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Jaroslav Seifert / George Grie | To be a Poet / Essere Poeta, 1983



To Be a Poet

Life taught me long ago
that music and poetry
are the most beautiful things on earth
that life can give us.
Except for love, of course.

In an old textbook
published by the Imperial Printing House
in the year of Vrchlický's death
I looked up the section on poetics
and poetic ornament.


Then I placed a rose in a tumbler,
lit a candle
and started to write my first verses.

Flare up, flame of words,
and soar,
even if my fingers get burned!


A startling metaphor is worth more
than a ring on one's finger.
But not even Puchmajer's Rhyming Dictionary
was any use to me.

In vain I snatched for ideas
and fiercely closed my eyes
in order to hear that first magic line.
But in the dark, instead of words,
I saw a woman's smile and
wind-blown hair.

That has been my destiny.
And I've been staggering towards it breathlessly
all my life.



Býti básníkem (Original)

Život už mě dávno naučil,
že hudba a poezie
jsou na světě to nejkrásnější,
co nám život může dát.


Kromě lásky ovšem.
Ve staré chrestomatii,
vydané ještě c. k. knihoskladem,
v roce, kdy zemřel Vrchlický,
vyhledal jsem pojednání o poetice
a básnických ozdobách.

Pak jsem si dal do sklenky růžičku,
rozžal svíčku
a počal psát své první verše.

Jen vyšlehni, plameni slov,
a hoř,
ať si třeba popálím prsty!



Překvapivá metafora je víc
než zlatý prsten na ruce.

Ale ani Puchmajerův Rýmovník
nebyl mi nic platný.

Marně jsem sbíral myšlenky
a křečovitě zavřel oči,
abych zaslechl zázračný první verš.



Ve tmě však místo slov
zahlédl jsem ženský úsměv a ve větru
rozevláté vlasy.

Byl to můj vlastní osud.
Za ním jsem klopýtal bez dechu
celý život.



Essere poeta

Da tempo la vita mi ha insegnato
che musica e poesia
sono al mondo le cose più belle
che la vita può darci.
Oltre all'amore, ovviamente.

In una vecchia crestomazia
stampata all’epoca dell’Imperialregia Libreria,
nell’anno in cui moriva Vrchlický,
cercai una trattazione di poetica
e stili di poesia.

Poi misi una rosellina in un bicchiere,
accesi una candela
e cominciai a scrivere i primi versi miei.



Divampi pure la fiamma di parole
e arda,
magari mi bruci le dita!

Una sorprendente metafora val più
che anello d’oro al dito.
Ma nemmeno il Rimario di Puchmajer
a niente mi servì.

Invano raccolsi i pensieri
e spasmodicamente chiusi gli occhi
per udire il primo meraviglioso verso.

Nell’oscurità invece di parole
scorsi un sorriso di donna e una chioma
svolazzante nel vento.

Fu il mio destino.

Dietro di lui ho arrancato
senza respiro per tutta la vita.




Jaroslav Seifert (23 September 1901 - 10 January 1986)
A Nobel Prize-winning Czechoslovak writer, poet and journalist.


George Grie (born 1962) is a Russian-Canadian artist.
One of the first digital surrealism artists, Grie is known for numerous 3D, 2D, and matte painting images. Born in the USSR during the Soviet regime (aka Russian: Джордж Грие or Юрий Грибановский) he did not adopt the conventional and politically correct socialist realism art style.