Friday 18 February 2011

the kiss in front of the Hôtel de Ville








They kiss, oh, they kiss, they kiss,
the young on the streets, in the bistros, on parapets
they kiss and kiss as if they were themselves
just endings
of the kiss
they kiss, oh, they kiss in the racing cars,
in the metro stations, in theaters,
in buses, they kiss with desperation,
with violence, as if,
at the end of the kiss, at the conclusion of the kiss, after the kiss,
the only thing to follow would be prescribed old age, and death.
they kiss, oh, they kiss, the thin young people
in love. So thin, as if
they were ignoring the existence of bread in this world.
so in love, as if, as if
they were ignoring the existence of world itself.
they kiss, oh, they kiss as if they were
in the dark, in the safest darkness
as if nobody saw them, as if
the sun would rise
shining
only after
their mouths, broken by the kiss and bleeding
would only be able to kiss
with their teeth.



Nichita Stănescu
The young, tr. by
Cristina Hanganu-Bresch

note:
if you want to see and hear it in Romanian, go to the translator's page and listen to the song there (included also a very interesting note on translation problems)




..

26 comments:

  1. ahh the love story, "they kiss and kiss as if they were themselves
    just endings
    of the kiss" - this is gorgeous..

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  2. I return now and then
    To a woman who happened,
    whose tongue crossed mine
    over and over
    and stranger
    with a spit I sucked in
    like a soldier
    who, dying,
    still yearns for water.
    Whose smell left me
    smelling myself
    into dreams alone
    of her floating around inside me,
    and clutching
    the first pulse of entry
    as a relic of what had vanished
    and a way of saying goodbye.

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  3. Now, this is a poem, a gem! Thank you for posting it. Till I got to the end of these kisses, I thought you had written it. The pic is brilliant.

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  4. This image is powerful and intense, made so by your treatment and presentation. They almost seem to be morphing into each other. The man appears to be holding on for dear life. Your image illustrates the wonderful poem perfectly. An extremely memorable image and moment. Great timing. PS: Thank you!

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  5. Quel magnifique cliché ! Ouf !
    Et ta poésie m'inspire de te proposer ce poème d'Anna de Noailles

    Le baiser

    Couples fervents et doux, ô troupe printanière !
    Aimez au gré des jours.
    - Tout, l'ombre, la chanson, le parfum, la lumière
    Noue et dénoue l'amour.

    Épuisez, cependant que vous êtes fidèles,
    La chaude déraison,
    Vous ne garderez pas vos amours éternelles
    Jusqu'à l'autre saison.

    Le vent qui vient mêler ou disjoindre les branches
    A de moins brusques bonds
    Que le désir qui fait que les êtres se penchent
    L'un vers l'autre et s'en vont.

    Les frôlements légers des eaux et de la terre,
    Les blés qui vont mûrir,
    La douleur et la mort sont moins involontaires
    Que le choix du désir.

    Joyeux ; dans les jardins où l'été vert s'étale
    Vous passez en riant,
    Mais les doigts enlacés, ainsi que des pétales,
    Iront se défeuillant.

    Les yeux dont les regards dansent comme une abeille
    Et tissent des rayons,
    Ne se transmettront plus, d'une ferveur pareille,
    Le miel et l'aiguillon,

    Les coeurs ne prendront plus, comme deux tourterelles,
    L'harmonieux essor,
    Vos âmes, âprement, vont s'apaiser entre elles,
    C'est l'amour et la mort...

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  6. 1.ah bonjour chère magnifique Roxana,
    thankyou for your comment to me of how you enjoyed my verse and you commented that the crows were like chinese calligraphy oh how I loved that.Nature has its own writing on which all writing is based.

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  7. 2.I love your photograph Roxana, the disolving of the self into the other is so magically depicted visually.It reminds me of the visual effects of the lord of the rings and also the words about how if the kiss would end there would be a broken life -old age and death.It reminds me so much of the lyrics of the group "Arcade Fire" and the song "Wake Up" how we are the gods in our own lives and as we grow older we can stop our summers from turning into rust.

    thankyou-multumesc for the beautiful song in Romania and the video. It was a wonderful compliment to your post.

