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Rosie T.
by Rosie T.
22-Jun-2008
 

                 

"the bloodline of the roses has pledged me unto life"

(translation of this quote from forough is my own)*

 

  

and the white bathroom walls

were burgundy and crimson

red red red  

the white bathroom walls

I never dreamed

it would splatter like a geyser

like the martyrs’ fountain

of mashad

that I once saw

in a book of photos

red red red

the waters of mashad

   

and then in the hospital

calm as a womb

they were white white white

the hospital walls

so I never thought

of those red bathroom walls

instead

I did crossword puzzles

 

it is good to exercise the mind in the hospital

it is best not to think at all

 

and I never dreamed

walls could be so white

and i never dreamed

life could be so death

every day

rolling into the next

like an endless stream without stones

and I never dreamed

one could live without time

empty and still

as a zen master

 

timeless and empty as time

 

and the empty food

and the doctors empty

and the bandages empty 

and the white walls empty

and me too empty

white as a japanese funeral

   

and then somehow suddenly 

I’d have to rush to the bathroom

and close the white door

that had no knobs

and whack myself off silly

imagining you

the you you’d never shown me

the you I’d never known

opening places in me

where I’d never gone before

 

and I never dreamed

how blue imagination

and crimson desire

could become so enflamed

within four white walls

of nothingness

 

and then I’d return to my crossword puzzles. 

  

She was only thirty two

when she crashed into the wall

it was burgundy and red

on the car and the wall

she was crimson and vermillion

like a briiliant bird

she was not black like the crow of najaf

 

and

there were only thirty birds

but they all made one large bird

and then the large bird’s reflection

so that makes thirty two

and jesus too they say

was about thirty three

(so that's close enough)

when he was burgundy wine on the cross

 

what is it about that number

 

 

well I’m no martyr

although I tried

I’m no mashad

and I’m no jesus either

but I think one day

i just may find  the simorgh

the vermillion heart of simorgh

 

(I think I am in love with that number)

  

it had been calm as a white womb

within the hospital walls

white as a japanese funeral

timeless and empty as time 

and I never dreamed

I would emerge so crimson

into the first kiss of  wind

into the traffic honking

and all the people hurrying

and all the brilliant lights

and colors

colors everywhere

streams filled with multicolored stones

 

bright bright blue

oh waters of life

   

it is the bloodline of the roses

that has made me so crimson

it is fire and flame

that has pledged me unto life

  

life life life

 

vermillion

 

 

________________________

*Here is the link to my translation of one of Forough's last poems, Tanhaa Sedaast keh Mimoonad, in my opinion her greatest, though not most well-known, work, from which the quote under the title of my poem is taken:

//iranian.com/main/2007/forough-and-me

Jamshid provided the original Persian in the thread under that translation. 

 

 

 

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Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez

.

by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on

.

 


Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez

How do I do it?

by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on

Well, a long time ago, someone told me the following "fake it till you make it" and "keep putting one foot in front of the other .......one day it will be okay". Did it work? I really did not have a choice.

Smile

Solh va Doosti

Natalia


Rosie T.

N.,

by Rosie T. on

"He" apears tp be a she.

 But enough for now.  I'm tired.


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Sorry..

by hey (question?) (not verified) on

I am sorry my friend, it is my mistake... Sometimes I read fast, consequently missing some part. Anyhow your poem or interpretation is very beautiful...

I love "Negah kon" by Forough, here is the Audio:

"> Negah kon

PS – My second first name is Forough, I never like it... but I think it is very beautiful on Forogh Farokhzad…


Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez

Well at least he was still talking to you

by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on

Now, that you have sent him to exterminate himself, he may not chat for a while.

If anyone understands the depths of despair, it is the Translator.

Solh va Doosti

Natalia


Rosie T.

No translator sorry no employment with the UN for you:

by Rosie T. on

No Translator, I'm so sorry but it seems the UN won't be hiring you any time soon.  

But here's a little hint: read the first lines verry very carefully. they're descriptive..

Rosie Tozih
Explanation of Text


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T

by woman (not verified) on

So you read about that pain...


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Dear Rosie,

by Translator (not verified) on

You know what it is. It's the translation of the first part of your poem.

As the 'woman' said:
"I am so sorry you were hurt so much
people call it water under the bridge
but, at times in the dark of the night
when the leaves whisper outside my window
and the night is still
the pain returns to my heart
and lingers"


Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez

I see that the Translator is at it again

by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on

He strikes again. Do you have any idea, what he is saying? Can you send him an e-mail and ask him what is up with him? I wish that he would find a girlfriend already.

Robin,

I think the references that you provided are more than adequate in clarifying matters for the readers.

 

Solh va Doosti

Natalia


Rosie T.

ohhahahahahhhohohohhhhoheeheeheeheehee!!!

by Rosie T. on

oh you mean attila the hound? 

Honey bunny it's been soooooooooo since long i left my beloved Persian language behind because of that OTHER Barney

that I don't even know if I can READ that line anymore...... 

ah well maybe I'll get lucky by my TENTH Iranian lover...this was only #4..................


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شنگرف

Translator (not verified)


*

و دیوارهای سفید حمام

یاقوتی و شاه توتی

سرخ سرخ سرخ

دیوارهای سفید حمام

و من هرگز در خواب ندیدم

که پخش خواهد شد مثل یک آبفشان

مثل فواره شهیدان مشهد

که یک بار دیدم

در کتابی از عکسها

سرخ سرخ سرخ

آبهای مشهد


Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez

I only meant......

by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on

I only meant the following line

"the bloodline of the roses has pledged me unto life"

I know the difficulty of translating an English poem into Farsi. Remember my poem "Set Free"? It took several months and the collaboration of  three different Iranians to do so.

Solh va Doosti

Natalia

PS: It was a good idea to provide the link to the poem in Farsi. It will help them understand better. What about being tortured with Barney?


Rosie T.

Bunny Cake, I could not translate this poem into Persian if I

by Rosie T. on

were threatened with all the tortures of Abu Ghraib.  It's hard enough to translate a poem anyway, I mean like REALLY REALLY hard, but for ME to translte THIS inot PERSIAN is.....a pipe dream....

They will just have to do their best and if they don't understand something they can ask me. as the poster did below, and I will happy to help them.

Always the educator,

Rosie   LOL


Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez

Robin........perhaps

by Natalia Alvarado-Alvarez on

Perhaps you may want to write in Farsi what you translated. It will provide clarity for those who read your original poem.

I don't require an explanation of your poem because I know you.

Solh va Doosti

Natalia


Rosie T.

NO NO NO THE QUOTE IS MY TRANSLATION FROM FF!

by Rosie T. on

THE POEM IS MINE MINE MINE ALONE!!!    LOL!

see my translation of one of Forough's last poems here.  I am the only person who has translated the ending this way, "the bloodline of the roses" and people who know the poem in Persian agree that it's really the best one ever.

Thank you.  I will clarify immediately.

Rosie Tozih

Explanation of Translations

PS  Are crossword puzzles popular in Persian?  teehee


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Rosie jan,

by question? (not verified) on

This is a very nice translation. Thank you!

What is the poem's original name in Farsi?