Thursday, August 17, 2006

TRANSLATION EXERCISE

THE MOON
I like to sit close to you, the moon
and cherish the journeys throughout the cosmos.
I prefer to share the best olden tales
while sipping syrup and tasting fruits.
Moon, for ages your silver beams
shower the shores and prettifies the seas.
I love to hold every strand of your silver beams
to wrap up my lone soul.
I wish you to lie on my lap
and let us talk about love, trust and humanity.
By:
DARMA MOHAMMAD
Translated and edited from Bahasa Melayu by the author.
[The poem REMBULAN (THE MOON) was formerly published
in Mingguan Malaysia, Sunday, February 27, 2005.]



32 comments:

sue said...

Pak Darma,
nice piece..i really like to look at full moon.

ufukhati said...

sue,

Thank you.

Yes, when I was a child, I used to play under the moonlights. At that time, there was no electricity in the kampung.
We used to argue; what was the colour of the moonlights?

starry said...

Beautiful poem. I love these lines.


I love to hold every strand of your silver beams
to wrap up my lone soul.
I wish you to lie on my lap
and let us talk about love, trust and humanity.

ufukhati said...

starry nights,

Very big thank you.
Let's hear the words singing.

rauf said...

Its like a beautiful song Darma,
moon plays a big role in Urdu poetry too.

Hero said...

pada pendapat saya, sajak tersebut sangat sejagat teladannya. saya melihat bulan itu (dalam konteks sajak ini) sebagai satu "entiti" yang bersifat "sanctuary" atau "safe haven" bagi jiwa terluka atau yang perlu lari mencari tumpuan lain (walau tidak realistik). lebih-lebih lagi dalam menghadapi kedukaan yang dibawa bintang Nabi Daud. :(

ufukhati said...

rauf,

I'm not so familiar with Urdu poetry. But I know Ghazal is one of them. I've read Muhammad Iqbal's poetry and some poems by Faiz Ahmad Faiz. There is a long list of poets but only a few of their works were translated into English. For your acknowlegment, poems by Muhammad Iqbal had been translated into Malay (Bahasa Melayu) quite a long time ago.
Thank you, rauf.

Sdr.scarlet,

Saya tak sangka sdr. meneropong begitu jauh terhadap sajak REMBULAN itu. Memang ia sebuah gambaran yang agak surreal. Saya kaget dengan ketajaman pentafsiran sdr. Mungkin sdr.seorang penulis sajak juga atau pengkaji puisi. Saya tak tahu.
Terima kasih scarlet.

Hero said...

saudaraku Darma,

barangkali nasib kita sama. barangkali saudara menulis sajak itu untuk mengeringkan air mata. barangkali saudara ingin memujuk diri (itulah yang saya buat dengan sajak saudara) melihatkan keadaan di luar sana.

tapi saya bersetuju dengan gaya sajak saudara kerana ia dapat melatih "melihat lebih jauh" waima ia surreal. barangkali dapat membantu mereka yang ingin belajar bersyukur atau memahami rahsia As-Salam.

ufukhati said...

sdr. scarlet,

Apa yang sdr.tafsirkan mungkin saja benar. Jika sdr. melihat dengan mata hati, pasti ternampak lapis-lapis makna dari balik tabir pandangan zahir. Ia memang tak terbaca oleh orang yang "melihat huruf" , tetapi terbaca oleh orang yang "meneroka makna". Saya tidak merujuk kepada puisi saya, tetapi merujuk kepada seluruh karya penulis-pemulis terkenal dunia.

Sebenarnya, pandangan sdr. telah membuka mata fikir saya untuk "meneroka makna" itu terhadap semua karya yang saya sedang baca sekarang.

Terima kasih sdr.

Puan Ainon Mohd. said...

Saya pernah mendengar ghazal di sebuah Kelab Malam di New Delhi, dinyanyikan oleh seorang penyanyi wanita yang jelita, sungguh merdu, tetapi langsung tidak macam bunyi gazal Johor lah!

Unknown said...

Pak Darma,

When you mentioned ghazal, you remind me of Jagjit Singh album which I bought in Delhi.

Jagjit Singh is a reknown ghazal singer in India. Even though I do not understand the language, I can still appreciate the beauty of the ghazal.

Monster Mom said...

