(no subject)

[mlr]

	Puisque tout passe, faisons	Since everything must pass
	la mélodie passagère;	Let us sing a passing song;
	celle qui nous désaltère,	the one that's sastisfying
	aura de nous raison.	will be so because of us.
	Chantons ce qui nous quitte	Let us sing about whatever
	avec amour et art;	leaves with love and art;
	soyons plus vite	let us be faster still
	que le rapide départ.	than the rapid departure.
		Rainer Maria Rilke
		(A. Poulin Jr.)

Comments

[dewittar.livejournal.com]

Lovely. Say more about it.

[mlr.livejournal.com]

This is quick (not verifying). Rilke was quite fluent in French, he was employed by Rodin (of all people) as a secretary, and lived in Paris for 10(?) years. But only toward the end of his life, did he suddenly start writing French poems. He wrote enough to fill up a book of at least an inch in width - mainly short lyrics. This activity came after the Duino Elegies, and the Sonnets to Orpheus, etc. i.e. after his major work was complete.

This lyric was set to music by Barber & also Paul Hindemith. In my H.S. choir, we sang the Hindemith pieces - they are very brief, but lovely. So, this was actually one of the first poems of Rilke I knew. I later went on to the German poems, which have great power.

A YouTube link to the Hindemith Six Chansons.

With the departure of low_fat_muffin, and other events this week - it came to mind suddenly.

[sandor-baci.livejournal.com]

Everything leaves, so let us sing
a fleeting song that dies;
a song that gratifies
us as its master,

a song to celebrate the things
that leave with love and art;
they speedily depart
so let's sing faster.

I've friended you; I want to see how you get on with Trakl.

[mlr.livejournal.com]

Nice translation!

It's definitely the 3rd & 4th lines of each quatrain that are really hard to render.

(I will add you as a friend also.)