translated English-Romanian

Roll the dice

POSTED IN contemporary poetry, translated English-Romanian October 24, 2017

Roll the dice

 

if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
otherwise, don’t even start.
if you’re going to try, go all the
way.
this could mean losing girlfriends,
wives, relatives, jobs and
maybe your mind.
go all the way.
it could mean not eating for 3 or 4 days.
it could mean freezing on a
park bench.
it could mean jail,
it could mean derision,
mockery,
isolation.
isolation is the gift,
all the others are a test of your
endurance, of
how much you really want to
do it.
and you’ll do it
despite rejection and the worst odds
and it will be better than
anything else
you can imagine.
if you’re going to try,
go all the way.
there is no other feeling like
that.
you will be alone with the gods
and the nights will flame with
fire.
do it, do it, do it.
do it.
all the way
all the way.
you will ride life straight to
perfect laughter, it’s
the only good fight
there is.

 

Charles Bukowski

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Arunca zarul

Daca ai de gand sa incerci
mergi pana la capat..
altminteri, nici macar sa nu incepi.
Daca ai de gand sa incerci
mergi pana la capat.
asta ar putea insemna sa pierzi iubite,
sotii, rude, munca si
poate chiar mintile.
Mergi pana la capat.
Poate fi sa nu mananci 3 sau 4 zile,
poate fi sa tremuri de frig
pe o banca in parc.
Poate fi inchisoare,
poate fi luare luare in ras,
batjocura,
izolare.
Izolarea este darul,
toate celelalte sunt un test
al rabdarii tale,
al staruintei
cat de mult vrei sa o faci cu adevarat
si o vei face
in ciuda respingerii si a celor mai nefavorabile sanse
si va fi mult mai bine decat orice
altceva
iti poti imagina.
Daca ai de gand sa incerci
mergi pana la capat.
Nu exista alt sentiment de comparat.
Vei fi singur cu zeii
si noptile vor arde in flacari.
Da-i bataie !
Pana la capat
Pana la capat.
Vei calari viata drept
pana la rasul perfect,
este singura lupta adevarata
care exista.

 

Romanian version, Maria Magdalena Biela

Bluebird

POSTED IN contemporary poetry, translated English-Romanian October 24, 2017

Bluebird

 

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody’s asleep.
I say, I know that you’re there,
so don’t be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Pasarea albastra
E-o pasasre albastra-n inima mea, care
vrea sa iasa
insa mi-s mai tare decat ea
spun, stai acolo, nu am de gand
sa las pe nimeni.
sa te vada.
e-o pasare albastra-n inima mea, care
vrea sa iasa
insa eu torn whiskey peste ea si inhalez
fum de tigara
si tarfele si barmanii
si casierii
habar n-au
ca ea
este in mine.
e-o pasare albastra-n inima mea, care
vrea sa iasa
insa mi-s mai tare decat ea
spun
stai jos, vrei sa ma zapacesti?
vrei sa-mi faci toata munca de belea?
vrei sa-mi arunci pe apa sambetei
vanzarea de carte in Europa?

e-o pasare albastra-n inima mea, care
vrea sa iasa
dar sunt prea smecher, o las sa iasa
doar noaptea uneori
cand toti dorm
spun, stiu ca esti acolo,
asa ca
nu fi trista.
apoi o pun indarat
si ea canta nitel
acolo, nu am lasat-o
chiar sa moara.
si dormim impreuna
asa
cu pactul nostru secret
si asta-i suficient
sa faca un barbat
sa planga, insa eu nu plang.

Tu ?

 

Romanian version, Maria Magdalena Biela

 

Charles Bukowski

One perfect rose / Un trandafir perfect

POSTED IN classic poetry, translated English-Romanian May 27, 2017

rose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One perfect rose

A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet –
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
‘My fragile leaves,’ it said, ‘his heart enclose.’
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
…………………………..
Un trandafir perfect

De cand ne stim o floare mi-a trimis;
Un tandru mesager fara defect,
Pur, parfumat, de roua inc-atins,
Un trandafir perfect.

Limbajul florii scris ca filigranul,
“Eu iti aduc inima lui direct”.
Iubirea si-alesese talismanul :
un trandafir perfect.

De ce n-am bafta sa primesc si eu
O masina perfecta, chiar discret ?
Nu, soarta-mi este sa primesc mereu
Un trandafir perfect.

Romanian version, Maria Magdalena Biela

One Art / O arta

POSTED IN classic poetry, translated English-Romanian May 26, 2017

  • Magdalena

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One art

The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

—Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
the art of losing’s not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

Elizabeth Bishop

…………………………….. ……………

O arta

Arta de-a pierde nu-i greu a deprinde;
atatea lucruri par a fi menite
a disparea, incat nu mai surprinde.

Sa pierzi zilnic ceva spre-a te destinde,
chei de la usa, ore ostenite.
Arta de-a pierde nu-i greu a deprinde.

Apoi arta de-a pierde ti-o extinde:
locuri si nume sa le faci pierite;
Nimic nu-i un dezastru, doar depinde.

Pierdui al mamei ceas si, far-a vinde,
doua din trei din casele iubite.
Arta de-a pierde nu-i greu a deprinde.

Pierdui orase dragi, si cat cuprinde
un continent, tari, rauri mostenite.
Imi lipsesc insa drama nu s-aprinde.

Te pierdui chiar pe tine (vocea cu ras, un gest
iubit) . N-ar trebui sa mint. Toate-s vadite.
Arta de-a pierde nu-i greu a deprinde
desi pare-a fi (Scrie!) ce pretinde.

Romanian version Maria Magdalena Biela

Dust if you must

POSTED IN contemporary poetry, translated English-Romanian May 23, 2017

Dust If You Must

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture, or write a letter,
Bake a cake, or plant a seed;
Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.

