Ancient Ocean, Your Waters are Bitter
I had hoped to have the A rebours piece finished by today, but unfortunately life got in the way. In lieu of that, which should hopefully appear tomorrow, some good news about the state of Weird Tales, which you can read here, and as I precursor to a later discussion about the ocean, one of Stéphane Mallarmé’s wonderful poems.
Sea Breeze
The flesh is sad – and I’ve read every book.
O to escape – to get away! Birds look
as though they’re drunk for unknown spray and skies.
No ancient garden mirrored in the eyes,
nothing can hold this heart steeped in the sea -
not my lamp’s desolate luminosity
nor the blank paper guarded by its white
nor the young wife feeding her child, O night!
Away! You steamer with your swaying helm,
raise anchor for some more exotic realm!
Ennui, crushed down by cruel hopes, still relies
on handkerchiefs’ definitive goodbyes!
Is this some kind of squall-inviting mast
that storm-winds buckle above shipwrecks cast
away – no mast, no islets flourishing? . . .
Still, my soul, listen to the sailors sing!
Brise Marine
La chair est triste, hélas! et j’ai lu tous les livres.
Fuir! là-bas fuir! Je sens que des oiseaux sont ivres
D’être parmi l’écume inconnue et les cieux!
Rien, ni les vieux jardins reflétés par les yeux
Ne retiendra cœur qui dans la mer se trempe
O nuits! ni la clarté déserte de ma lampe
Sur le vide papier que la blancheur défend
Et ni la jeune femme allaitant son enfant.
Je partirai! Steamer balançant ta mâture,
Lève l’ancre pour une exotique nature!
Un Ennui, désolé par les cruels espoirs,
Croit encore à l’adieu suprême des mouchoirs!
Et, peut-être, les mâts, invitant les orages
Sont-ils de ceux qu’un vent penche sur les naufrages
Perdus, sans mâts, sans mâts, ni fertiles îlots . . .
Mais, ô mon cœur, entends le chant des matelots!
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Comments
Great poem. I really need to read Mallarmé…in French, as the translation seems to be lacking in expression there, alas.
Posted by: Larry | January 26th, 2011 00:15
Yes, the Oxford translations in general tend to be very straightforward and lacking in stylization. All my collections are dual language though, so I’ll provide the French each time and you can take a look at it yourself.
Posted by: Paul | January 26th, 2011 08:50