The burning embers Of clouds light the darkened sky: This cold, autumn night. Note: This came to mind while walking my dog at night along the river facing Manhattan, seeing the dark sky with clouds yellow and orange, as if burning embers, from the reflected …
Read MoreYosa Buson’s haiku: The sound of water falling
My translation: All around, The waterfall’s sound. A leaf, so young. Or: Near and far, I hear The sound of water falling: A leaf, so young. Yosa Buson’s original Japanese をちこちに滝の音きく若葉かな Pronunciation Google Translator: press speaker button to listen Ochikochi ni Taki no oto kiku …
Read MoreHearing the lark sing
This is a cute little haiku from Basho observing the non-stop singing of the lark, which he never gets tired of listening to, and the lark also never gets tired of singing, no matter how long the day (it’s a double meaning). My Translation Endless …
Read MoreThe story behind the poem on the Statue of Liberty
New York Times: How a Sonnet Made a Statue the ‘Mother of Exiles’ The New Colossus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a …
Read MoreJapanese poem: Autumn in the Field (in the tanka form)
This poem is attributed to the Emperor Tenji in the famous 1235 AD anthology of Japanese poetry, One Hundred People, One Verse Each, but it is unlikely to have actually been written by him and is more likely taken from a folk song. Like all …
Read MoreGustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s “I’m fiery, brunette”
This poem by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (1836-1870) is about wanting the unobtainable in love. Here is a beautiful musical version in Spanish: The translation is pretty straightforward in this case and doesn’t differ too much from the literal translation, except for some rearrangement and omissions to …
Read MoreThe joy of translating
Translating poetry is a special pleasure, both for its challenge and its beauty. It is impossible to take a poem in one language a duplicate it in another, even in closely related languages. The more different the languages are, the more hopeless that effort becomes. …
Read MoreIn the Jewelry District
Walking down the diamond street, Humanity’s depth falls all around. I look into the faces of those I meet, Not trusting a soul that walks the ground.
Read More(a leaf falls) loneliness – E.E. Cummings
l(a le af fa ll s) one l iness This is one of E.E. Cummings’ poems influenced by the imagist movement that paints a visual image with the words of the poem. The movement in turn was partially influenced by Japanese haiku that attempts to …
Read MoreGaze
The languorous touch Of your lips lock me in silence. You stop, face lost of sense, Resting, pillowed, Seeing the distance.
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