C'est Ce Que C'est.(Translation) . Poem by Michael Walker
C'est Ce Que C'est.(Translation) .
C'est ce que c'est, le petillant sous pied de la bande a bulle
dans laquelle le nouveau jouet d'Andre est venu,
petillant comme le debris de vesicule sur la laisse
d'un pays vers lequel j'ai rame
pendant cinquante ans, mon coup d'oeil de derriere un tamarin
sur le boeuf et l'ane regardant a la derobee le prospectus pour une pantomime,
la boite de cigarettes incrustee, le pachet peint a trefle,
le Nouveau Testament relie en cuir rouge
etendu ouvert, Lordie, sur ses genoux
pendant que je reflechis aux regles de ce jeu obscure
qui semble manquer une piece, sinon plus.
Sa voix au football americain venant et allant
comme si saisie par un vent de la mer.
Ma mere. Le jouet etendu sur le tapis.
Les cinquante ans que j'ai essaye d'y reussir.
-' It Is What It Is'.Paul Muldoon.' Paul Muldoon. Selected Poems 1968-2014', p.163.
For the poet, there seems to be a piece missing in the game of life, 'the country toward which I've been rowing/ for fifty years'. His mother is gone forever. 'Shipping out for good'. He has been trying 'to put it together' for fifty years. I interpret this as striving for success and recognition as an academic and poet. Paul Muldoon has certainly achieved this: he is one of the foremost poets in the modern world. Yet he does not come across as a dry pedant, a know-all; but more like a rock star.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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8/29/2026 10:59:55 AM # rel_20260827T145718Z_a0f1bd3
