Translations, The Bestest of the Best, EIGHTEEN, Afanasy Fet, "Бабочка," BUTTERFLY

 

Afanasy Fet
(1820-1892)

 

Бабочка

Ты прав. Одним воздушным очертаньем
            Я так мила.
Весь бархат мой с его живым миганьем -
            Лишь два крыла.

Не спрашивай: откуда появилась?
            Куда спешу?
Здесь на цветок я легкий опустилась
            И вот - дышу.

Надолго ли, без цели, без усилья,
            Дышать хочу?
Вот-вот сейчас, сверкнув, раскину крылья
            И улечу.

(written no later than Oct. 25, 1884)

LITERAL TRANSLATION

 You’re right [butterfly narrator speaks to the poet]. It’s just that one outline I trace in the air
That makes me so dear (precious).
All of my velvet with its live (vivacious) twinkling (blinking)
Is just two wings.
 
Don’t ask from where I have appeared,
Where I’m rushing off to.
Here on this soft (light) bloom I have alighted
And now I breathe.
 
Is it for long that I aimlessly, effortlessly
Wish to breathe?
Any second now, with a flash, I’ll spread wide my wings
And fly away.

                                        

                                          Literary Translation/Adaptation by U.R. Bowie

                  Butterfly
 
Look now: one bright flit in the air
And I flaunt my precious bling.
All of this velvet with its flicker-flair
Is only a wing, plus a wing.
 
Don’t ask from whence I’ve come,
Or whither I’m bound when I leave.
Here on this flower in blithe slumberdom
I perch, and breathe.
 
Is it for long, in aimless bliss, astride
My bloom I wish to suspirate?
Just watch: in no time now I’ll flash-flip wide
My wings, fly off,
And dissipate.

Translations: The Bestest of the Best, FIFTEEN, Afanasy Fet, "Шёпот, робкое дыханье," WHISPERING AND TIMID BREATHING

 

[Note from U.R. Bowie: I am re-posting what I consider the best of my translations of Russian poetry]

Afanasy Fet
(1820-1892)

 

Шёпот, робкое дыханье,
           Трели соловья,
Серебро и колыханье
           Сонного ручья,

Свет ночной, ночные тени,
           Тени без конца,
Ряд волшебных изменений
           Милого лица,

В дымных тучках пурпур розы,
           Отблеск янтаря,
И лобзания, и слёзы,
           И заря, заря!..

 1850

                                                              Literal Translation
 
Whispering, timid breathing,
                The trills of a nightingale,
The silver and the swaying
                Of a sleepy brook,
 
Nocturnal light, the shadows of night,
                Shadows without end,
A lot of magical changes
                Of a dear face,
 
In the hazy clouds the purple of a rose,
                The reflection of amber,
And kisses, and tears,
                And the dawn, the dawn!

Literary Translation/Imitation by U.R. Bowie

 

Whispering and timid breathing,

Nightingale’s trill,

Silver sheen of waters seething,

Sleepy brooklet’s dishabille.

 

Noctilucence, nocturne shades,

Lengthy shadows without end,

Alternating glow cascades,

Charm to dear face lends,

 

On hazy clouds a rose-pink stain,

In answer amber’s antiphon, 

And kisses, weeping, silent pain,

And then the dawn, the dawn!

 

Date of Translation: January, 2019

Translations: The Bestest of the Best: SEVEN, Afanasy Fet, "Только в мире и есть, что тенистый," DISTINCTIVE ON EARTH OF ALL THINGS THAT EXIST

 

Afanasy Fet
(1820-1892)

 

Только в мире и есть, что тенистый
Дремлющих клёнов шатёр.
Только в мире и есть, что лучистый
Детски задумчивый взор.
Только в мире и есть, что душистый
Милой головки убор.
Только в мире и есть этот чистый
Влево бегущий пробор.

 

3 апреля 1883

(April 3, 1883)

 

d

 

 Literal Translation

 

Existing alone in the world is the shady

Canopy of slumbering maples.

Existing along in the world is the radiant

Childlike pensive gaze.

Existing alone in the world is the fragrant

Headgear [head-dress/hat] of a dear little head.

Existing alone in the world is the pure [clean]

Slanting-to-the-left parting [of the hair].

 

d

                                            Literary Translations/Imitations by U.R. Bowie

      

1

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is a slumbering maple, its canopied shade.

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is the gleam in the eye of a child, pensive-grave.

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is the fragrance of hat worn on head that’s most dear.

