Lost in the fire of last year's Pierrot centennial was translation. After all, it was Otto Erich Hartleben's German--translated from the original French of Albert Giraud--that Arnold Schoenberg had set.
And with Stanley Appelbaum's Anglicised Hartleben turning 20 next year (not to mention having its own Twitter account @PierrotTweets), Classicalite figured a new English language translation was passed due.
The wine that one drinks with one’s eyes Is poured down in waves by the moon at night, And a spring tide overflows the silent horizon.
— Pierrot (@PierrotTweets) October 16, 2012
To wit, for the next 21 weekdays, we'll be offering a new take on each of Giraud/Hartleben/Appelbaum's 3x7 poems...alongside some of our favorite performances.
DRUNK MOONLIGHT
The wine we drink through the eyes
Is poured down in torrents by the moon in the night.
And a spring tide floods
The far, silent horizon.
Desires, shuddering and sweet,
Swim through the waters unnumbered.
The wine we drink through the eyes
Is poured down in torrents by the moon in the night.
The poet, pushed through by devotion,
Gets drunk on the sacred drink;
Thrilled, he turns to the sky.
His head, staggering, sucks and slurps
The wine we drink through the eyes.
Up next: "Colombine"
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