Poetic-Verses from ATHANASE
Spring Intropathy (English)
for Norton Hodges
'When we read old books...'
Tchao Yi
My soul, Norton, is covered with stars,
you know this, my Friend.
The gods too know it,
for they hung the living torches
on the walls of my soul!
Today I want lilies of the valley,
lilies, lilies, lilies of the valley,
lilies of the valley and lilacs
and the melancholy fragrance of old books!
That's why my soul sparkles, my Friend,
its face fully turned towards the ocean of the sky,
the only human star poised
among the true stars sailing
the sea routes of the firmament!
Today I want lilies of the valley,
lilies, lilies, lilies of the valley,
lilies of the valley and lilacs
and the melancholy fragrance of old books!
I want my love to be universal, my dear Norton,
I want to love everything passionately without understanding.
But isn't loving already a kind of setting in order?
Today I want lilies of the valley,
lilies, lilies, lilies of the valley,
lilies of the valley and lilacs
and the melancholy fragrance of old books!
Isn't this a metaphysics without hope?
A gnoseology without charity?
Yet I believe in it, Norton, I know that everything is everything
and that this everything is everything is for ever
and that no one can deny another
their part in eternity's eternity!
Today I want lilies of the valley,
lilies, lilies, lilies of the valley,
lilies of the valley and lilacs
and the melancholy fragrance of old books!
You can hear the earth tremble in my faith,
I am wholly forged from survival, from pulsating life without limit.
The spring times of the centuries, those that withdrew into silence,
those that advanced into the tumult,
leave the scent of narcissi between my teeth.
Today I want lilies of the valley,
lilies, lilies, lilies of the valley,
lilies of the valley and lilacs
and the melancholy fragrance of old books!
You know that all the seasons will be my birthday guests
that all beauty will become manifest in my every word!
Roses, roses, roses, let me walk among roses,
let me sleep among roses!
Let me sleep, at last!
Today I want lilies of the valley,
lilies, lilies, lilies of the valley,
lilies of the valley and lilacs
and the melancholy fragrance of old books!
Yes, a lily of the valley
to grace the soul of every poet!
A lilac branch
to glorify every poem!
Is this too much to demand?
Tell me, Norton my friend,
my English poet of genius,
is this too much to ask?
Today I want lilies of the valley,
lilies, lilies, lilies of the valley,
lilies of the valley and lilacs
and the melancholy fragrance of old books!
translated from the French of Athanase Vantchev de Thracy by Norton Hodges
04.05.07.
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Spring Intropathy (English)
Spring Intropathy (English)