(In Gina’s Keepsake)
Like on top of Mont Blanc the ice
That neither sun, nor wind can harm,
My silent heart no more ignites
And new passions it will disarm.
Around me millions of stars
Vie to play the coquette and gleam,
Like scattered rays of splendid Mars;
Yet I don’t thaw in the star-beam.
But, when in the hush of the night
- Dreaming in reverie, alone -
On fairy lake of past moonlight
Your swan like image appears, lone;
Then my heart lights up with warm glow,
Like, after the long winter night,
Mont Blanc’s white, perpetual snow,
Glimmer red in the dawn’s sunlight.
Translated/Transliterated from the Hungarian original of János Vajda’s poem: “Húsz ėv mulva”, written in 1876.
© English translation/transliteration by P. J. Oszmann (2003)
© Illustration created in Photoshop (2004)
This Hungarian poem by János Vajda was one of my favourite poems in my misspent youth. Below I give you the original, followed by a word-by-word non-literary translation.
I only wish I had the talent to give - in the English version - all the nuances and subtleties of the original. I tried my best to stay close to the original in form and imagery, but I do not pretend that I could ever give full justice to the sheer beauty of the original in my adopted language. The best I can hope for is to give you a “taster”.
The Original by János Vajda:
Húsz ėv mulva.
(Gina emlėkkönyvėbe)
Mint a Montblanc csucsán a jėg,
Minek nem árt se nap, se szėl
Csöndes szivem, többė nem ėg;
Nem bántja újabb szenvedėly.
Körültem csillagmiriád
Versenyt kacėrkodik, ragyog,
Fejemre szórja sugarát;
Azėrt mėg föl nem olvadok.
De nėha csöndes ėjszakán
Elálmodozva, egyedül -
Mult ifjuság tündėr taván
Hattyúi kėped fölmerül.
És ekkor mėg szivem kigyúl,
Mint hosszu tėli ėjjelen
Montblanc örök hava, ha túl
A fölkelő nap megjelen…
The word-by-word translation.
Like on Mont Blanc’s top the ice,
That neither sun, nor wind can harm,
My silent heart no longer burns;
New passion does not hurt it.
Around me millions of stars
Compete to flirt, shine,
Onto my head sprinkle their rays;
And yet I do not thaw.
But sometimes in quiet nights
Dreaming, alone -
On the fairy lake of past youth
Your swan like image emerges,
And then still my heart lights up
Like in long winter night
The perpetual snow of Mont Blanc, when over
The rising sun appears.
Thank You
Have a wonderful day everyday
Tracey
Thank Your for introducing Poet János Vajda, and for sharing the translated/version of "Twenty years hence. - (Húsz ėv mulva)".
Healthy Long Creative Life, Poet!
Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU
i concur, beautiful in any language! BRAVO!
(((HUGS))) and love, karla.
there is hungarian in my background, i just wish i knew it :)
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in america, karen lynn in texas. :D