Long-time readers of Robert Frost’s Banjo know I love Apollinaire’s poetry, & today’s offering for Translation Tuesday is one of his shorter poems from the 1913 collection Alcools.
This poem has always fascinated me because of its compression & deep feeling; because it’s short, I’ve also included the French original. A couple of points: the French word “anges” of course means “angels,” but it can also mean “angelfish.” I don’t know any way of delivering both terms simultaneously in English. The pi-mus fish is a mythical creature that swims coupled, only having one eye apiece.
Hope you enjoy this.
The Door
The hotel door smiles terribly
What has this done to me mother
Being the clerk for whom alone nothing exists
Pi-mus fish moving coupled through deep sad water
Fresh angels disembarked at Marseilles yesterday morning
I hear a distant song dying and dying again
Humble as I am who am worth nothing
Child I've given you what I had labor
Guillaume Apollinaire
translation by John Hayes © 1990-2009
La Porte
La porte de l'hôtel sourit terriblement
Qu'est-ce que cela peut me faire ô ma maman
D'être cet employé pour qui seul rien n'existe
Pi-mus couples allant dans la profonde eau triste
Anges frais débarqués à Marseille hier matin
J'entends mourir et remourir un chant lointain
Humble comme je suis qui ne suis rien qui vaille
Enfant je t'ai donné ce que j'avais travaille
Guillaume Apollinaire
The picture shows Marie Laurencin’s painting Apollinaire et ses amis - 1909