virtual poetic detective

So I had what I thought would be an easily executed inspiration of simply doing a series of my favourite poems [by definition doomed to remain incomplete]. this is of course followed by the classic impulse to initiate with orpheus. eurydice. hermes. obviously the first choice. low and behold what do i discover but that all the quality translators protect their work from us virtual vultures… not a single half decent copy to be found, and i spent some considerable amount of hours searching into the netherweb. I suppose i could check the local library to see what editions they have, however i have my favourite copy in colorado, so i figure i’ll just wait the couple of weeks. serendipitously, this may be the ideal example to demonstrate my obsession with the comparative translation game. in the meanwhile, allow me to refer you to a couple of old (short) standbyes: e.e. cummings’ self explanatory masterpiece, and a lesser-known but so subtle and effective piece by W.H. Auden (also rather challenging to track down):

 

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 a sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than the 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)

Untitled [5.] by W.H. Auden

Watch any day his nonchalant pauses, see
His dextrous handling of a wrap as he
Steps after into cars, the beggar's envy.

"There is a free one," many say, but err.
He is not that returning conqueror,
Nor ever the poles' circumnavigator.

But poised between shocking falls on razor-edge
                    Has taught himself this balancing subterfuge
                    Of the accosting profile, the erect carriage.

                          The song, the varied action of the blood
                          Would drown the warning from the iron wood
                          Would cancel the inertia of the buried:

                          Travelling by daylight on from house to house
                          The longest way to the intrinsic peace,
                          With love's fidelity and with love's weakness.