Poetry Sunday: Yesterday and Today (Lo que va de ayer a' hoy) by Narciso Tondreau (translated by Agnes Blake Poor)

When I read this poem last week, it immediately made me think of the much more famous poem, Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley. I don't know if the poet was consciously mimicking Shelley. After all, who can really say from where a writer's inspiration comes?  But see what you think. Does it remind you of Shelley?

Yesterday and Today

by Narciso Tondreau (translated by Agnes Blake Poor)

Prone lies at length the statue once so fair;
Headless and armless, on the weedy lawn;
Yet still some lovely curve shows here and there
Through clustering ivy like a mantle drawn.

The cracked, stained pedestal of ages tells.
From every cranny lined with velvet moss,
The hum of bee, the chirp of cricket swells;
And silently the lizard darts across.

How long ago, by summer breezes fanned,
Here stood the newborn Venus, fresh and fair;
All palpitating from the master’s hand,
The last touch of his chisel lingering there.

“And surely this shall last!” he proudly thought;
“Fixed in immortal marble is my fame!”
Just here, where human hand has surely wrought,
Some crumbling letters may have spelled his name.

Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,October 10, 2021 at 6:09 AM

    It does have a Shelleyian (perhaps I just invented a word!) about it, but I wonder if one would have the same reaction when reading the original. Translation of prose is difficult enough; no doubt poetry much more so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 10, 2021 at 8:45 AM

      I'm not fluent enough to be a fair judge, of course, but the translation appeared to me to be fairly literal.

      Delete
  2. mudpuddleOctober 10, 2021 at 10:00 AM

    brilliant translation! for some odd reason it reminds me of Hawthorne: his aura of abandoned cemeteries or parks. maybe i'm thinking about "The Marble Faun"...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 10, 2021 at 11:09 AM

      As I said, who knows what inspires writers? Maybe it was Hawthorne.

      Delete
  3. jenclairOctober 11, 2021 at 1:11 PM

    The last stanza, certainly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 11, 2021 at 1:49 PM

      Yes, this addresses the hubris of the sculptor in thinking his work will last for the ages and Ozymandias addresses the hubris of the subject of the sculpture. That was the similarity that struck me.

      Delete
  4. The Butterfly ReaderOctober 15, 2021 at 3:57 PM

    I love the translation! I think it does have a very Shelley-ian feel!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersOctober 15, 2021 at 4:25 PM

      I thought the translation was very true to the spirit of the original.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de...
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...
Read more