Translations

Pär Lagerkvist (Swedish, 1891-1974) wrote the following two poems:

I.

“Jag ville vara en annan,
men jag vet inte vem.
En främling star bortvänd, med pannan
mot stjärnornas lågande hem.
Jag skall aldrig se hans ögon
och aldrig hans anletsdrag.

Jag ville vara en annan,
en främling, an annan än jag.”

II.

“Som molnen,
som fjärilen,
som den lätta andningen på en spegel -

Tillfällig,
föränderlig,
borta på en liten stund.

O herre over alla himlar, alla världar, alla öden,
vad hard u menat med mig?”

These were translated into English by W.H. Auden (English, 1907-1973) and Leif Sjöberg (Swedish, 1925-2000):

I.

“I should like to be somebody else,
but I don’t know who.
A stranger stands with his back to me, his forehead
facing the burning home of the stars.
I shall never meet his eyes,
never see his features.

I should like to be somebody else,
a stranger, other than myself.”

II.

“Like the clouds,
like a butterfly,
like the light breathing on a mirror -

Accidental,
transitory,
gone in a short while.

Lord over all heavens, all worlds, all fates,
what have you mean by me?”

These appeared in the Times Literary Supplement of 10 March 1972, where they caught the eye of Piotr Sommer (Polish, born 1948). He translated them into Polish – I don’t have the versions here. Then, in 2006, a friend (English, born ?1979), turned Sommer’s translations into English:

I.

“Would that I were somebody else!
But whom I don't know.
Someone strange stands with his back turned to me, with his forehead
set against the twinkling home of the stars.
I never meet his eyes,
I never see his features.

Would that I were somebody else,
kooky, not me.”

II.

“Like clouds,
like a butterfly,
like light flickering on the mirror -

Accidentally,
passing through,
present for a fraction of a second.

Our Lady presiding over All the Heavens, over All the Worlds, over Everyone's Fate,
what was it you wanted me to say?”