Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sometimes

Parfois,
Il est bon de sortir
De ma propre
Langue, agenouillez à un
Perspective imparfaite
Grâce à un trou de serrure.
Dans sa minuscule laiton liés
Lumière je etude devenir
Un imbécile.
Bon!

2 comments:

  1. First off, since I never studied French, I wonder if this Google Translate captures the meaning:

    Sometimes
    It is good to get out
    From my own
    Language, to kneel
    Imperfect perspective
    Through a keyhole.
    In his tiny brass bound
    I become light study
    A fool.
    Good!

    One of the things that confused me is that the sense in which you mean "fool"is--AFAIK from literary references I'm familiar with--usually translated as "fou" rather than "imbécile" so I wonder why you chose the other sense.

    Other than that, I love the sense and sensibility of your poem!

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  2. I like the Google translation but it's somewhat out of sequence. Babelfish produced this:

    Sometimes,
    It is good to get out of my own Language, kneel to one Imperfect prospect Through a keyhole. In its tiny brass bound Light I study to become An imbecile. Good!

    But all translations are invited equally in poetry as they comment validly upon my meaning and imbecility. Sometimes in surprising ways, which is fun!

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