I've got only a smattering of German, tho enough to know how to pronounce things; with Rilke I really like a side-by-side edition, German on one & English on the other. Then I can read a poem aloud in the original, and often figure out which part means what, and where the translation differs.
Somehow that led me to craft my own translation of a favorite; my old buddy Olja liked mine so much, she'd share it with others as each Fall came around, for a while. (You'll have to imagine them side by side, and a little of the colloquial American "God" as utterance of mild exhaustion as well as the invocation it is.)
HerbsttagHerr: es ist Zeit. Der Sommer war sehr gross
( ... )
Once in a while I try to make a translation from a poem in a foreign language that has struck me- usually using someone else's translation as a guide. What results often wanders quite a distance from the original.
Good Morning !pigshitpoetJanuary 10 2025, 00:52:10 UTC
i often thought that myself which is your favourite rilke?
Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Quiet friend who has come so far, feel how your breathing makes more space around you. Let this darkness be a bell tower and you the bell. As you ring, what batters you becomes your strength. Move back and forth into the change. What is it like, such intensity of pain? If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine. In this uncontainable night, be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses, the meaning discovered there. And if the world has ceased to hear you, say to the silent earth: I flow. To the rushing water, speak: I am. Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29
As weird as it sounds, I met a German tonight. To make this story clear, native German, born and raised. It was a "friend outing" thing and I asked about linguistic differences based on geography and language (I was at a bar - take that information as a sign of exactly how much fun I am) and she said even within Germany, there are certain areas of the country that she can't understand the people.
I would have difficulty understanding people of the English North-East if they chose to speak broad and fast. I knew a guy from that area once who demonstrated how much he had to modify his accent and choice of words in order to be understood by people like me who had been brought up on standard English.
I think that's where Australia differs from European countries.
I can meet people from the exact opposite part of the country (I'm still in Brisbane so...Perth?) and still understand them, no modification to pronunciation.
Comments 12
wouldn't that be amazing!
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“Mankind owns four things
That are no good at sea:
Rudder, anchor, oars,
And the fear of going down.”
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Somehow that led me to craft my own translation of a favorite; my old buddy Olja liked mine so much, she'd share it with others as each Fall came around, for a while. (You'll have to imagine them side by side, and a little of the colloquial American "God" as utterance of mild exhaustion as well as the invocation it is.)
HerbsttagHerr: es ist Zeit. Der Sommer war sehr gross ( ... )
Reply
Once in a while I try to make a translation from a poem in a foreign language that has struck me- usually using someone else's translation as a guide. What results often wanders quite a distance from the original.
Reply
which is your favourite rilke?
Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower and you the bell.
As you ring, what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29
incredible !
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I don't have a favourite piece- andI haven't read widely- but I keep coming across snippets and thinking, "That's amazing...."
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rilke was thoughtful and insightful
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I think that's where Australia differs from European countries.
I can meet people from the exact opposite part of the country (I'm still in Brisbane so...Perth?) and still understand them, no modification to pronunciation.
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