Myth of Arrival

All this translating gives me a heady feeling; as if I am gobbling on ballad mongering; omnivorous with Modernism and chewing up rhapsodism. There are several Armenian artists I would like to find on the Internet, not because I like to gab and blab over e-mail but that I am always curious if my translation sings … or just burns up on re-entry; Diana Der-Hovanessian; Peter Balakian; Araxy Tatoulian; Margarit Tadevosyan. If anyone knows how to contact them, please drop me a line. Or, for that matter, anyone in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, and Nice who knows both languages wants to give a shout back, you might just make a new friend, an'ker. As they say thank you, shnor'hakal'utsoon.

Here is the second stanza from The Drunken Boat:

II.
I did not care for other crews or cargoes carrying Flemish wheat or English cotton when my ferrymen could no longer haul me I forgot everything and drifted away into the ferocious undercurrent

J’étais insoucieux de tous les équipages, porteur de blés flamands ou de cotons anglais quand avec mes haleurs ont fini ces tapages Les Fleuves m’ont laissé descendre où je voulais.

Ես չէի հոգում ուրիշ նավավազմերի կամ նավաբեռերի համար, որ կրում եին ֆլամանդական ցորեն կամ Անգլիակամ բամբակ, երբ իմ լաստավարն այլևս չէր ձգում ինձ, ես մոռանում էի ամեն ինչ և քշվում էի հեռուն վայրենի ստորջրյա հոսանքով:

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Scantily Clad Info Dump, Translations, Armenian Translations, Writing Poetry, French Translations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.