Thursday, June 29, 2017

TS Eliott's Dry Salvages

Here is a translation of an extract from The Dry Salvages by TS Eliott

Thanks to Nagaraju Pappu for the introduction to this poem, the core idea of which (these lines) is not aligned with my own natural disposition. However the poem is amenable to a nice translation I felt. Thanks also to Suresh Kolichala for making an apt amendment in the last line and thus bringing the translation much closer to the poet's original thought.

స్వానుభవమయిన సంకటోత్పన్నమయిన వేదన పదపడి నలియగును
నాటి జ్ఞాపకములు నేటి కార్యంబులధాటికి సడలుచు తరుగునట్ల
పరులకు జనియించు ప్రాణగొడ్డంబులు మనలోనపుట్టించు మనికితమ్ము
చెరుగక నిలుచును చిరకాలముగ చెంత, తనదికాని వెతకు తరుగులేదు


Now, we come to discover that the moments of agony
are likewise permanent
With such permanence as time has. We appreciate this better
In the agony of others, nearly experienced,
Involving ourselves, than in our own.
For our own past is covered by the currents of action,
But the torment of others remains an experience
Unqualified, unworn by subsequent attrition.
People change, and smile: but the agony abides.

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