This is a translation of జాగరణ రాత్రి, and it took some trial, tribulation and travail even, I tell you.
Dark is this night
Now
Thirst is the state
(seeking in the dark)
Song of night lives
Soul-rending
On edge of thought
In mind's sky
Shines a lone star
Crossing the Styx of life
With no coin for the ferryman
Dreamlike my childhood
Meadow of night
On paths my lost self
Wanders astray upon
Lie strewn tales of lost sorrows
Of everyone ever
Dark is this night
Now
Quest is the state
Rises a sliver of dawn moon
A doubt every moment
Seek to solve
Riddle inside riddle
Finding solution at end
In recesses of self
This night
In the sky of my eye
Flares a white flame
Sudden lightning
Bleaches the east
Last journey of renunciation
Into sanctum of self
Dawn enters heart
Stage right.
మళ్లీ కలుద్దాం
Later, people.
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2 comments:
A clean translation, Lali. Some nuances are lost, but it reads wonderfully well by itself, too. I like the symbolism too.
Ash- Yes, I had to let go of some word plays, but it was a fraught thing, the translation, I tell you.
Poetry that relies on symbols and shorthand, that requires some thought seems to have fallen out of fashion, though. These are the days of instant gratification, after all.
So you got the joke? It stemmed from Shed's latest: Tribunal leader's right to help Old Labour (7) travail
Not many people know the original meaning of the word, right?
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