Transference Volume 8 Issue 1 | Fall 2020 Article 1 2020 Transference Vol. 8, Fall 2020 Molly Lynde-Recchia Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/transference Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Comparative Literature Commons, East Asian Languages and Societies Commons, European Languages and Societies Commons, French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons, German Language and Literature Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, Language Interpretation and Translation Commons, Linguistics Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, Poetry Commons, and the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Lynde-Recchia, Molly (2020) "Transference Vol. 8, Fall 2020," Transference: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 1. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/transference/vol8/iss1/1 Vol. 8 Fall 2020 Transference Fall 2020 We gratefully acknowledge support from Emily Transference features poetry translated from Arabic, Brooks Rowe and from the College of Arts and Chinese, French, Old French, German, Classical Greek, Latin, Sciences at Western Michigan University. and Japanese into English as well as short commentaries on the We would also like to express our appreciation to process and art of translation. Selection is made by double-blind Rosamond Robbert and to Thomas Krol. review. For submission guidelines, visit us online at: scholarworks.wmich.edu/transference ISSN (print): 973-2325-5072 ISSN (online): 2325-5099 © Transference 2020 Cover: “Reflections” by Paul Robbert Globe image © Don Hammond/Design Pics/Corbis Department of World Languages and Literatures College of Arts and Sciences Western Michigan University This issue was printed by McNaughton and Gunn using Georgia, Segoe Script, MS Mincho, SimSun, and Gabriola fonts. Transference An Annual Publication of the Department of World Languages and Literatures at Western Michigan University Volume VIII 2020 Editor-in-Chief Molly Lynde-Recchia Editorial Board Jeffrey Angles Peter Blickle Vincent Desroches Olivia Gabor-Peirce Rand Johnson David Kutzko Mustafa Mughazy Carlos Pimentel Viviane Ruellot Cynthia Running-Johnson Rika Saito Vivan Steemers Xiaojun Wang Li Xiang Shu Yang ii TRANSFERENCE Contents Foreword vii Andrew Gudgel The Zhongyuan Festival at West Lake by Zhang Dai 1 [excerpt] Two Poems by Tan Yuanchun: When I First See My Whiskers Have One Gray Hair, 2 I Cry Out in Surprise All the White Hairs Pulled from My Mustache Came Back 2 Allan Johnston Guillemette Johnston My Dear Double (Part I) by Abdellatif Laâbi 6 James Fowler From the Villa by Lucretius 28 Susan McLean Four Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke: The Blind Man 32 The Donor 32 The Arrival 33 Lady on a Balcony 34 John Savoie Persistence of Memory after a poem by Bashō 36 Marilya Veteto Reese Six Poems by Safiye Can: Alas 38 Latitude 38 Housemate Shopping 39 Eternal Trial 39 Gratefully Acknowledged 40 Disclaimer 40 FALL 2020 iii Emily Goedde Four Sonnets by Feng Zhi: Sonnet 6 43 Sonnet 12 44 Sonnet 16 45 Sonnet 18 46 Susanna Lang Two Poems by Nohad Salameh: I Greet You, My Twin 50 Dance of the One / the Moon 51 Paul Shlichta Crystal by Martha Hofmann 57 Arnold Johnston Two Poems by Charles Baudelaire: The Lovely Ship 59 Invitation to the Voyage 61 Louise Stoehr Five Poems by Michael Krüger: Berlin in February 64 Hotel Maritim proArte, Friedrichstrasse, Berlin 64 Berlin-Charlottenburg 65 Hotel V, Knesebeckstrasse, Berlin 66 Berlin-Nikolassee 67 David Capps Corona by Paul Celan 74 Patrick Williamson While dreaming, while writing (excerpt) by Max Alhau 78 Mike Baynham Drops from Black Candles by Abdallah Zrika 83 iv TRANSFERENCE Wally Swist Lullaby by Rainer Maria Rilke 113 Amen by Georg Trakl 113 Eric E. Hyett & Spencer Thurlow Four Poems by Toshiko Hirata: Is It February? 117 Is It March? 119 Is It November Again? 121 Is It December Again? 123 Sharon Fish Mooney On Tasso in Prison by Charles Baudelaire 128 Michael Zhai What Are You, Really? 132 Afar, Gazing at the Holy Mountain by Du Fu 137 Notes on Contributors 139 FALL 2020 v vi TRANSFERENCE Foreword “The artist in each one of us potentially ‘awakens’ elusive thoughts and ideas beyond the pale of day-to-day awareness.” —Paul Robbert “[T]here’s nothing to see, except those who have come to watch the festival.” —“The Zhongyuan Festival at West Lake” by Zhang Dai, translated by Andrew Gudgel It seems appropriate to start out this special issue on vision/ seeing with the quote from artist Paul Robbert and the first line from Gugdel’s translation of Zhang Dai, with its insistence on the fact that it isn’t the festival itself but the show provided by those who come to watch it that creates the real spectacle. The idea of vision/seeing as a special theme for this year’s issue was inspired by the simple pun on the year 2020, as in 20/20 vision. We invited a wider variety of contributions for this issue, including poems in