míkołaj̄ ßęp szarźỳńskí?
or given the original orthography?
mikołaj sęp szarzyński?
a XVI poet, born in what
the greeks would lament having lost it,
the Constantinople of the north... L'viv,
otherwise known as Lwów...
well... if Edinburgh can be
the Athens of the north... L'viv can be
the Constantinople of the north.
never mind that... i think this poet is worth
more toward establishing the canon
of polish literature than mickiewicz,
or a miłosz...
listen... i'm trying to waste
about an hour (and it's nearing 8p.m.)
before i head to the supermarket and
buy a bittle of 1 litre's worth of dark
*** at £15... i need to write something.
but the orthography i'm proposing
no one is going to adopt, for the basis
of schooling... and as an answer:
what's the nature of reality?
that old cookie of a metaphysical question?
well... it's certainly language,
language is the first exemplum
to be utility prone... as in: we talked.
mikołaj sęp szarzyński's output, though?
i just have a fascination with
old-polish... a bit like the shakespearean
thou indicative of you...
thankfully i own a book that cites XVI polish...
but beside that, that on the side,
here's one example of the poet's work
o bene sperandi exemplum lapsis et amore
ardente in dominum femina clara deum,
nostri non ignota mali. succur(r)e, precamur,
nam nos (heu miseros!) tot mala dura premunt.
sancta fides precibusque tuis fiducia nobis
et validus culpas solvere crescat amor.
this is the verse, as an ode to mary magdalene -
and it reads in translation as:
on the example of trust for those downfallen,
famous woman with a firery love for your lord god,
well versed in human politeness. we implore,
come to us with aid, because, we, the meek,
are crushed by so many heavy catastrophes!
may it be, that with us imploring thus,
a holy faith abounds,
trustworthiness and love, able to destroy the changes
under the command of the winds of times.
which just proves that you cannot elaborate on the latin,
even if it's 16th century latin... you have to invoke
a modern twist to the verse...
otherwise you're working on a translation
that's a bit like: modern day japanese:
em em ar ar *** chou chew.
i'm actually not even going to bother writing out
a 16th century polish dictionary for the moment...
translating the latin took out all the strength i was
believing to have composed, prior to the translation...
obviously i'll write a post scriptum...
but latin is hard to translate into english...
there's too much shrapnel to deal with...
all these ****** conjunctions, definite articles indefinite articles...
it would sometimes be easier to gobble down a bowl
of noodles, in a chicken soup, from a poached chicken... mmm...
obviously with the required spices, and boy.... leeks...
the sort of soup that's see-through, and not
the western: creamy creamy pie.... moo moo moo...
not all soups are supposed to be creamy...
some soups are even supposed to be cold...
like a vichyssoise.
