Waarom ging ze niet terug, op zijn minst
tot waar ze al geweest was.
De felbegroeide kuststrook
voetstappen nog halfnat in het zand
en de belofte van een landschap in de verte.
Iets leeft op. Een hond tussen de duinen
wacht een antwoord af.
Gevonden. Gekend.
Elke schelp lijkt in het zand verloren.
Als ze gaat, zal ze daar dan vrijers treffen?
Of alleen rotsen, een zomer waarvan niemand weet.
Ithaka laat zich niet halen.
Het vormt zich, als de hond
voor wie de vrijheid lokt en kluiten zwarte aarde.
Zelfs nu nog breekt het als wit schuim tussen de golven door.
Maar alleen zij kent
de weg die een druppel langs haar lichaam maakt
En alleen zij hoort
het azuren net-wel net-niet van de zee.
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all this dutchness will take me a while to work thru, but respond to this i shall!
BeantwoordenVerwijderenokay then, the method. (if you've read the blog, esp the elvis blog you should've seen discussion around poetic versions, but just in case)
BeantwoordenVerwijderenfirst off, obviously i don't speak dutch but with the help of my friend tanja that wasn't too much of a problem. so a 'proper' translation to work from. even so i had problems, particularly with the line
voor wie de vrijheid lokt en kluiten zwarte aarde.
next up, listen to dutch people speaking - the wonders of youtube. then read again. not speaking dutch is a bit like reading old english, you feel you should be able to understand it but it remains just beyond you. so, look at the words, wilfully mistranslate them.
lastly. stop looking at the poem. fix it in your head. rewrite it as it might've soundedin your own language/in your own place. so what you end up with is not a translation, but a version. and here it is
ithaca
and not returning
to retrace
a question
of itself
that field green
of the coastline
footsteps half made
in the sand
half engulfed
already
only the promise
of land shaped
in the distance
yet something lives
a black dog
tossed
in the dunes
waiting
unanswered
to be found
to be known
each shell
beach debris
looks lost
forlorn
shall she go
shall she lovers
take
or are there
the rocks
alone
a summer
unknown
ithaca is not
so easily gained
self shaped
like the dog
freedom
the scent
of the fresh earth
one and the same
breaking
like the white
of the waves
but only she knows
the track
of a single
drop of water
on her body
and only
she hears
the blue cadences
the back and forth
indecisiveness
of the sea
i need to maybe fiddle with it a bit more when i've more time but that's where i'm at now. if you're not up for it please feel free to delete it. if you are, i;d like to stick it up on my blog to see what the others think. let me know. either way, thanks for this - my first attempt at dutch. interesting! lol
I like this! I´ll have to take some more time to comment on it more thoroughly, but I def like the whole process. Not a translation but a version. Cool. I don´t mind if you put it on your blog at all.
BeantwoordenVerwijderen