English that take their point of departure from a work in the source language rather than directly trans- lating it (such as James Fowler’s “At the Villa” and John Savoie’s “Persistence of Memory”). This issue also includes two lengthier essays, which, in a fortuitous coincidence, both discuss work by the poet Abdellatif Laâbi to different degrees: Mike Baynham’s essay on agencement includes a discussion of the impact of Laâbi’s French translation of Abdallah Zrika on his own English Zrika translation, and Allan and Guillemette Johnston analyze the complex notion of the double in the essay accompanying their translation of part I of Laâbi’s “My Dear Double.” Another fortuitous coincidence is the presence of translations of three Baudelaire poems: two by Arnold Johnston (including “Invita- tion au voyage,” which Baynham mentions in his essay) and a third by Sharon Fish Mooney. (As an aside, and as we close this pandemic year, it is interesting to be reminded of Baudelaire’s revolutionary notion that one can make a beautiful poem about an object that is inherently repulsive.) The thematic of vision/seeing is explicitly addressed in some of the poems and commentary included here. For exam- FALL 2020 vii ple, Susan McLean observes that “Rilke uses the outward de- tails of the appearance of things to unlock their emotional reso- nances.” Marilya Veteto Reese’s opening translation of Safiye Can’s “Alas” begins, “In the far distance / beneath the starry skies / we both were free / in different countries and cities / the firmament / a bond for both.” In her discussion of Feng Zhi’s sonnets, Emily Goedde asks “How does a frame help us see?” and points out that “[t]ranslation … shifts between frames.” Mooney presents ekphrasis as “a type of translation, transpos- ing the ‘language’ of the visual arts into the written language of poetry” and sees her English translation as “another ekphrastic layer.” And Michael Zhai presents us with two visuals—the Chi- nese characters of Du Fu’s original poem and an image of the mountain they describe—inviting us to create our own vision and rendering of the source poem before offering his own. It goes without saying that every act of translation can be implicitly understood as another way of seeing the original poem. In the wider sense, is not every physical act of seeing an act of translating the real into our consciousness? The creative self then “‘awakens’ elusive thoughts and ideas,” bringing into being what was previously unperceived. We hope you will enjoy this kaleidoscopic collection of poems and reflections, and that it will stimulate further creative excursions. It will come as no surprise that due to the pandemic, put- ting this year’s issue together was a bit more complicated than in the past. One of the results of the pandemic, it seems to me, has been the frequent reminder to practice gratitude whenever possible. I will take that cue to offer my appreciation and thanks to all of the contributors, peer reviewers, colleagues and sup- porters who make Transference possible, with special thanks to Scholarworks librarian Maira Bundza, recently retired from Western Michigan University, and to our typographer Thomas Krol. I am deeply grateful for your creative contributions, your expertise, your patience, and your support for this shared poetic enterprise. Molly Lynde-Recchia, Editor-in-Chief viii TRANSFERENCE Andrew Gudgel Zhang Dai The Zhongyuan Festival at West LakeThe by Zhongyuan Zhang Dai Festival [Excerpt] at West Lake 西湖七月半 - 选段 [excerpt] [The night of] the Zhongyuan Festival at [Hangzhou’s] West Lake, there’s nothing to see, except those who have come to watch the [Thefestival. night of]Of the those Zhongyuan who Festivalcome toat [Hangzhou’s]watch the Westfestival, Lake, you can see five kinds of people. there’s nothing to see, except those who have come to watch the festival. Of One kind that can be seen arethose those who withcome tomulti watch-decked the festival, ships you canfull see of five flutes kinds and of people. drums, who wear their official hats and host grand banquets,One kind have that can bl beazing seen arelanterns, those with singing multi-decked girls ships and ful servants.l of The sights and sounds dazzle, and theyflutes are and famous drums, who for wear watching their official the moon hats and-- buthost grandnever banquets, actually have see it. Another kind that can be seenblazing also lanterns, have ships singing with girls anddecks, servants. famous The sights beauties, and sounds illustrious dazzle, daughters from good families, and equallyand they arehandsome famous for youngwatching boys. the moon—but They laugh never actually or cry see out it. at random, sit in circles on the flat roof [of the boat] andAnother glance kind thatleft can and be right.seen also Their have shipsbodies with are decks, under famous the moon but they don’t really watch the moon.beauties, illustrious daughters from good families, and equally handsome young boys.