Adunis’ poetry for the Tel Aviv road
by zoss in poésie
Lisa has a really nice post (including shots of two really nice poems by Darwish and Adunis) about Poetry for the Road,
Excerpts from poems in Hebrew, Arabic and French have been emblazoned on colourful banners and suspended from the trees lining the city’s boulevards; there are also miniature take-home versions in the form of postcards that have been distributed amongst the cafes.She did not attempt to translate Adunis’ poem, and perhaps I shouldn’t have either, but… under the influence of Shajarian’s music and such wonderful words, who can resist? So here’s my attempt. Please be generous with your criticism.
The child I used to be,
once
appeared to me,
a stranger.
He didn’t utter a word. We walked,
glancing at one another in silence. Our strides
a river running astray.
Comment by Lisa — 5/6/2007 @ 16:47
Zoss, your translation is gorgeous! I am going to add it to my post. Thank you very much for the mention - I am really touched.
Comment by zoss — 5/6/2007 @ 18:14
Thanks much Lisa for the kind words, and for sharing the poems to begin with. I tried to ping your post to include a trackback, but it doesn’t show. I am not sure if the problem is on my end or yours. I guess it is not important now, cause I see you’ve linked here already. cheers.
Comment by w — 9/6/2007 @ 8:30
I like!!
Comment by zoss — 9/6/2007 @ 15:03
Thanks W. Means a lot coming (emphatically) from you.
Comment by Sorceress — 25/6/2007 @ 5:48
We need more translators like you as an entire world of poetry is being missed. Thanks Zoss.
Comment by Basil Fawlty — 6/7/2007 @ 5:36
Very nice..