[lit-ideas] Re: The Oxford Book of Tamil Verse
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:52:43 EST
In a message dated 2/25/2009 4:54:40 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
Thank you for your time and consideration, though they
have come to nothing yet.
----
Don't say _that_!
It have kept me entertained many a night.
In fact, I've attempted a translation for Rmanujan Kuruntokai
Red earth and pouring rain
What could my mother be to yours?
What kin is my father to yours anyway?
And how did you and I meet ever?
But in love our hearts have mingled
as red earth and pouring rain
குறிஞ்சி - தலைவன் கூற்று
யாயும் ஞாயும் யாரா கியரோ
எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம்முறைக் கேளிர்
யானும் நீயும் எவ்வழி யறிதும்
செம்புலப் பெயனீர் போல
அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாங்கலந் தனவே.
-செம்புலப் பெயனீரார்.
1 Red earth and pouring rain
2 What could my mother be to yours?
3 What kin is my father to yours anyway?
4 And how did you and I meet ever?
5 But in love our hearts have mingled
6 as red earth and pouring rain
1 குறிஞ்சி - தலைவன் கூற்று
2 யாயும் ஞாயும் யாரா கியரோ
3 எந்தையும் நுந்தையும் எம்முறைக் கேளிர்
4 யானும் நீயும் எவ்வழி யறிதும்
5 செம்புலப் பெயனீர் போல
6 அன்புடை நெஞ்சம் தாங்கலந் தனவே.
-செம்புலப் பெயனீரார்.
I'm using 'red' for தலைவன். Your marginal note reads, 'purple'. I hope you
are joking.
Is that the earth, கூற்று, I hope My dictionary also has 'soil'. Your
idea to translate it as 'planet' may work within a Greek neo-testamental
context, but not here. I would think.
குறிஞ்சி _has_ to be 'pouring'. I like the concreteness of your 'cats
and dogs' but not all hyperbole translates.
I'm taking the modal, யாரா, upon your advice, as 'epistemic', not 'modal'.
And I _will_ use 'mother' -- not 'aunt'. It is the same iconograph for கியரோ
, I know (how can I forget your address in "Kinship terms in Middle Tamil"
at Bombay?) but somehow to ask about the parentage between your aunt and mine
sounds to me, er, less poetic. Ditto for 'father' நீயும் (line 4). Bob's
your uncle, but there's not evidence that avuncularity is at play in the
couplet. Your suggestin to translate "யானும்" (same line 4) as "for Christ's
sake" I find anachronic. I opted for 'anyway'. யானும் I rewrote 'meet'.
"End up making love to each other" _is_ the direct, but can only confuse the
Memphis congregation who already have problems with the King James version
'know'. Yes, நெஞ்சம் can also mean 'kidney', but I think _heart_ is meant
here.
And again, தாங்கலந் I prefer to render as the poetic love rather than
f-ck. Incidentally, is this a venpa? I mean, you write: "Some classical Tamil
poetry forms, such as Venpa, have rigid grammars for rhyme to the point that
they could be expressed as a context-free grammar." And I guess you are right
that context-free grammar cannot really hurt. But then again before lecturing
on context-free grammar, don't you think they need to repractice the
context-bound one?
Have fun,
JL
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