Poem translated into a Sonnet in English (Italian sonnet version rhyme pattern could not be kept) trying to keep some of the same meanings and attempting to maintain somewhat a rhyme pattern
See the lasting scent of the white lilies
January 18, 2016
Courtesy sidero75 on deviantart.com
The time unchangeable seasons solstices
Seasons of the heart, song for the dumbstruck
Embracing the pains slender tuning forks
Words unaffordable closed chalices
Tired impenetrable of rock the interstices
The reasons of fear, refrains for change
Impatient colors the storms derange
See the lasting scent of the white lilies
Reasons derision debates interval
The exposed flank many the vultures
Loves confusion trampled offal
Past perfect compounded time of detours
Humor infusions the heart being felled
Imposed silence leaves on three little tours
Courtesy nicky08 on centerblog.net
It is as always very difficult to translate poetry from French into English. I shall just take an example to showcase this which is not due merely to the words but also to the different cultural references. For example the last words of the poem “s’en va trois petits tours” which illustrates well this difficulty in translating some French poems into English:
Trois petits tours alludes to the children’s song, the equivalent of nursery rhymes in English, “Trois petits tours et puis s’en va” which somehow brings to mind a pattern of something coming to play along and then leaving for some other playgrounds elsewhere before coming back again.
At the same time there is an implicit reference to three towers that could be three choices that would lock the poet but we don’t know what is the nature of each tower, whether it could be an ivory tower of isolation or a tower of loss of independence, the tower of a lover, the tower of a tyrant etc. I let you imagine different outcomes as the case may be with your own personal experience 🙂
A very big thank you to Globalinfo4all (https://globalinfo4all.wordpress.com/) who sent me the reference of this fantastic composer Yuhki Kuramoto that just ignited the writing of this poem. My poems are always based on personal experiences but these are somehow dormant inside until a spark ignites them, such as the one today from my friend G4all. Note: I wish people would put clearly their name in their gravatar (available under public display name for your gravatar). You can name your wordpress website whatever you want but it would be really nice if you actually went to your gravatar and put a proper public display name that we could refer to you by (and I mean this for all people who have those mysterious or totally unreadable or “unmouthable” names). We poets and writers love to relate so if you want to remain anonymous, please at least put a fake name that we can call you by 🙂
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