haiku-usa

A blog devoted mainly to haiku and senryu and to thoughts about, and inspired by, haiku and senryu.

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Haiku is to poetry as espresso is to coffee.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

hard times in French

Here's the French translation of "hard times" (posted just below), which appeared with the original at temps libre.

les temps sont durs
du vendeur de voiture
la dent manquante

10 Comments:

Blogger polona said...

i wonder why he added the verb (sont=are) in L1... it does nothing for me. the rhythm, perhaps?

9:39 AM  
Blogger Devika Jyothi said...

Now, here you made me laugh, Bill

But i like it...got some french words to practice :)

wishes,
devika

9:39 AM  
Blogger haiku-shelf (Angelika Wienert) said...

hard times
= les temps sont dure
= schlechte Zeiten

And it really are 'schlechte Zeiten' (and it goes on ...).

1:59 PM  
Blogger haiku-shelf (Angelika Wienert) said...

oh ... these typos (it`s a day full of typos ...)

of course: durs

2:01 PM  
Blogger Bill said...

polona, perhaps French didn't provide Serge with what he regarded with an appropriate idiom. Just guessing. And there is perhaps more of an air of reflection in his version.

Anyway, Devika, we bought the car.

The Germans have a word for it, Angelika. Even with typos.

11:30 AM  
Blogger Art and Poetry said...

They are both very nice! but I like the top one best

1:22 PM  
Blogger Bill said...

Thanks, Nick. Opinion seems just about evenly divided on this.

3:57 PM  
Blogger april said...

Hello Bill,
Just paying u a short visit... serendipity ? The first version of your haiku sounds more universal to me in space and time -especially in 2009!- The French translation seems really good to me because of the assonances in "an" and "ure" that perfectly convey a feeling of harshness.
"Les temps sont durs" is an idiom in French, so the poem would lose its strength if the verb was left out. No problem at all with the rhythm as I perceive it in my native language... Hope this will help. J'aime toujours beaucoup vos poèmes...
All the best to you and to the American haikuists.
Annie Moine from France.

6:43 AM  
Blogger Bill said...

Thanks, april. I don't pick up every idiom in French.

6:51 PM  
Blogger polona said...

well, i think i owe a thank you to april as well. my french is way too poor to catch any idioms...

10:47 AM  

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