Paul Celan, "Stimmen VIII" (Sprachgitter, 1958)

Keine
Stimme – ein
Spätgeräusch, stundenfremd, deinen
Gedanken geschenkt, hier, endlich
herbeigewacht: ein
Fruchtblatt, augengroß, tief
geritzt; es
harzt, will nicht
vernarben.

Suomentanut P.P.R.:

Ei enää
ääni – myöhä-
möly hetkenvieras, ajatuksillesi
aiottu, tässä, loppujen
lopuksi vierellä valvoo: emi-
lehti silmänsuuri, syvään
uurrettu; tekee
pihkaa, ei
arpea.

See "Cultivation of Intimacy"

I exported the previous texts in English from this blog to my other weblog, "Cultivation of Intimacy" – which I had previously shied away from publishing – see the new combined blog for more details. I decided to keep the Viita translation here. Maybe I will keep this one for blogging in Finnish?

"Spring" ("Kevät", 1947) by Lauri Viita

I thought I might as well share this translation of a poem by Lauri Viita (1916-1965).

Räntäseula seudun päällä,
saappaan alla lotinaa,
lantajuova järven jäällä —
kesä tulee, ihanaa!

Upon the field — a sieve of sleet —
Slush is splashing underboot.
Upon the lake — a dungy strake —
'Twill be summer — wonderful!

_________

Maybe "dungy strake" (a previous version had a word rhyming with "sleet") calls for a commentary, in view of the non-Finnish-speaking readership? Back in the day, fertilizer — manure, dung — used to be transported, in early spring, to the fields with sley across the ice (we have ca. 60.000 lakes in Finland). "Strake" is a synonym of "streak" ("strake" rhymes with "lake").