HILARY ELFICK

Learning

 

Stuck in a trundle bed for months I shared
my pillow with Brown Mouse and learnt to read.

The Norsemen said heroes fall and drown.
A kingdom can shift. My Dad in bed.

A new sister in her pram watching holly berries;
I gypsied the heath with Romany and Nomad.

In the new house, no more sirens, only
Mazeppa strapped to a wild horse in my head.

My ankles draped with stories from Persia,
a skirt full of folds which rippled and swirled.

I track pack horses across the Andes. Dad drives
his first car, swings like Tarzan across the road;

and Little Women did not have a Mum like mine
and all those sisters had a maid, and sewed.

Roxana-Monica Mîndrican

Hilary Elfick
 

Invatand

Atatea luni intepenit intr-un scaun cu rotile, am impartit
culcusul cu Soarecele Maroniu si am invatat sa citesc.

Scandinavii spuneau ca eroii decad.
Un regat isi schimba granitele. Tata sta la pat.

Noua mea sora in carucior priveste coronitele rosii de Craciun*;
Am hoinarit pe campurile purpurii* alaturi de tigani si nomazi.

Nicio sirena, in noua noastra casa,
doar in mintea mea Mazeppa* biciuieste un cal salbatic.

Gleznele-mi sunt drapate cu povesti persane,
O fusta cu pliuri ce se-ncretesc si se onduleaza.

Sunt pe urmele unei herghelii de cai, in Anzi. Tata la volanul
primei sale masini, se leagana pe sosea precum Tarzan ;

« Micutele Doamne »* nu au avut o mama ca a mea
si toate acele surori aveau o slujnica si coseau.

*“Holly Berries”- in the original text- are shrubs and trees from 2–25 m tall, with a wide distribution in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. In many western cultures, holly is a traditional Christmas decoration. The leaves symbolize the crown ( the thorned crown Jesus wore. ) And the holly berries symbolize the blood of the Lord Jesus. Therefore in the poem the Holly Berries that the sister looks at could b understood as a symol of faith and hope.

*Heather is one of the symbols of Scotland. Scottish Heather grows in open moorland, hillsides, and heaths, and blooms twice each year; it has pink or purple flowers. In the source text, the author uses the word “heath” (hill, field) which suggest a hill covered by heather( this purple flower)- that’s why in the target text I used the syntagm “campuri purpurii” (purple hills/fields).

*Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (Ukrainian: Іван Степанович Мазепа historically spelled as Mazeppa; 20 March 1639—2 October 1709), Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, in 1687–1708.The historical events of Mazepa's life have inspired many literary and musical works: Lord Byron- Mazeppa, poem(1918); Alexander Pushkin - Poltava, poem (1828–1829); Victor Hugo - Mazeppa, poem (1829) etc

*“Little Women”- in the original text- a novel written by the American author Louisa May Alcott; published in two parts in 1868 and 1869- translated in Romanian as “Micutele Doamne”