***
Sing, old man, on the bloody guitar, and
Let your fingers show natural bent.
I would choke in this drunken enchantment
You're my last and my only friend
Don't you look at her wrist and the blooming
Silky shawl hanging down her head.
I was looking for joy in this woman
But I found perdition instead.
I didn't know love was infection,
I didn't know love was a plague.
She just came and feigning affection
Drove the rowdy mad, no mistake.
Sing, and let me remember, brother
Our fidgety youthful whirl.
Let her kiss, pet and fondle another,
Ah, this beautiful wicked girl!
No, no, wait. I don't blame her or bully.
No, no, wait. I don't damn or disgrace.
Let me sing now about yours truly
To the sound of this string of base.
Rosy vault of my days is streaming.
I've got plenty of golden dreams.
I have petted so many young women,
Touched and squeezed them, governed by whims.
Yes! There is bitter truth of the world
When a child I caught sight of that truth:
Troops of hounds, excited and wild,
Taking turns lick a bitch all in juice.
Why be jealous of her? I don"t get.
Being sick would be mere pretext.
Our life is just bed-sheet and bed.
Our life is a kiss and a vortex.
Sing, old man! In the fateful sphere
Of these hands is a fated end.
Tell them all to f... out of here.
I will never be dead, my friend.
1922
My translation is more faithful to the original:
ReplyDeleteSing, sing on a cursed guitar
Your fingers dance and bend.
You would choke in smoke and tar,
My only one and the last friend.
Don’t let your eyes be glued to gold
Nor the silk that shines immensely.
In that woman happiness I sought
And found my ruin accidentally.
I wasn’t aware that a deep love
Is a disaster, plague, an arrow!
It approached with a closed eye
And blew the mind of a farrow.
Sing, my friend, let the time reverse
Bringing back our old dawn’s shine,
Let other men be fed with caress
Of surviving trash, a beautiful swine.
Please, stop, I won’t touch her!
Please, stop, I’m not cursing!
Let me sing about myself,mon cher
On the fat string that is sparkling.
The cube of my days shows clearly,
There is still ancient gold in soul.
Many maidens I kissed passionately
Many women I squeezed and cajoled.
There is a vivid truth on earth
I saw it even with a child’s eye,
Everyone licks a bitch on heat
All dogs lining and ready to fly.
Should I be jealous of her?
As a such face shame and all?
Our life is a bed and cover!
Our life is a kiss and fall!
Sing, sing, let hands wave farewell-
A fatal blow will cause fatal end!
Listen, let them all go to hell,
I will never, never die, my friend!