The Swan Poem by Barry Middleton
The Swan
'I remember the maiden slave, wasted, soul sick,
trudging through muddy streets, forever seeking
the lost coconut palms of splendid, tender Africa
beneath tears of immense and misted memory.'
A liberal interpretation:
from The Swan, 'The Flowers of Evil',
by Charles Baudelaire
the city changes just as quickly
the landscape and purity of youth
city blocks or small town streets
of the wistful wondering past
there, in the sunrise, was a pulse
there in the dawn was the swan
bereft of blue dream and cloud
captured, held in ageless grace
but time always curses memory
and whoever has lost their place
must sink like a damning weight
to the river's dark soft summons
longing does not die like cities do
though I stand before the grave
my lovers lost and youth and hope
I still dream of my tropic home
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/4/2024 1:25:54 AM # 1.0.0.1119
'Je pense à la négresse, amaigrie et phtisique Piétinant dans la boue, et cherchant, l'oeil hagard, Les cocotiers absents de la superbe Afrique Derrière la muraille immense du brouillard; ' I always loved these lines from Baudelaire.. And I am really happy to see you pick them up and go through this beauty of a poem to recreate something wonderful.. Once again you are paying homage to a POEM with a POEM.. The fundamental difference between a critic writing a prose essay to critically evaluate a poem and an artist paying homage to another poet by responding with a poem, in my opinion, is that the critic tries to focus on what is said by the poet (I don't agree with those who say critics or criticisms supplement the work) , whereas the poet says, in his complimentary poem, what he feels was left out by the one written by the Master poet to whom he pays a homage.. Your poem is what Baudelaire had left out, perhaps deliberately, for sensible readers to read between the lines.. You have here shown the swan's metaphorical importance in the original according to your perspective and for my money brought something wonderful.. You are correct, cities can change.. A human being can migrate from one to another, but her or his memories, although they fade away, remains.. And even a fading memory can cause a longing.. And that longing might just be at its apogee when a person is dying.... A lot of hopes and dreams to return to the homeland for the old soul of the motherland.. But alas, now at death when the poor person knows there are no hopes.. What will he do? ? Tender regrets, and a death not peaceful... A brilliant one Barry.. For any lover of poetry, this poem is a thing of beauty and thus, a joy to read... Forever.. Thank you.
Thank you Souren. I worked very hard on that poem. I must admit a lot of my work is sloppy. I also do not speak French so I called my epigram an interpretation and not a translation. I hope I did not butcher Baudelaire too badly. I am not a scholar. But I do sometimes come up with something I am proud off and The Swan is one such example.