Looking for original language texts

[jjhunter]

I'm posting some favorite poems-in-translation this week to the comm poetry, and would love some help tracking down the original language texts to include with the English translations. Does anyone know where I could find the original texts for the following poems? (Links, when included, go to the relevant posts to be edited at poetry.)

• Breyten Breytenbach's "Breyten prays for himself" [Afrikaans]


• Tanikawa Shuntarō's "Sadness" [Japanese]


• Tomas Tranströmer's "Sketch in October" [Swedish]


• Herberto Padilla's "Man on the Edge" [Spanish] - all set! Many thanks to fixdrk


• Yevgeny Yevtushenko's "Hand-Rolled Cigarettes" [Russian]

Comments

Found the Transtromer

[spiralsheep]

Comment posted @ poetry:

I don't have time to read these for typos &c but, as requested by the op, the Swedish is online:

http://johnirons.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/tomas-transtromer-poem-from-paths-1973.html

http://www.babelmatrix.org/works/sv/Tranströmer,_Tomas-1931/Skiss_i_oktober

Enjoy! :-)

Re: Found the Transtromer

[jjhunter]

Thanks again - very much appreciated. :o)

[oyceter]

Found the Tanikawa! (The title is more "Sadness Is," which I mention only because he seems to have a very famous poem titled only "Sadness" (かなしみ) that made this hard to google).

http://www1.odn.ne.jp/~cce60050/kotoba/200303.html

*悲しみは*（谷川俊太郎）

悲しみは
むきかけのりんご
比喩ではなく
詩ではなく
ただそこに在る
むきかけのりんご
悲しみは
ただそこに在る
昨日の夕刊
ただそこに在る
ただそこに在る
熱い乳房
ただそこに在る
夕暮れ

悲しみは言葉を離れ
心を離れ
ただここに在る
今日のものたち

[jjhunter]

Excellent, thank you! I've edited the original post to add it in. :o)

[fixdrk]

I've found the Spanish one.

1) I don't know why isn't "The man on the edge", since "el" means "the", and not having it sounds like any man, and not The Man.
2) There's another thing about the translation, "no se extraña" was translated as "surprised", but 'extrañar' can also mean 'miss', so, the man doesn't miss living in the dark part, he doesn't care, he's indifferent to it.
3) There's no indication of time in "Es un decapitado en la alta noche", so I don't know where they took "He is headless at two in the morning" off. "En la alta noche" could be easily translated as "late in the night".
4) I don't know if "He stops dead" is the best translation to "Se para en seco", it literally means "he stops suddently".

Anyway, just some observations.


El hombre al margen

Él no es el hombre que salta la barrera
sintiéndose ya cogido por su tiempo, ni el fugitivo
oculto en el vagón que jadea
o que huye entre los terroristas, ni el pobre
hombre del pasaporte cancelado
que está siempre acechando una frontera.
Él vive más acá del heroísmo
(en esa parte oscura);
pero no se perturba; no se extraña.
No quiere ser un héroe,
ni siquiera el romántico alrededor de quien
pudiera tejerse una leyenda;
pero está condenado a esta vida y, lo que más le aterra,
fatalmente condenado a su época.
Es un decapitado en la alta noche, que va de un cuarto al otro,
como un enorme viento que apenas sobrevive con el viento de afuera.
Cada mañana recomienza
(a la manera de los actores italianos).
Se para en seco como si alguien le arrebatara el personaje.
Ningún espejo
se atrevería a copiar
este labio caído, esta sabiduría en bancarrota.

https://www.literatura.us/padilla/fuera.html

[jjhunter]

Thank you so much for tracking this down, and for your excellent notes on translation!

In addition to adding the original text to the post at poetry, would you be comfortable with me quoting your notes with credit and linking back to this thread if anyone would like to discuss this with you further?