Gumilev's 'As we were leaving Southampton' (Titanic Premonition)

Titanic leaves Southamptom

The sinking of the Titanic a hundred years ago this week was a powerful blow to the prevailing self-assured mood of the time, the feeling that nature is finally conquered and the human is king. The largest man-made moving object, the unsinkable ship was destroyed by the forces of the unforgiving nature.

For many, it was also an omen for more tragedies to come in the new century. Two years later the first world war started and empires fell.

The feeling was shared by the great Russian poet of the time Nicolay Gumilev. In the middle of 1917, after the collapse of Russian monarchy but before the bolshevik takeover in October, he wrote this poem, sometimes published under the title 'The Omen'.

As we were leaving Southampton
The depths of the sea were blue.

But as we approached Le Havre

Its colours had darkened to black.

Oh yes, I believe in omens

As I do in waking dreams.

Lord, show mercy, save our souls.

Disaster, it's coming our way.

Translated by A.Anichkin

Gumilev took part in an officers' anti-Soviet conspiracy and was shot by the Bolsheviks in 1921. His wife, the poet Anna Akhmatova, and son, the historian Lev Gumilev survived. The poem was not published until 1950s but is now widely known in russophonia – the Russian-speaking world.

In Russian:

Предзнаменование

Мы покидали Соутгемптон,

И море было голубым,

Когда же мы пристали к Гавру,

То чёрным сделалось оно.

Я верю в предзнаменованья,

Как верю в утренние сны.

Господь, помилуй наши души:

Большая нам грозит беда.

Titanic actually sailed from Southampton to Cherbourg in France, not Le Havre, then to Queenstown in Ireland and then across the Atlantic.

Gumilev's text from here. 

Photo from Wikimedia.

Gumilev Translation Award

Read the Russian version of this post here.

Nikolai Gumilëv

The New York literary journal Cardinal Points has announced a translation award dedicated to Nikolai Gumilëv (or Gumilyov, wiki).   

All the information is here: www.stosvet.net/compass
 

The monetary prize is yet to be announced, but the panel and committee are quite impressive, and the prize itself (the compass) is good. Russian-English tandems are welcome and so are translations from literals. 

This year marks 125 years since the birth of Nikolay Gumilyov, as well as the 90th anniversary of his execution by the bolsheviks in 1921. This year's contest is a part of the First International Gumilyov Festival.

The terms are as follows:

We would like to keep it simple: one poem only from each participant (participant's choice). The translation, along with the Russian original, should be sent via email both in the body of the message and as an attached Word file at the Compass Contest email address (compass@stosvet.net) with the words "Gumilyov Contest" in the subject line. Please write your name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address on all pages of the Word file. The contest entry fee is $15 securely paid online through the Cardinal Points donation page. If for any reason – political, geographical, or technical – you are not able to submit your entry fee, please send a request for a fee waiver to the same address.

The submission period starts on April 15th, 2011 (Gumilyov’s birthday) and ends on July 15th. The names of the winners will be announced at the end of August.

A Russian web-site dedicated to Gumilev with a huge collection of his poems is at gumilev.ru.

Read the Tetradki article 'All Creatures Great and Small' which includes Gumilev's rendering of Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

All Creatures Great and Small (Translator’s Practicum)

Sergei Yesenin

Read this article in Russian here

All creatures great and small  – Братьев наших меньших

Idioms are often very difficult to translate because they sit so deeply within the cultural context of the source language and often carry an emotionally or politically charged baggage. If you use an equivalent idiom of the target language, you may lose the cultural colours of the original. If you translate the idiom as it is – as a syntax sequence and not as an idiomatic unit, you may lose the expressivenes of the original. ‘French leave’ (to be absent without good reason)and ‘filer a l’anglaise’ (to leave without saying goodbye) are of the same origin, but no longer mean the same and contain national type-casting which has to be either avoided or qualified in translation. Finding the balance isn’t always easy.

Here is one example where I think I found a pair that play together well.

One Russian idiom for animals is ‘our little brothers’ (“братья наши меньшие”). It comes from the beautiful 1924 poem by Sergei Yesenin ‘We are leaving now, little by little’ (“Мы теперь уходим понемногу”) 

Счастлив тем, что целовал я женщин,

Мял цветы, валялся на траве

И зверье, как братьев наших меньших,

Никогда не бил по голове.

I am happy, I have kissed a woman,

I have slept in grass and  flower-bed,

And I never, like a decent human,

Hit a dog or kitten in the head.

(tr. Alec Vagapov)

The expression is widely used, often as a neutral alternative – just to avoid the repetition of the word 'animals'. It’s reached the point where it has become a cliche. Perhaps that is why ‘all creatures great and small’ popped up in my mind when I was translating a Russian text with the phrase into English.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ is a wonderful 1848 Anglican hymn by Cecil Frances Alexander, but unfortunately, as with all overpopular pieces, it, too, has reached the cliche stage when it is parodied and used in satire. Monty Python made it into ‘All Things Dull and Ugly’. 

So, for translation purposes, we have corresponding meaning, widely recognised idiomatic status, an allusion to Christian and ecological message – and a stale flavour of overuse. 

I haven’t seen a translation of ‘All Things’ into Russian, but ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ by Coleridge, which is said to have been the inspiration for Mrs Alexander’s hymn, was translated in 1919 by Nikolay Gumilev.

Farewell, farewell! but this I tell

     To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!

     He prayeth well, who loveth well

     Both man and bird and beast.

     He prayeth best, who loveth best

     All things both great and small;

     For the dear God who loveth us

     He made and loveth all.

In Russian  (from here):

Прощай, прощай! Но, Брачный

     Гость,

     Словам моим поверь!

     Тот молится, кто любит всех,

     Будь птица то, иль зверь.

     Словам моим поверь!

     Тот молится, кто любит все -

     Создание и тварь;

     Затем, что любящий их бог

     Над этой тварью царь.

Here is a video with the 'Bright and Beautiful' music by William H. Monk based on traditional English melody 'Royal Oak'

And this is a choral adaptation by John Rutter: