Andromeda321
19-April-2006, 05:39 AM
Hey everyone,
I just did a rough translation of a Hungarian poem to counter a friend who told me he couldn't love astronomy as he saw no practicality in it. I can't think of anything else to do with it and sort of like how it turned out, so I figured I'd post it for those who'd appreciate it. :)
For the record, the poet Kanyadi Sandor wrote this as his response to the launching of Sputnik, and it has since become a pretty famous in Hungarian.
Thoughts Beneath the Stars
by Alexander Kanyadi
I looked a long time, that night
At the shining stars scattered about.
I watched them there, by and by,
Until they slowly went out.
I daydreamed. For thoughts
The skies above vastly loomed
And the peace within me then
Is from where all my hopes bloomed:
My child's dream got two bey ponies
And hitched them onto Goncol's Cart, [Big Dipper]
So I drove them on the Warrior's Road [Milky Way]
With pride and joy within my heart.
On my travels I met many friends
But came to a halt at the moon:
That shepherd saw my horses
And wanted to trade at a fine tune.
We struck a deal, and I bought a ticket
Onto a rocket tall and great.
(About the year 2000
Must have been the journey's date.)
Then, as I wore no jacket,
My back began to get chilled
So I let go of the rocket
And down back to the Earth I spilled.
Worldly things grew around me:
The monotonies that fill each day.
Dawn was breaking, and the stars
Began shining from further away.
The sky grew sickeningly large
And then it sneered at me, "You know
Perhaps you'll die without
Having seen Rio de Janeiro.
"Perhaps your voice won't go further
Then that towering pine tree
Which straddles the horizon
And, I note, for you feels pity.
"And you want to dare, to believe
To dream of another world?"
From the nearby river Olt
The foggy tendrils curled.
The dew reached up to my knees
And the marks I left there were plain
But I know, if the night is good,
My stubborn dream will begin again.
I'll finish what time measures of me!
I'll recieve, if needed, a hundred scars
We just have to believe and we'll find ourselves
There amidst the shining stars!
I just did a rough translation of a Hungarian poem to counter a friend who told me he couldn't love astronomy as he saw no practicality in it. I can't think of anything else to do with it and sort of like how it turned out, so I figured I'd post it for those who'd appreciate it. :)
For the record, the poet Kanyadi Sandor wrote this as his response to the launching of Sputnik, and it has since become a pretty famous in Hungarian.
Thoughts Beneath the Stars
by Alexander Kanyadi
I looked a long time, that night
At the shining stars scattered about.
I watched them there, by and by,
Until they slowly went out.
I daydreamed. For thoughts
The skies above vastly loomed
And the peace within me then
Is from where all my hopes bloomed:
My child's dream got two bey ponies
And hitched them onto Goncol's Cart, [Big Dipper]
So I drove them on the Warrior's Road [Milky Way]
With pride and joy within my heart.
On my travels I met many friends
But came to a halt at the moon:
That shepherd saw my horses
And wanted to trade at a fine tune.
We struck a deal, and I bought a ticket
Onto a rocket tall and great.
(About the year 2000
Must have been the journey's date.)
Then, as I wore no jacket,
My back began to get chilled
So I let go of the rocket
And down back to the Earth I spilled.
Worldly things grew around me:
The monotonies that fill each day.
Dawn was breaking, and the stars
Began shining from further away.
The sky grew sickeningly large
And then it sneered at me, "You know
Perhaps you'll die without
Having seen Rio de Janeiro.
"Perhaps your voice won't go further
Then that towering pine tree
Which straddles the horizon
And, I note, for you feels pity.
"And you want to dare, to believe
To dream of another world?"
From the nearby river Olt
The foggy tendrils curled.
The dew reached up to my knees
And the marks I left there were plain
But I know, if the night is good,
My stubborn dream will begin again.
I'll finish what time measures of me!
I'll recieve, if needed, a hundred scars
We just have to believe and we'll find ourselves
There amidst the shining stars!