Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Great Regulars: Pretty sweet. The roots of stjärnbilderna

mean literally "stars-pictures." No way to get at that in a translation. Hör man is a little tricky, because in English it's the oddly flat "one hears," or the awkward passive "is heard." Robinson gives us

A storm from the north. It is the time of rowanberries.
Awake in the night he hears--far above the horned tree -
the stars, stamping in their stalls.

Quiet, intensely active. "Horned" isn't in the original, but I rather like it. And he decides not to use the sprawling Latinate constellations, going for the brief, glittery stars. Yes.

Some things we lose.

from John Timpane: The Philadelphia Inquirer: This is poetry to prize, from a Nobel winner

~~~~~~~~~~~

No comments :