If you want to write a song about the moon
Walk along the craters of the afternoon
When the shadows are deep
And the light is alien
And gravity leaps like a knife off the pavement
And you want to write a song about the moon
You want to write a spiritual tune

If you want to write a song about the heart
Think about the moon before you start
Because the heart will howl
Like a dog in the moonlight
And the heart can explode
Like a pistol on a June night

If you want to write a song about
The human race
Write a song about the moon
If you want to write a song about the moon
You want to write a spiritual tune
THEN DO IT
Write a song about the moon

Excerpt from Song about the moon by Simon and Garfunkel

dumbdodi said...

Hey Ufukhati...beautiful piece.
'I wish you to lie on my lap and let us talk about love, trust and humanity'...thats my idea of a romantic evening
I am always waiting for your poetry in English

ufukhati said...

Friends :

Puan Ainon,

Ghazal yang saya sebut itu ialah sejenis puisi dalam bahasa Urdu. Biasanya puisi ini terdiri daripada dua baris serangkap. Saya menyebut Faiz Ahmed Faiz kerana beliau seorang penyair yang menulis puisi bentuk Ghazal di samping puisi bentuk lain. Memang ia juga dinyanyikan.

Puan boleh cuba perhatikan ghazal karya Faiz Ahmed Fais di : www.cs.memphis.edu

Terima kasih kerana mengingatkan saya ghazal di Johor itu yang menggunakan puisi juga. Saya meminatinya.

---------------------

En Jiwa,

Yes, Encik Jiwa. Ghazal is a form of poetry and been used as lyrics in songs.
I liked to read poems (ghazals) by Faiz Ahmed Faiz which were written in Urdu even I didn't understand them. Certainly you have visited this site : www.cs.memphis.edu (for ghazals by Faiz) and www.wsu.edu (for poems by Faiz)or many more.

Thank you En.Jiwa for your comments.

--------------------

junita,

I know you love the lyrics which make the song. It is a very good "poem".
Thank you junita.

----------------------

dumbdodi,

Wow!
Words are melting ddd
only visions are voicing
in my room to "nowhere".

I will write for you next time. I still remembered the other day, you dedicated a poem for me.

Thank you, ddd.

ufukhati said...

dumbdodi,

Line 7 should be read :
......dedicated a poem to me.

Thanks.

dumbdodi said...

Thank you. I love my poem about Salty, I wrote it thanks to you so it had to be dedicated to you.

ufukhati said...

dumbdodi,

These are the magic of words (read : poetry). They penetrate even the hardest seams of the souls.

Again, thakns.

Leyla Shuri said...

Knock, knock...any Fish here?

ufukhati said...

halela,

Yes, halela. We in Kelantan are having series of "feasts" now (in Malaysia too, I guess): the "Kenduri Kahwin". Certainly you miss them.

Hah, I got the "Cahaya Bulan" fish, which is silver in colour. I don't know the scientific name of the fish. I don't think you could find them in Okinawa or maybe you could.

Thanks halela.

Leyla Shuri said...

I cannot understand,
I wish I understand,
I try to understand,
hopelessly I may misunderstand.

You Poets are so deep.

ufukhati said...

halela,

Don't try to understand the poem;
just do try to appreciate.

Take this to mind :
"A poem should not mean, but be."
(Archibald Macleish).

Again, thanks halela.

Unknown said...

Darma, when I was a child, the moon fascinated me. Nothing has changed since then. Lovely.

sue said...

malam bulan dipagar bintang,
nampak seri bila dipandang,
...
bulan bintang lampu alam..

i like this song from Pendekar Bujang Lapuk, bulan dijadikan perlambangan.

ufukhati said...

Christine,

Thank you for coming,
and wish you happy bright night!

---------------------------------

sue,

Itulah lagu dendangan saya tatkala zaman remaja. Ia meninggalkan nostalgia yang indah. Waduh!

Terima kasih sue.

Plus Ultra said...

Yes, you do write lovely poetry, wish u had put the BM version side by side....then perhaps we could appreciate it more, do it again, I will come by soon

ufukhati said...

plus ultra,

Thanks for your suggestion.

iamnasra said...

Liz of blueskytavern.blogspot had been featured in LivingInPoetry blog.

Please do check out the entire Living In Poetry blog which features many other poets and their original works,

ufukhati said...

iamnasra,

Thank you.

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Ufukhati...this is really a lovely poem. I enjoyed it a lot. I have added your blog to my blogroll. I thought you were already on it, but discovered that you weren't Blessings to you.

ufukhati said...

don,

It's a happy day for me.
Thank you very very much.

Kuan Gung said...

Beautiful piece...I love the moon, just the thought creates so many images...great stuff...thank you

ufukhati said...

kuan gung,

Thank you.
I like your poetry too.