Friday 13 April 2012

NaPoWriMo day twelve: a homophonic poem

So I decided to tackle a poem by Baudelaire to homophonically translate.  This is not as simple as it may sound.  Translating a poem in another language based on sound is difficult when you know the other language, even partially.  I had to rid my mind of all the French I knew and read the language as if I'd never heard it or seen it before.  Anyways, I tackled the first stanza of "l’invitation au voyage."

Mon enfant, ma soeur,
Songe a la douceur
D’aller la-bas vivre ensemble!
Aimer a loisir,
Aimer et mourir
Au pays qui te ressemble!
Les soleils mouilles
De ces ceils brouilles
Pour mon esprit ont les charmes
Si mysterieux
De tes traitres yeux,
Brilliant a travers leurs larmes.

And this is how it turned out:

My own fault, my sweet,
Sponging up delicacies,
Tallying up violent enterprises!
I aim to lose,
I aim to mourn
Or patiently and quietly reassemble.
Lay silent moments
they say, briskly.
But man is free only of shame,
mystery;
but the traitor is you,
brilliantly traversing the length of my arms.

I took some liberties. I think next time I will try German or something a tad more foreign to me.  The challenge was fun though!

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