~Bryn Terfel
Happy Poetry Friday! I have another poem in translation today. This one was originally written in Welsh. I just love what she does with the word "stone." (BTW, a "stonechat" is "a small Old World songbird of the thrush family, having bold markings and a call like two stones being knocked together.")
STONE POEM
by Menna Elfyn
translated by Joseph P. Clancy
The doorstep of your existence
is the morning’s clean slate,
a stone on my soul’s roof-hurdle,
a single necessary step
by love’s wall. Simple, stable.
I’ve never understood why people hunt
for crystal, or a lump of gold,
or a diamond. I’m simply
grateful for the stones at hand...
read the rest here
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Below we have Welsh actor Michael Sheen performing Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. This YouTube comment is a wonderfully accurate description of Sheen: "The words come alive because of his moment-upon-moment discovery of the thing breathing-and-speaking, and shares with us the spontaneous delight and joy of that discovery."
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The Poem Farm has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Amy!
18 comments:
Oh, I love what she does with the word, stone, Tabatha, among them, "the loadstone of sensibility". And the Sheen video, wow. Would that we all could come a bit closer to that delivery of such passion, 'and a hushed town, breathing" - wow. Thank you, and enjoy your weekend!
Loved all of this! It was fun to click over to see the full poem in Welsh, too. I love the first two lines. And the Michael Sheen video — I can only echo Linda and say wow! Beautiful.
Aww, I too have a deep appreciation for stones. Love learning this new vocabulary, too. xo
Tabetha, so much to enjoy in this post. Stonechat is such a cool name – the bird call is built-in! I love the heart-shaped shadow (or lack of shadow). Stone Poem is wonderful – I was unable to get the link to take me to the ending, but I even love the author’s name. What a powerful performance by Michael Sheen. Thank you for sharing all of this goodness!
Hi all! Tracey, did your browser prevent "opening a pop-up"? Maybe that's what happened when you tried to read the ending. When that happens, you have to give permission to the particular site by clicking on a message above. (P.S. the shadow photo is of the leaves from my neighbor's fig tree. I loved the shapes!)
Tabatha thanks for Menna Elfyn's quietly beautiful poem that sings! But of course that's what those stones do all the time…
Ah, Michael Sheen–Marvelous and such a treat, thanks for all!
Thanks for the Welsh fix today, T. Wonderful use of the word "stone", and esp. "milestone" near the end seems to top it all off. Enjoyed the video too -- such musicality and exuberance in his interpretation. The Prince and Princess of Wales visited Wales today to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's passing one year ago, so this was all perfect.
How did I not know Michael Sheen was Welsh? What a beautiful language, and what a miracle it's managed to survive and thrive for all these centuries.
So many fabulous stone metaphors!
"I'm simply / grateful for the stones at hand" too. The translation for the poem seems flawless. I think it must have been a lot of work to get all the metaphors to make sense in English--lodestone, whetstone, milestone...Beautiful poem.
I fall into the stone-lover faction too...Favorites sit on my bedside table; I give them to my adult children who love that I love them (stones...well, and them I suppose)... Thanks for sharing the poem.
What a performance! Now I need a trip to Wales. Goodness, 'stonechat' is such a cook name for a bird for or for anything. Thanks for not just a blog post but a lovely experience. It feels like a mini vacation.
I never thought I would love a poem about stones, but this one is dreamy, making an ordinary thing into a precious diamond of a peaceful, acceptance, love poem. Thanks for sharing.
'Chirping like a stonechat' - how lovely! I also find the name, and the reason the bird is called that, delightful.
What beautiful language. Thanks for sharing this, Tabatha!
I love the opening lines of Elfyn's poem. And that performance - such passion! Thanks for sharing, Tabatha.
I love "I've never understood why people hunt for crystal, or a lump of gold, or a diamond. I'm simply grateful for the stones at hand . . . " Such a thought provoking post, Tabatha. And Michael Sheen's performance made Dylan Thomas' words come alive and I enjoyed taking the time to read the poem and learn more about it. Beautiful.
Oh, what a solidly wonderful poem full of stones. I love it, and love too, knowing about this bird (stonechat) and how it got its name. Thank you for being the generous and inspiring teacher you are. Happy week ahead! xo, a.
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