Read the Romanian translation by Sebastian Ispas and Vlad-Bogdan Todoran (ed. Cristina Nicolae) of the poems ‘Formula’, ‘Poem’, and ‘Imaginary Subsumption’, originally written in English by Robert Kiely.
A trio of poems focused on lyrical scrutiny and formal exactness.
You don’t know Romanian? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We have more:
- Tre poesie – Italian translation by Antonio Gambacorta
- Drei Gedichte – German translation by Britta C. Jung
Read the original in English here.
FORMULĂ
e dogma unui manager
că somnul nu e viață
și astfel noapte de noapte
murim fiindcă a trăi
înseamnă a sta treaz
POEM
Viața netrăită în sentimente
o justifică pe cea trăită-n ele. Atras de
idei în afara cadrului subtitrat
decalajul echivalează calitatea
și cantitatea vieții umane.
Chiar și acum fantasma
prinde formă după modelul refracției lingvistice
prin care un lucru
se confundă cu altul – concis
și extractibil asemeni unei componente modulare
sau vreunei prize universale
unde orice deosebire e doar o nuanțare
a precondițiilor fiziologice
a ceea ce numim lectura paginii,
nuanțarea infimă
zbătându-se între taxoni ramificați.
SUBSUMARE IMAGINARĂ
Lumea e o rețea
de milioane de cești de ceai.
Unele-nlăptite, altele ba,
unele cu plicul în ele.
Asta de pildă e un thinktank
fascist. Și-n ea e furtună.
Furtuna se dă drept
furtună de cești,
ba chiar se pretinde ceainic.
Și toate vibrează.
Toate vibrează-n furtună.
Sebastian Ispas (tr.)
Sebastian Ispas is a student at G.E. Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology University of Târgu Mureș, belatedly pursuing an interest in foreign languages. Having worked as a journalist and freelance translator, he is currently exploring board game terminology. He is also passionate about rap music from various countries, modern politics and post-apocalyptic aesthetics.
Vlad Todoran (tr.)
Vlad Todoran is a journalist and student of letters at G.E. Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș with a background in acting and music. He was raised bilingually, having learnt both Romanian and English concurrently and has been dabbling in translations, both literary and non-literary, over the course of the past 3 years. He likes to think of himself as a miniscule yet possibly gifted self-published author as he writes poems and various other works of fiction alongside philosophical essays on transcendence and the human condition.
Cristina Nicolae (ed.)
Cristina Nicolaeis Senior Lecturer of English at G.E. Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș. She holds an MA in Anglo-American Studies, and a PhD in Philology. Her research fields include British and American Literature (the architecture of the self, the concept of reality), Translation Studies (literary and audio-visual translation), Communication techniques (with a focus on the advertising and political discourses). She is a certified translator and a subtitler for English and Romanian, TED language coordinator for the Romanian language. She has published numerous articles in national and international volumes and journals, has coedited 5 academic volumes and organised many academic events (workshops, lectures, and a yearly national translation contest); team member in several national and international projects.
Robert Kiely
Robert Kiely is the author of simmering of a declarative void and Incomparable Poetry. Other recent writing can be found here. He is currently poet in residence at University of Surrey.
