EL DESDICHADO ...

For my own reference and amusement.

EL DESDICHADO

Je suis le ténébreux, - le veuf, - l'inconsolé,
Le prince d'Aquitaine à la tour abolie :
Ma seule étoile est morte, - et mon luth constellé
Porte le soleil noir de la Mélancolie.
Dans la nuit du tombeau, toi qui m'as consolé,
Rends-moi le Pausilippe et la mer d'Italie,
La fleur qui plaisait tant à mon cœur désolé,
Et la treille où le pampre à la rose s'allie.
Suis-je Amour ou Phébus ?... Lusignan ou Biron ?
Mon front est rouge encor du baiser de la reine;
J'ai rêvé dans la grotte où nage la sirène...
Et j'ai deux fois vainqueur traversé l'Achéron :
Modulant tour à tour sur la lyre d'Orphée
Les soupirs de la sainte et les cris de la fée.

De Gérard de Nerval

from "Franceweb"



EL DESDICHADO


I am the dark one, - the widower; -the unconsoled,
The prince of Aquitaine at his stricken tower:
My sole star is dead, - and my constellated lute
Bears the black sun of the melancolia.

In the night of the tomb, you who consoled me,
Give me back Mount Posilipo and the Italian sea,
The flower which pleased so my desolate heart,
And the trellis where the grape vine unites with the rose.

Am I Amor or Phoebus? . . . Lusignan or Biron?
My forehead is still red from the kiss of the queen;
I have dreamd in the grotto where the mermaid swims...

And two times victorious I have crosst the Acheron:
Modulating turn by turn on the lyre of Orpheus
The sighs of the saint and the cries of the Fay.


Tr. Robert Duncan

Sacred Garden...

Today was both lovely and frustrating. I am falling behind in my NaNoWriMo writing. On the other hand, what I have been writing has been going well - better than I anticipated. So. Catching up tomorrow, maybe?

There's a write-in at the library tomorrow, which I find incredibly useful. There's also a scrabble part at a friend's place which I find... enticing and tempting. And two people who will be present there - no, three people - have things for me that I rather desperately want. Well. Life is full of complications. I'll sort things out somehow.

Today, despite the frustrations, was fun. My friends Marion and Vicky met me and maaseru at Von's for brunch, and I ate their delicious potato latkes. Then we went back to maaseru's place and I watched the beginning of the Donald Strachey movie Third Man Out before going back to my place to write for a bit.

We talked, a little, about maasru's potential plan to put out a Donald/Timmy fanzine. (I think she's okay about me talking about this in public now. You are, aren't you maaseru?) I have story ideas. I'd love to write for it. I really hope she does it.

We also talked about moral and cultural implications of issues raised in the Strachey movies. Fun.

Then we went to dinner at Sacred Garden Thai Vegetarian Restaurant. My friends insisted on ordering non-spicy dishes so I could share them all, which was very kind, though it made me feel just a little guilty. On the other hand - I couldn't believe how good the food was. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, the flavours subtle, and everything tasted far better than I'd dared to expect. This place used to be Mitzi's, the best Chinese restaurant in town. I still miss Mitizi's. But it's nice to know that this is a worthy replacement.