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is a hair-parting, left-leaning, pure and austere.

 

2

 

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the shade-dappled maple of canopied trees.

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the lost-in-thought gleam of a child’s gaze at ease.

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the hat on the fragrance of dear head distressed.

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the pure of a hair-part askew, leaning left.

 

3

 

There’s only one thing in this world that is:

The dapple of slumbering maples in shade. 

There’s only one thing in this world that is:

A radiant spark in a child’s brooding gaze.

There’s only one thing in the world that is:

The fragrance of cap on a dear head at rest.  

There’s only one thing in the world that is:

A clean part in hair, just askew, leaning left.

 

4

 

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is the maple of drowsing-in-canopy trees.

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is the pensive of childlike eye-gleam in the breeze.

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is the fragrant of scarf on dear head debonair.

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is that pure slanting-left of the part in the hair.

 

 

AFANASY FET, Translations into English of "Только в мире и есть..." Four Variants

                                               Nesterov, "Bouquet of Flowers," 1896

Afanasy Fet

(1820-1892)

Только в мире и есть, что тенистый
Дремлющих клёнов шатёр.
Только в мире и есть, что лучистый
Детски задумчивый взор.
Только в мире и есть, что душистый
Милой головки убор.
Только в мире и есть этот чистый
Влево бегущий пробор.

3 апреля 1883

(April 3, 1883)

Literal Translation

Existing alone in the world is the shady

Canopy of slumbering maples.

Existing alone in the world is the radiant

Childlike pensive gaze.

Existing alone in the world is the fragrant

Headgear [head-dress/hat] of a dear little head.

Existing alone in the world is the pure [clean]

Slanting-to-the-left parting [of the hair].

Literary Translations/Imitations

      

                                     1

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is a slumbering maple, its canopied shade.

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is the gleam in the eye of a child, pensive-grave.

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is the fragrance of hat worn on head that’s most dear.

Distinctive on earth of all things that exist

Is a hair-parting, left-leaning, pure and austere.

            2

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the shade-dappled maple of canopied trees.

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the lost-in-thought gleam of a child’s gaze at ease.

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the hat on the fragrance of dear head distressed.

Unique amidst mirth of the things on this earth

Is the pure of a hair-part askew, leaning left.

                                    3

There’s only one thing in this world that is:

The dapple of slumbering maples in shade. 

There’s only one thing in this world that is:

A radiant spark in a child’s brooding gaze.

There’s only one thing in the world that is:

The fragrance of cap on a dear head at rest.  

There’s only one thing in the world that is:

A clean part in hair, just askew, leaning left.

4

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is the maple of drowsing-in-canopy trees.

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is the pensive of childlike eye-gleam in the breeze.

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is the fragrant of scarf on dear head debonair.

The only thing in the world that is . . .

Is that pure slanting-left of the part in the hair.

All translations (with embellishments) from the Russian by U.R. Bowie

Sculpted Thoughts (Monument to Ivan Bunin, Yelets, Russia Sculptor: Yury Grishko)

In his poem "Бюст" A.A. Fet peers at the bust of a genius, "gazes at the flow of sculpted curls on your crown, at the motionless sculpted thoughts inside that sculpted head." What a wonderful image: sculpted thoughts inside the head of a statue. See Night of Denial.

U.R.Bowie, Kiev, 1991

Afanasy Fet: Gogol's Verdict on His Poetry

                                                          Artist: Bato Dugarzhapov

A.A. Foethe (Fet), Russian Poet, 1820-1892

Some of his best poems don't use any verbs. Like this one:

Чудная картина, Как ты мне родна: Белая равнина, Полная луна, Свет небес высоких, И блестящий снег, И саней далеких Одинокий бег. Young Fet once asked the historian and publicist Pogodin to read his poems and tell him what he thought. This was in late 1839 or early 1840, when Nikolai Gogol was living at Pogodin's house in Moscow, as freeloading boarder. Fet would have been only about twenty years old. Pogodin said, "Ja vashu tetradku, pochtennejshij, peredam Gogolju. On v etom sluchae luchshij sud'ja (I'll pass your notebook, my most esteemed dear fellow, on to Gogol. In this case he's a better judge than me.)" Just imagine the trepidation on the part of Fet, while he waited for the verdict from the man who at that time was the most famous writer in Russia. And just imagine the joy, the untold bliss when the verdict  came back: "Gogol skazal, eto--nesomnennoe darovanie (Gogol said that this poet is indubitably talented)."                      Isaac Levitan, Birch Grove