Tuesday, April 19, 2011

"Rrose Selavy" by Robert Desnos (Translation)

2. Rrose Selavy asks whether the Flowers of the Evil have changed her pud's manners: What does Maude think?

7. O my head, a fading mother-of-pearl star.

15. Lost on the endless sea, how will Rrose Selavy eat iron after eating her hands?

27. Time is a nimble eagle in a temple.

53. It is more important for a poet to be honest than to be polished.

-- Robert Desnos

[Note: I don't read or write French so I used an on-line translator to provide the literal translation and worked from there.

"27." is as translated by the fine folks at Babelfish.

In the original "2.", Desnos plays on the similarity of "phalle" and "Omphale," who enslaved Hercules and forced him to do "woman's work" such as spinning wool. The best I could do was to allude to Bea Arthur.

Click here to read all of Desnos' Rrose Selevay poems in French.]

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