Language: Romanian
Poet: Emilian Galaicu-Păun
Translator: Adam J. Sorkin and Rareșa Galaicu
Region: Moldova
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The last tribute which death can bring
Three poems by Emilian Galaicu-Păun, translated from Romanian by Adam J. Sorkin and Rareșa Galaicu
Emilian Galaicu-Păun, poet, novelist, and essayist, as well as blogger, translator, literary editor, and cultural radio personality in Moldova, has published eleven volumes of poetry. His latest books are “La Grande Mort (Apa.3D)” and “la petite mort (A(II)Rh+eu),” the latter of which contains the poems published here. He has won numerous prizes from the Writers Union of Moldova and the Writers Union of Romania. He was granted the title of Knight of the Order of Honor (2012) and was given the Grade of Officer by the president of Moldova in 2014. Galaicu-Păun additionally is Editor-in-Chief of Cartier, the most notable publisher in Moldova. Two of his books have appeared in English: Living Tissue, 10×10, a novel translated by Alistair Ian Blith (Dalkey Archive), and selected poems Canting Arms translated by Adam J. Sorkin and six co-translators (Deep Vellum).
Adam J. Sorkin has published more than seventy books of contemporary Romanian literature and has received various recognitions including: the Kenneth Rexroth prize (USA), the Ioan Flora prize (Romania), the Poesis prize (Romania), and The Corneliu M Popescu Prize from the Poetry Society (UK) for his translation of Marin Sorescu’s The Bridge.
Rareșa Galaicu, an Assistant of the EU High Level Adviser on Customs and Tax Policy, has over a decade of experience in translation and is a sworn interpreter/translator certified by the Ministry of Justice. She is the poet’s daughter. While on leave from ISU she is Scholar-in-Residence at St. Michael’s College of Vermont.
Waterline
Să tragi
de-un fir
de păr
din cada
de baie
până-o
scoţi de
scalp, în
chip de
Ofelie, pe
Virginia Woolf
(1882–1941) –
de unde
chiar ea
s-a dus
să-şi înece
mormântul,
piatră cu
piatră, şi
a tras-o
curentul…
Waterline
To pull
a strand of hair
from the bathtub
until you
pull her out
by the scalp
in the form of
Ophelia,
Virginia Woolf
(1882-1941)—
she herself
went
to drown
in her grave
stone by
stone and
caught
the current…
Deathline
Ultimul
omagiu
pe care
[moart]ea
i-l poate
aduce lui
Cesare Pavese
(1908–1950)
este să-şi
tragă cu
tuş negru
pleoapele,
panglici
de doliu
purtând
la vedere
cuvintele
unui vers
lung, dat
cu petit:
„Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi”
Deathline
The last
tribute
which
death
can
bring to
Cesare Pavese
(1908-1950)
is to draw
with black ink
on his eyelids
mourning ribbons
wearing
in plain view
the words
of a long
verse, drawn
small:
“Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi”¹
¹ “Death will come and it will have your eyes” (Italian)
„De la musique avant toute chose”
La pian –
Sveatoslav Richter
cântând live în
Piaţa Roşie pe-
un ger de – 10 C
în mănuşi fără
degete Marşul
funebru al lui
Chopin; şi, dacă
tot nu s-a putut
(«из под земли!!!»*)
un sicriu Stradivarius –
nimic nu-i pe măsura
Tătucului Popoarelor
(1879–5 martie 1953),
nu i-ar mai veni numele! –,
cel puţin să ia
cu el un suflet de
artist al poporului,
Serghei Prokofiev
(1891–5 martie 1953).
* (rus) din pământ
“De la musique avant toute chose”
At the piano—
Sviatoslav Richter
playing live in
Red Square
in the frigid cold of -10℃
in fingerless gloves
Chopin’s “Funeral
March”; and as
it was impossible
(“из под земли!!!”)¹
a Stradivarius coffin—
nothing fits
the Father of Nations
(1879-5 March 1953),
his name wouldn’t fit!—
at least to take
with him the soul of
a people’s artist,
Sergei Prokofiev
(1891-5 March 1953).
¹ “Out of the ground!!!” (Russian)
Note from AJS: The title comes from Paul Verlaine’s quote, “Music before all else.”
