Tuesday 24 May 2016

Adonis (Ali Ahmed Sa'id Esber): The Bird


(Tr. James C. Riggan)

I listened:
a swallow over Sannin
roaring in the recorded silence
until its hoarseness,
like a razor, wounds
the city’s chill.


(Tr. Mounah A. Khouri & Hamid Alga)

I listened:
A bird on Mount Sannin
Singing on and on
Until silence prevails,
Until its song becomes
Like the blade of a knife,
Wounding, with hoarseness and weeping,
The city’s chill.


"Adonis" (b. 1930) is the foremost modern Syrian poet, long resident in Paris. The first English version above I suspect is much less faithful to the original, but has more poetry, even if the translator's choice of roaring is a puzzle. The swallow plays an unusual role: nothing is positive in this poem.

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