Romanian-English translation by Ioana Răducu

ROMANIAN ‘Dorul’

Nina Cassian

Nina Cassian’s use of ellipsis expresses a longing, a lover-shaped emptiness that manifests itself as physical ache: the (mostly) untranslatable Romanian word dorul. Around her, nature falls into a state of silence and somnolence, as though to further deepen the solitude of the poet’s never-ending wait.

Dragostea mea, ancoră grea, ține-mă strâns; toate mă dor: gura—de dor ochii—de plâns.

Vântul căzu— poate că nu, dar s-a făcut liniște-n cer fără puteri, ca la-nceput.

Nu mai visez pași prin zăpezi, urme de vulpi; nu mai sunt flori, sufletul lor doarme în bulbi.

Singurătăți... Nu mi te-arăți, nu-mi trimiți vești. Cât fără rost. Oare ai fost? Oare mai ești? Oh, love of mine, anchor through the spine, smother my fears; my whole being’s aching: my mouth — of longing, my eyes — of tears.

The wind huffs, distraught –– perhaps it is not, but silence now reigns over heavens above, stripped of vim and love, as time’s gallop wanes.

In dreams, long ago: footsteps in the snow, fox paths through the weeds; the flowers all withered, their soul that once shivered now sleeps in the seeds.

Barren days overlap… You never show up, or write if you’re ill. Dead-end affair. Were you ever there? Are you there still?

ENGLISH

‘Longing’

translated by Ioana RĂducu