Charles Simic

My Weariness of Epic Proportions

Language: english

Translations: czech (Únava epických rozměrů), german (Mein Überdruss an epischen Verhältnissen), croatian (Moje klonuće epskih razmjera), malay (Kelelahanku Terhadap Perkadaran Epik), portuguese (O Meu Cansaço de Proporções Épicas), russian (Изнемогая от эпических масштабов), serbian (Moj zamor od epskih proporcija), turkish (Destansı Boyutlardan Bıkkınlığım), ukrainian (Утомлений епічними масштабами)

My Weariness of Epic Proportions

I like it when
Achilles
Gets killed
And even his buddy Patroclus –
And that hothead Hector –
And the whole Greek and Trojan
Jeunesse dorée
Are more or less
Expertly slaughtered
So there’s finally
Peace and quiet
(The gods having momentarily
Shut up)
One can hear
A bird sing
And a daughter ask her mother
Whether she can go to the well
And of course she can
By that lovely little path
That winds through
The olive orchard

Translations:

Language: czech

Únava epických rozměrů

Líbí se mi když
Achilla
zabijí
i jeho kumpána Patrokla –
a toho cholerika Hektóra –
a všechnu tu řeckou a trojskou
jeunesse dorée
více méně
odborně zmasakrují
takže je konečně
ticho a klid
(a bohové aspoň na chvíli
sklapnou)
náhle je slyšet
zpěv ptactva
a dceru jak se ptá maminky
zda už smí jít ke studni
a ovšemže smí
tou krásnou pěšinou
která se vine
olivovým sadem

Language: german

Mein Überdruss an epischen Verhältnissen

Mir gefällt es wenn
Achilles
Umgebracht wird
Und auch sein Kumpel Patroklos –
Und der Heißsporn Hektor –
Und die ganze griechische und trojanische
Jeunesse dorée
Mehr oder weniger
Fachmännisch hingemetzelt wird
So herrscht am Ende
Frieden und Ruhe
(Die Götter halten gerade
Den Mund)
Man kann hören
Wie ein Vogel singt
Und eine Tochter ihre Mutter fragt
Ob sie zum Brunnen gehen darf
Und natürlich darf sie gehen
Auf dem lieblichen schmalen Weg
Der sich durch
Den Olivenhain windet

Language: croatian

Moje klonuće epskih razmjera

Volim kad
Ahilej
pogiba
čak i kad njegov kompa Patroklo –
ona usijana glava Hektor –
i cijela grčka i trojanska
Jeunesse dorée
biva manje-više
stručno poklana
pa kad naposljetku nastupe
Mir i tišina
(jer bogovi su načas
utihnuli)
da bi se odnekud začuo
pjev
ptice
i glas kćeri koja pita majku
može li do izvora
i naravno da može
onom krasnom malom stazom
što tako lijepo kroz maslinik
vijuga.

Language: malay

Kelelahanku Terhadap Perkadaran Epik

Aku suka
Bila Akilis
Dibunuh
Juga temannya Patroklus –
Dan si pembengis Hektor
Dan seluruh jeunesse dorée
Yunani dan Troya
Disembelih secara handal
Lebih kurang
Akhirnya ada
Damai dan tenang
(Dewa-dewa didiamkan
buat sementara)
Dapat didengar
Nyanyian burung
Dan si gadis bertanya pada ibu
Boleh tak turun ke telaga
Sudah tentu boleh
Menjejaki denai kecil itu
Yang berliku-liku melalui
Dusun zaitun.

Language: portuguese

O Meu Cansaço de Proporções Épicas

Gosto quando
Aquiles
É morto
E até o seu companheiro Pátroclo —
E o exaltado Heitor —
E toda a juventude dourada
Da Grécia e de Tróia
São chacinados
Com maior ou menor habilidade
Para que haja enfim
Paz e sossego
(Estando os deuses por momentos
Calados)
É possível ouvir
Um pássaro a cantar
E uma filha a perguntar à mãe
Se pode ir ao poço
E claro que pode
Junto daquele carreiro bonito
Que serpenteia por entre
O olival

Language: russian

Изнемогая от эпических масштабов

Мне так приятно, что
Ахилл
Почил
Туда же и Патрокл, его дружок
И этот забияка Гектор —
И вся эта троянская и греческая
Jeunesse dorée
Более или менее
Квалифицированно истреблена
Так что в конце концов настали
Мир и покой
(Боги на одно мгновение
Заткнулись)
Можно услышать
Птичью песенку
И дочка спрашивает у матери
Можно ли ей сходить к источнику
Конечно, можно
Вон той прелестной тропкой
Что вьётся
Между купами олив

Language: serbian

Moj zamor od epskih proporcija

Sviđa mi se
Kada Ahila
Ubiju
Pa čak i druškana mu Patrokla –
I onu usijanu glavu Hektora –
I kad je čitava grčka i trojanska
Jeunesse dorée
Manje ili više
Stručno poklana
Tako da je najzad
Mir i tišina
(Bogovi su za trenutak
Zavezali)
Može da se čuje
Kako peva ptica
I neka ćerka pita majku
Sme li da ode do izvora
Pa naravno da sme
Po toj finoj maloj stazi
Što vijuga
Kroz maslinjak

Language: turkish

Destansı Boyutlardan Bıkkınlığım

Hoşuma gitti
Öldürülmesi
Akhilleus’un
Ve hatta arkadaşı Patroklos’un–
Ve o öfkeli Hector’un–
Ve tüm Yunan ve Troyalılar’ın.
Jeunesse dorée
Az çok
Ustaca katledildi
Böylece sonunda
Barış ve sessizlik oldu
(Tanrılar
geçici olarak kapadılar çenelerini)
Duyulabilir
Bir kuşun ötmesi
Ve bir kızın sorması anasına
Kuyuya gidip gidemeyeceğini
Elbette gidebilir
Zeytinliği
Dolanan
O güzel küçük yoldan

Language: ukrainian

Утомлений епічними масштабами

Як добре що
Ахілл
Загинув
І Патрокл його друзяка
І навіть Гектор-відчайдух –
Що всіх греків і троянців
Jeunesse dorée
Більш чи менш
Майстерно винищили
І ось нарешті
Мир і супокій
(Боги бодай на мить
Заткнулись)
І чутно
Як співає пташка
Як донька питає матір
Чи можна їй піти до джерела
Та звісно можна
Тією гарною стежинкою
Що в’ється
Крізь оливний гай

Charles Simic

* 09.05.1938, Belgrad, Serbia
† 09.01.2023, United States

Charles Simic (born in Belgrade in 1938) emigrated with his family from Yugoslavia to Chicago in 1953. He became a major American poet who, as he says himself, writes and dreams in a language he speaks with an accent. His work has earned awards such as the 2005 Griffin Poetry Prize (for his Selected Poems 1963-2003, 2004) and the Pulitzer Prize. In 2007 he was named as the 15th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress of the USA.

In his work, Charles Simic amalgamates various influences from American greats such as Emily Dickinson, Hart Crane and Theodore Roethke to nonsense verse, children’s verse and riddles to the Serb poets Ivan V. Lalić and Vasko Popa, whom he has translated into American. His poems are profound structures soaked in myth; but - “No myth without a funny bone.” The texts are full of cockroaches with fake identity papers and ants with Quaker hats. Buster Keaton meets Thomas of Aquinas, and Dostoevsky works as a bouncer in a murky nightclub. Simic is also a master of the small, everyday things in poems about coat-hangers, shoes, knives, lost gloves and keys.

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