    I have been viewing Arcade Fire so many times on you tube.the you tube movies are sometimes not the best quality but the grammy 2011 awards are awesome videos.I am thrilled.
    They are american presentations but Arcade Fire won- they are from Quebec, the french province and the capital Montreal.
    Oh Canada so here Arcade Fire won for best album and they are told they must sing it in french when they return to Montreal to sing. Oh Canada this is like a fairy tale! haha.Because french is our second language here and it is always being forced onto anglophones haha.I am french also so I don't feel the tension haha.
    Anyway I want to give you the you tube link to view Arcade Fire's performance at the grammy 2011 awards. Oh it is divine bliss.

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  8. 3.

    Go to you tube and type in

    2011 grammy performance arcade fire wake up

    scroll down towards the bottom of the page to view the performance at the grammy awards{the others aren't as magical}
    click on arcade fire wake up.
    Enjoy -bliss.

    It is so carnavelesque and cosmic and primitive.

    I am going to write a longer poem on this and present it locally.

    I want to include the lyrics in your journal to compliment this magnificent god like image you have created.

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  9. 4.
    Here are the lyrics for
    Wake up by Arcade Fire.

    Somethin filled up
    my heart with nothin'
    someone told me not to cry.

    But now that I am older
    my heart's colder,
    and I can see that it's a lie.

    Children wake up,
    hold your mistake up
    before they turn the summer into dust.

    If the children don't grow up
    our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
    We're just a million little gods causin'rain storms turnin every good thing to rust.

    I guess well just have to adjust.

    With my lightnin bolts a glowin
    I can see where I am goin to be
    when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

    With my lightnin bolts a glowin
    I can see where I am goin to be
    when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

    With my lightnin bolts a glowin
    I can see where I am goin
    With my lightnin bolts a glowin
    I can see where I am, go-go where I am

    You'd better look out below.

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  10. 5.I love the way you handle the light in the photo the pure bliss of the bright light for the transformation of the communion with the self and the other.

    Your image has that glamorous look -yes the clinging to the kiss as if it is the last one before the penetration when love and life is inflicted with its mortal wound.

    thankyou chère magnifique roxana.

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  11. Brings back to me quite vividly a certain night in the streets of London when I was 17. Your image breathes that incandescent fire that obliterates all else.

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  12. was kann man anders sagen, als, das Bild ist schön, so viel Leben und Natürlichkeit steckt in seiner Expression. Eigenartig, dass das Bild in Paris aufgenommen wurde, ich hätte eher gedacht, es müsse unbedingt ein italienisches Paar sein :-)... wer weiss?!
    Die Aufnahme erinnert mich an den sehr schönen, traurigen Film "La Vita è Bella" mit Robert Benigni:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0W9Ekcsx5Q

    Dir einen wunderschönen Tag, liebste Roxana!

    Renée

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  13. je vais faire très court, silence il s'aime.

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  14. Looks like an image from a lovely black and white film from back in the 1930's... when cinema was just getting up to speed...

    And a song comes to mind :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7MCf7Ga3wc

    Song, film, poetry, in any case, it is simply more magic from Roxana... which leaves us smiling.

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  15. Je ne peux pas croire que j'ai quelquechose d'autre à ajouter ici.Je m'étais si occupée par nos chansons-mais je suis toujours fondu dans beaucoup de rêves sur le pont.
    oui il y a toujours beaucoup de nuances d'interprétation de tes oeuvres-magnifiques- j'ai vu aussi l'idée du cinéma noir alors l'enchantement faux de Hollywood comme l'enchantement faux de l'amour érotique- pas toujours mais ca peut l'être après que l'amour suit son cours de temps n'est-ce pas des fois....après la pénétration de temps..bien chaque relation c'est différente.
    merci chère Roxana, belle chanson aujourd'hui..

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  16. La mujer fecundada por la luz de la entrega.
    Este acto mítico en manos de tu arte.....les veo las alas de mariposa, de la metamorfosis. Pasión, otra vez la pasión.
    Que gran imagen¡!¡
    Un gran beso***

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  17. Marion, it is, isn't it? :-)
    magically, they continued to kiss like that for quite some time, maybe even half an hour, i have many shots and wanted to make a series at first, but then i found this single picture, with them almost merging into the building, to be the most suggestive...





