Post by Antenora on Apr 10, 2004 13:21:30 GMT -5
This translation is from a site about Charles Baudelaire. It's fairly literal; I checked some words with a verifying French dictionary. There's also an interesting footnote:
115. Beatrice*
One day, on a burnt, ash-covered ground
Without any greenery, as I was complaining to nature,
And as I slowly sharpened my thoughts -- straying at random --
Upon my heart, like a dagger,
I saw, descending upon my head in broad daylight,
A funereal cloud, swollen with a tempest,
And which carried a flock of vicious demons,
Like cruel and curious dwarves.
They set themselves to staring at me coldly,
And, like passersby before a madmen over whom they marvel,
I heard them laugh and whisper amongst themselves,
Exchanging many a sign and many a wink:
-- "Let us contemplate at our leisure this joke of a man,
This ghost of a Hamlet, imitating his pose,
His gaze indecisive and his hair in the wind.
Isn't it a great pity to see this bon vivant,
This beggar, this actor on vacation, this rogue,
Who, because he knows how to play his role artistically,
Wishes to interest the eagles, the crickets, the streams,
And the flowers in the song of his woes,
And to recite, screaming, his public tirades
To us, the very authors of these old titles?"
I could have (my pride, as high as the mountains,
Dominates the clouds and the shriek of the demons)
Simply turned my sovereign head,
If I had not seen among their obscene troop --
Crime which did not make the sun totter on its tracks! --
The queen of my heart, of matchless gaze,
Laughing with them at my somber distress
And occasionally offering them some filthy caress.
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*In Dante's Commedia, Beatrice is both Dante's earthly beloved and the embodiment of Divine Grace. Having ascended to heaven after her untimely death, she serves as the poet's mentor, sending Virgil to accompany Dante on the journey that will lead him through Hell and Purgatory, and joining him herself when he reaches Paradise.
[Translation by Cat Nilan © 1999]
115. Beatrice*
One day, on a burnt, ash-covered ground
Without any greenery, as I was complaining to nature,
And as I slowly sharpened my thoughts -- straying at random --
Upon my heart, like a dagger,
I saw, descending upon my head in broad daylight,
A funereal cloud, swollen with a tempest,
And which carried a flock of vicious demons,
Like cruel and curious dwarves.
They set themselves to staring at me coldly,
And, like passersby before a madmen over whom they marvel,
I heard them laugh and whisper amongst themselves,
Exchanging many a sign and many a wink:
-- "Let us contemplate at our leisure this joke of a man,
This ghost of a Hamlet, imitating his pose,
His gaze indecisive and his hair in the wind.
Isn't it a great pity to see this bon vivant,
This beggar, this actor on vacation, this rogue,
Who, because he knows how to play his role artistically,
Wishes to interest the eagles, the crickets, the streams,
And the flowers in the song of his woes,
And to recite, screaming, his public tirades
To us, the very authors of these old titles?"
I could have (my pride, as high as the mountains,
Dominates the clouds and the shriek of the demons)
Simply turned my sovereign head,
If I had not seen among their obscene troop --
Crime which did not make the sun totter on its tracks! --
The queen of my heart, of matchless gaze,
Laughing with them at my somber distress
And occasionally offering them some filthy caress.
Previous Poem || Next Poem
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*In Dante's Commedia, Beatrice is both Dante's earthly beloved and the embodiment of Divine Grace. Having ascended to heaven after her untimely death, she serves as the poet's mentor, sending Virgil to accompany Dante on the journey that will lead him through Hell and Purgatory, and joining him herself when he reaches Paradise.
[Translation by Cat Nilan © 1999]
