Linguistic Treason

Dorothy Parker--A Pig's Eye View of Literature

It's impossible to translate "A Pig's Eye View of..."--too much of a pun. Possibly, "O vedere din cocina" (a view from the pigsty"), but I went for "o perspectiva sumara" (a brief view). Otherwise, fun little poem; I wish I knew it in college when I was actually studying this trio!

A Pig's-Eye View Of Literature by Dorothy Parker The Lives and Times of John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron Byron and Shelley and Keats Were a trio of Lyrical treats. The forehead of Shelley was cluttered with curls, And Keats never was a descendant of earls, And Byron walked out with a number of girls, But it didn't impair the poetical feats Of Byron and Shelley, Of Byron and Shelley, Of Byron and Shelley and Keats.

O perspectivă sumară asupra literaturii de Dorothy Parker Vieţile şi vremurile lui John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, şi George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron Byron şi Shelley şi Keats— Un trio de lirici vestiţi. Fruntea lui Shelley avea cârlionţi Şi Keats niciodată n-avu neamuri conţi, Curta fete Byron cu alţi bagabonţi, Dar ca poeţi nu fură nicicând stăviliţi, Nici Byron nici Shelley, Nici Byron nici Shelley, Nici Byron nici Shelley nici Keats.

Dorothy Parker--One Perfect Rose

Dorothy Parker is not nearly as famous in Romania as she is in the US, and that's, frankly, a shame. Here's one of her most famous poems in my inaccurate rendition. I wanted to preserve the abab rhyme all over (notice there are only two rhymes in the whole poem)--which gave way to quite a bunch of linguistic treasons:

- "deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet"--basically, "pure" and "scented" have no equivalent in the translation--but the meaning is roughly preserved;

- I added three "extra" epithets: "cocheta" for "flower" (first stanza); "suav" (suave) for the "language of the floret" (2nd stanza), and "desueta" (old-fashioned) for her "fate" in the last stanza. Yes, to preserve rhythm/rhyme. Leave me alone.

Dorothy Parker One Perfect Rose A single flower he sent me, since we met.      All tenderly his messenger he chose; Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet--     One perfect rose. I knew the language of the floweret;    "My fragile leaves," it said, "his heart enclose." Love long has taken for his amulet    One perfect rose. Why is it no one ever sent me yet    One perfect limousine, do you suppose? Ah no, it's always just my luck to get    One perfect rose.

Dorothy Parker Un trandafir perfect Ne-am întâlnit, şi-o floare el mi-a trimis, cochetă.    Cu grijă mesagerul şi l-a ales, direct Din inimă, cu roua încă sclipind, discretă—,    Un trandafir perfect. Ştiam suavul grai vorbit de-acea floretă    “Gingaşele-mi petale ţin inima-i din piept.” Căci dragostea de mult şi-a luat drept amuletă    Un trandafir perfect. De ce nu îmi trimite nimeni o perfectă,    Frumoasă limuzină, oare-i drept? Ah, nu, aceasta-i soarta mea, mai desuetă:    Un trandafir perfect.