the sky at sunset last night
During moments of waiting in the day, I had learned more about translating poetry by rereading my own first attempts with online translators and by coming across a different poem yesterday that had been beautifully translated by someone else.
This is my own newest translation of yesterday’s poem by May Ziadeh that I finished just before bed, and I read it now with breakfast. It is an excerpt, the beginning of this poem that would continue on..
Capricious
Grandiose in the deep sky,
the sun said its customary goodbye
to the river, the palm trees,
the sands of this place,
and walked toward the other world.
Then the horizon sent up a sigh
and the heavens were tinged
with lilac and rose,
quivering colors
where lies azure
and the breath
of the zephyr
soften.
Cairo was hidden
beneath a fine mist,
the trees swirling
on the brown banks
of the Nile.
The shadow
fell everywhere,
finding no danger
and covered over safely
the plain and the foam.
*
I will return tonight to read it aloud.
At the bottom of this post is my first try at translating that same poem which I had written by hand.
1 comment