[New-Poetry] Paolo Ruffilli and Ezra

[Anny Ballardini]

It's a good poem. It reminded me of when I was a child and I had to make the
meaning of the words out. And to learn and understand when *they* were angry
or happy, that had more to do with facial expressions and gestures.

On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 5:40 PM, <jforjames at aol.com> wrote:

> I'm always impressed by those who translate. Congrats, Anny.
>
> I see a Leopold Senghor poem is translated below your group.
> I just picked up a Collected Poems of Senghor's in a used bookstore
> in Waterville ME where I spent more than I intended last Saturday.
> I'll have to see if I can find that same Senghor poem in my book and
> compare it to the version put up on Ezra.
>
> I can't call it translating but a process I've gone thru in the past is
> to take 3 previously translated versions (or more versions, if available),
> along with the poem in its original language, and then using three versions
>
> and the orginal, I put together (or build) a fourth version selecting bits
> and
> pieces of the three, while consulting the original for guidance
> on structure,
> sound and sense (as much I can make out, that is), and often putting
> in my own words and phrases along the way, those elements I believe,
> based on my judgment and scant evidence I've gleaned from the original,
> that will make this new or 'amalgamated translation' the better poem.
>
> This older poem is not about translating per se, but it's related:
>
> In Another Language
>
>
> The poem I'll read for you
> is in a language not our own,
> you will hear and be lost
> in an alien land not unlike love itself
> where those we ask for directions
> can only shrug and point to town.
> There is nothing to know or follow,
> though when I mouth these words
> you may be moved no less for lack of meaning,
> something about a river, the shadow
> of a sparrow upon the wind, or fish
> just under the surface. Don't try
> to understand any more than you would ponder
> a bowl of soup, for it doesn't matter
> if these are words of a recipe or a psalm.
> The tongues cut from an old pair of shoes,
> a shell's ear buried in sand,
> all the more beautiful for what's left unsaid
> or that we are unable to say aloud
> in the vocabulary of lips, grammar
> of our arms. A child singing beneath a willow
> like rain or words under wings of geese
> rising off the lake, hear this
> as you would hear water running over stones,
> with as few words as you can make out,
> like *hand*, like *two*, like *sleep*.
> -
>
> Finnegan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Anny Ballardini <anny.ballardini at gmail.com>
> Sent: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 4:37 pm
> Subject: Re: [New-Poetry] Paolo Ruffilli and Ezra
>
>  Thank you! Yes, that is quite a writeup!
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 10:27 PM, Michael Snider <mandolin at mikesnider.org>wrote:
>
>> Quite a writeup they gave you Anny - you deserve it!
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 4:06 PM, TheOldMole <Opus40-01 at opus40.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Very cool.
>>>
>>> Anny Ballardini wrote:
>>>
>>>>  And Peter Thompson has made my day! I am the featured translator on
>>>> /Ezra: an online journal of translations/
>>>> http://ezratranslation.com/Spring_2009.html
>>>>
>>>> Thank you to Peter Thompson for his hospitality and to Paolo Ruffilli
>>>> for most interesting poetry.
>>>>
>>>> Best wishes, Anny
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Anny Ballardini
>>>> http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
>>>> http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
>>>> http://www.lulu.com/content/5806078
>>>> http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
>>>> I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
>>>> star!
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Tad Richards
>>> Read my NY Writing Careers Examiner column today!
>>> http://www.examiner.com/x-2862-NY-Writing-Careers-Examiner
>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Anny Ballardini
> http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
> http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
> http://www.lulu.com/content/5806078
> http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
> I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
> star!
>
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-- 
Anny Ballardini
http://annyballardini.blogspot.com/
http://www.fieralingue.it/modules.php?name=poetshome
http://www.lulu.com/content/5806078
http://www.moriapoetry.com/ebooks.html
I Tell You: One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing
star!
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