    Dan, how wonderful - 'to a woman who happened' and 'dreams alone
    of her floating around inside me'... such a great complement to this post, and also the suggestion of time passed, of memory, which the photo (every photo?) includes...
    thank you so much...





    Kubla, i am happy you love it :-)
    (i wished that you would, and i was hoping you would, and i was almost certain you would)





    Stickup, you are welcome, but i said nothing but only what i so strongly feel... yes, that is why i chose this image, if can read the answer to Marion for more details, it was this morphing into each other which captivated me as well...

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  18. Jeff, merci de tout coeur, Anna, elle est si douce, n'est-ce pas? j'ai hesite avant de montrer ce cliche, apres tout c'est un cliche 'cliche' de Paris :-), les amoureux dans la nuit, tant de photographes celebres ont montre cette scene, mille fois... je suis contente si tu aimes...
    je t'embrasse et te souhaite une semaine magnifique...
    (merci pour l'autre commentaire aussi, je vais repondre bientot!!!)





    K'line, oui, n'est-ce pas? :-)
    bisous, ma tendre fee...





    ah, Madeleine, thank you again for such cascading comments :-) thinking of where you come from, i could easily entitle your lovely interpretation series the 'Madeleine Falls' :-)
    (joking :-)
    you find a bit of glamour in this picture? though it was everything so spontaneous and true, their oblivion of the world, their passion, my gaze, that of an ecstatic by-stander, i am sure they would have smiled at me if they had seen my camera...
    and thank you so much for the song and its lovely poem, it is indeed perfect for this post!
    hugs and snow kisses back (no spring yet, the snow has come back again)

    ps. i am happy you didn't disappear...

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  19. Lynne, i am happy you liked it, and found a way to relate to it, i know that normally you are skeptical of posts in which passion like that is depicted, i remember what you said about being happy to have left that tormenting period of your life behind :-)





    danke, liebste Renée, ein wunderschoener Film, nicht wahr? aber ich kann ihn kaum gucken, ich bekomme immer Traenen dabei. vielleicht sind die Italiener, ja, wer weiss? aber ich denke, die Stimmung ist doch ganz 'Paris', vielleicht zu klischeeartig 'Paris' :-)
    eine wunderschoene Nacht Dir, und mein warmes Laecheln, wie immer...




    Alain, ton commentaire est tout simplement magnifique!






    Owen, thank you for this song as well, i got so many suggestions for this post, i am happy to see that so many people resonated :-)
    i was hoping you would like it, after all you are an expert in all Parisian things :-)

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  20. anon, you make me so laugh, 'nice hotel' haha :-P




    dear Ofelia, what a wonderful comment, how sensitive you are to my play with light and shadow, to my emotions...
    i am so happy that you've come to the Bridge!
    a warm hug...

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  21. glad to be of service, child.

    :-)

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  22. It's my favorite of all your pictures.

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  23. Belle chanson poème ...belle image pleine de la fraîcheur de ce baiser fusionnel...merci a toi..
    l'amour est toujours comme une source vive..

    Paul Eluard

    L'amoureuse

    Elle est debout sur mes paupières
    Et ses cheveux sont dans les miens,
    Elle a la forme de mes mains,
    Elle a la couleur de mes yeux,
    Elle s'engloutit dans mon ombre
    Comme une pierre sur le ciel.

    Elle a toujours les yeux ouverts
    Et ne me laisse pas dormir.
    Ses rêves en pleine lumière
    Font s'évaporer les soleils
    Me font rire, pleurer et rire,
    Parler sans avoir rien à dire.

    Paul Eluard ("Mourir de ne pas mourir")

    je t'embrasse..:o)

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  24. Prospero,
    this makes me happy.




    ah Clo,
    Eluard et ses poemes d'amour, bien sur, bien sur :-)
    je t'embrasse de tout coeur, chere amie au coeur si genereux...

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