Rose Milligan

……………………………………………………………………………….

Sterge praful de vrei

Sterge praful de vrei, insa n-ar fi mai bine
Sa pictezi ori sa scrii cuiva despre tine,
Sa faci un tort, sa plantezi o samanta ;
Intre « vreau » si « trebuie » sa faci diferenta.

Sterge praful de vrei, insa nu sunt ani multi,
In rauri sa-noti, sa te cateri pe munti;
Muzica sa asculti si carti sa citesti ;
Sa-ti faci prieteni, viata s-o traiesti.

Sterge praful de vrei, insa lumea ti-e cantul
Cu soarele-n ochi si prin plete cu vantul ;
Un zbor de fulgi, o ploaie de vara,
Asta zi nu mai vine iara si iara.

Sterge praful de vrei insa tine minte
Batranetea vine si nu-i prea cuminte.
Iar cand tu vei pleca ( si aici n-ai de-ales)
In urma-ti ramane doar praf, s-a-nteles..

Romanian version,  Bielka

The red dress

POSTED IN classic poetry, translated English-Romanian June 3, 2016

lilas_A

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red dress

I always saw, I always said
If I were grown and free,
I’d have a gown of reddest red
As fine as you could see,

To wear out walking, sleek and slow,
Upon a Summer day,
And there’d be one to see me so
And flip the world away.

And he would be a gallant one,
With stars behind his eyes,
And hair like metal in the sun,
And lips too warm for lies.

I always saw us, gay and good,
High honored in the town.
Now I am grown to womanhood….
I have the silly gown.

Dorothy Parker

…………………………………………………….
Rochia rosie

Mereu visai, mereu am zis
Pe cand voi fi crescut
O rochie de-un rosu-aprins
Sa am mi-ar fi placut.

S-o port mergand cu pasi usori,
Pe-o dulce zi de vara,
Si unul dintrei trecatori
M-ar lua din lume-afara.

Si el ar fi un cavaler,
Cu ochi de stele ardente,
Si parul de-un lucind mister,
Si buze inocente.

Si ne-am vazut pe noi mereu,
Tu-respectatibil, eu-gentila.
Acum femeie sunt si eu…
Am rochia inutila.

Romanian version
Maria Magdalea Biela

The road not taken / Drumul neales

POSTED IN translated English-Romanian October 3, 2015

road-not-taken

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The road not taken / Drumul neales

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

…………………………………………………………….

Drumul neales

Doua cai se bifurcau intr-un codru-auriu,
Cu regret n-am putut pe-amandoua
s-aleg si loial calator sa le fiu,
am privit indelung primul drum, pan’ tarziu,
s-a pierdut prin tufisuri cu roua;

Am ales cel’lalt drum, cu nimic mai prejos,
doar mai imbietor sa-l strabat,
era plin cu iarba, dorind pas vanjos;
si totusi cu nimic alt’ mai avantajos,
ambele cai m-asteptau la umblat.

In acea dimineata, spre-a m-ademeni,
mi-aratau iarba lor necalcata de pas
Oh, lasai primul drum pentru o alta zi!
Indoindu-ma, totusi, ca voi mai reveni,
din clipa in care alt drum m-a atras.

Ar trebui sa-mi spun cantul meu
peste timp, peste ani, c-un oftat:
doua drumuri s-au deschis intr-un codru, si eu
am ales drumul de mers mai greu,
Si ast-a fost tot ce-a contat.

Romanian version, Maria Magdalena Biela

 

 

 

A question / O intrebare

POSTED IN translated English-Romanian September 8, 2015

eu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A question

A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.

Robert Frost
……………………………..

O intrebare

Aud: Priviti-ma in astre
si drept graiti, voi, pamanteni
de-i dreapta plata vietii voastre
cu trup si suflet adanci rani.

Romanian version Maria Magdalena Biela

Do not stand at my grave and weep / Sa nu plangi la mormantul meu

POSTED IN translated English-Romanian September 8, 2015

Do not stand at my grave and weep

poem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Sa nu plangi la mormantul meu.
Nu zac acolo in somn greu.
Sunt mii de vanturi respirand.
Sunt diamant de nea, lucind.
Sunt soarele din coptul grau.
Sunt ploaia Toamnei, tandru brau.
In dimineti, cand te trezesti,
iti sunt o soapta la feresti,
de pasari prinse-n zbor tacut.
O stea lucind in noapte-ti sunt.

Sa nu plangi la al meu zenit.
Nu sunt acolo. N-am murit.

 

Romanian version, Maria Magdalena Biela

i carry your heart with me / iti port inima cu mine

POSTED IN translated English-Romanian September 8, 2015

cafea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

i carry your heart with me / iti port inima cu mine

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e.e.cummings

………………………………………………………………………………………

Iti port inima cu mine (o port in inima mea)
Nu raman niciodata fara ea (oriunde
merg eu, si tu mergi , draga mea; si orice e facut
doar de mine este si fapta ta, iubito)
Nu ma tem
de soarta (caci tu-mi esti soarta, dulcea mea)nu vreau

nici o lume (pentru ca, frumoaso, tu esti lumea mea, adevarata mea)
si tu esti tot ceea ce luna a insemnat vreodata
si tot ceea ce soarele va canta vreodata esti tu.
asta-i cea mai ascunsa taina, ce nimeni n-o cunoaste
(asta-i radacina radacinilor si mugurul mugurilor
si cerul cerurilor unui copac numit viata; ce creste

mai sus decat sufletul poate spera ori mintea se poate ascunde)
si asta-i minunea care desparte stea de stea.

Iti port inima (o port in inima mea).

Romanian version, Maria Magdalena Biela

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