it would do you much good”.
Good Robin then spoke up, and said:
“To dine I have no lust,
Until I have some bold baron
or some unknown guest,
Until I have some bold baron
that may pay for the best,
or else some knight or some squire
that dwells here in the West”.
A good manner had Robin then:
whate'er land he was in,
every day before he dined
three masses he would hear:
one in worship of the Father,
the other of the Holy Ghost,
the third was for our dear Lady
that he loved all the most.
Robin loved our dear Lady;
For fear of deadly sin
He would do no company harm
In which a woman was.
“Master,” then said Little John,
“If we our board shall spread,
Tell us whither we shall go,
And what life we shall lead;”
“Where we shall take, where we shall leave,
Where we shall abide behind,
Where we shall rob, where we shall reave,
Where we shall beat and bind,”
Hearken and listen, Gentlemen,
that be of free-born blood:
I shall tell you of a good yeoman,
his name was Robin Hood.
Robin was a proud outlaw,
While he walked on ground;
so courteous an outlaw as he was one
was never found.
Robin stood in Barnèsdale,
and leaned against a tree;
and by him stood Little John,
a good yeoman was he.
And all so did good Scathèlok,
and Much, the miller’s son;
there wasn’t an inch of his body,
But it was worth a groom.
The spoke Little John
to Robin Hood:
“Master, if you would dine soon
it would do you much good”.
Then good Robin spoke to him:
“To dine I have no lust,
till I have some bold baron
or some unknown guest,
till have some bold baron
that may pay for the best,
or else some knight or some squire
that dwells here in the West”.
Robin then had a good manner:
whatever land he was in,
every day ? he dined
three masses he would hear:
one in worship of the Father,
the other of the Holy Ghost,
the third in worship of our dear Lady
that he loved all the most.
Robin loved our dear Lady;
For fear of deadly sin
He would do no company harm
In which a woman was.
“Master,” then said Little John,
“If we our board shall spread,
Tell us whither we shall go,
And what life we shall lead;”
“Where we shall take, where we shall leave,
Where we shall abide behind,
Where we shall rob, where we shall reave,
Where we shall beat and bind,”

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