1000 views of "Girl Singing"

How many ways can a poem be viewed? A lot, that's what! Just as any other art form, a poem can mean a lot of things to different people. Interestingly, just right after I have done the translation of Dylan Thomas' poem, "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight", an online friend, the associate editor of Our Own Voice,Aileen Ibardaloza, wrote me asking if I would be interested to join a translation of Filam poet Eileen Tabios' The Secret Life of an Angel after Jose Garcia Villa's poem "Girl Singing".

I could not pass on this one. I knew this could be a good challenge. Neither Eileen nor Jose Villa are unknown to me. I even urged my poet friend, Arlene, to purchase the book The Anchored Angel which is a collection of poems by the late poet and was edited by Ms. Tabios. Arlene gave it to me as a gift during one of my visits to Canada.

Anyway, John had the idea of making a project of coming up with a thousand views of "Girl Singing" and in Aileen's email, there were already about 30 poets and visual artists around the world who have participated. I guess I am number 31 as I jumped immediately at the opportunity. Since there was no translation done in Filipino yet, I tried doing a direct translation into our native tongue. This was very helpful as I began to understand the poem better. Next, I experimented on a concrete poem. Please take a look at my attempts. You can find them here and the concrete poem here. Maybe you'd like to give it a try as well.

Can you guess what this is?

This blog was about three months old when I did my first translation of a well-known opus into Filipino. Much to my surprise, it earned a lot of praises that my friend Batjay even made a recording and had another close friend, blogger awardee Toni blogging about it

Guess what? I did another one. But before I post it, I intended to put a link of Toni's efforts here to show my appreciation for her kind words about my post. I was looking for the entry she did and since I did not want to bother her by asking her to dig into her files, I tried to find the entry myself using google. Lo and behold, I found out that it has been plagiarized by a certain Candy as early as 2007. You'll find it here. I already posted a comment on the entry asking her to take it off her blog as it is not only illegal as it is immoral. Hopefully, she will accede to my request.

Anyway, here is my second translation. This is a villanelle I tried keeping the form while being true to the color and tone of the poem. Just like my first attempt, this is being posted in its early stages. I'm sure there will be some more revisions as I find more apt words just like the one I did with the Desiderata. Can you tell me what the original poem is and who wrote it? There is no prize if you get it correctly. Not even bragging rights, hehe.

Huwag kang susuko sa pagdating ng takipsilim

Huwag kang susuko sa pagdating ng takipsilim
Dapat dumakdak at mag-alab ang tumanda sa dapithapon
Magalit ka, magalit sa pagsapit ng dilim

Kahit pa ang matatalino’y tanggap ang kulimlim
Dahil ang kanilang salita’y di nagdulot ng ingay sa maghapon
Hindi sila sumusuko sa pagdating ng takipsilim.

Ang huli sa matitino’y kumakaway at nagbibilin
Umaasang kanilang ginawa’y parating iaahon
Magagalit sila, magagalit sa pagsapit ng dilim.

Mga naligaw ng landas na nagbunyi sa kanilang awitin
Huli na nang malamang buhay nila’y kanilang itinapon
Hindi sila sumusuko sa pagdating ng takipsilim

Ang mga maselan, sa kamataya’y kinakapos man ang paningin
Bulag na mga mata’y nagliliyab tulad ng isang bulalakaw sa nayon
Magagalit sila, magagalit sa pagsapit ng dilim.

At ikaw ama, duon sa mataas at malungkot na bangin
Sumumpa, basbasan mo ng luha aking panalangin ngayon
Huwag kang susuko sa pagdating ng takipsilim
Magalit ka, magalit, sa pagsapit ng dilim

Desiderata translated!

Yesterday, I was asked by a neighbor to record the Desiderata. Yes, that controversial poem said to be found in the in Old St Paul's Cathedral and whose authorship had been unknown for some time when in truth it was written by Max Ehrmann in 1952. Read more about it here, and here.
Now, don't get me wrong. Neither do I have a good speaking voice with a very good diction like Batjay but as the saying goes, "in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed is king." :-)

While I was reading the piece, my youngest son, Coby, was intently listening. After several takes, I finished the piece and gave the tape to my neighbor. This is what Coby has to say. "What does it mean?" It was then that I decided to translate the piece into tagalog. Maybe my children will understand it better. I just hope I got not only the musicality, tone and texture but most of all the message correctly. I will welcome any critic you may have, especially in phrases where I may have missed the point. Here goes:

Mga mithiin

Mahinahon mong tahakin ang kaingayan at mga agam-agam ng buhay, at pakatandaan ang kapayapaang mayroong taglay ang katahimikan. Hanggat maari ay makipagmabutihan sa lahat ng nilalang.
Turan mo ang iyong paniniwala ng buong kalinawan, katiwasayan at walang pag-iimbot; at makinig sa iba sapagkat kahit na ang isang hunghang at kulang sa aral, sila ma'y may kwentong may kwenta. Pakaiwasan ang mga hambog at mapupusok, sila'y panggulo lamang ng kaluluwa.

Huwag piliting ikumpara ang sarili sa iba sa dahilang ikaw ay maaaring maging mayabang o kaya nama'y mapuno ng kalungkutan; parati kang makakakita ng mga taong mas magaling o mas mababa sa iyo. Ikagalak mo ang iyong mga narating o nagawa katulad ng iyong pagkakilig tuwing ika'y may bagong hangarin. Panatiliin ang interes sa iyong napiling karera, kahit gaano ito kahamak; sa pagitan ng pabago-bagong panahon, ito'y mananatiling sa iyo.

Parating mag-ingat sa iyong mga gawain pagkat ang mundo'y punung-puno ng kadayaan. Ngunit huwag mong pabayaang bulagin ka nito; marami pa ring mga taong may mataas na pangarap at hitik ang kapaligiran ng kabayanihan. Mahalin mo ang iyong sarili. Huwag mong utuin ang sarili mong ika'y kaibig-ibig. Lalo namang huwag mong pagdudahan ang pagmamahal; sa harap ng tagtuyot at pagkukunwari, ang pagmamahal ay pabalik-balik tulad ng damo. Makinig sa mga nakakatanda habang isinusuko ang lahat ng bagay na mura.

Alagaan ang tibay ng dibdib ng sa gayo'y masalag ang lahat ng biglaang kamalasan. Ngunit huwag mong pakadibdibin ang kadiliman. Maraming pangamba ang isinilang sa pagod at kalungkutan. Maging maamo ka sa iyong sarili na dulot ng isang mabuting pagdidisiplina. Ikaw ay isang sanggol ng sansinukob, sampu ng kagubatan at mga bituin; ika'y may karapatang manirahan dito. At kahit ito ma'y maging malabo sa iyo, walang kaduda-dudang ang sansinukob ay dapat lang na mapasaiyo.

Kaya naman maniwala ka sa Diyos, ano man ang kanyang anyo sa iyo. At kahit ano pa man ang iyong pinaghirapan sa gitna ng kaguluhan ng buhay, panatilihin ang katiwasayan ng iyong kaluluwa. Sa lahat ng pagkukunwari, kahungkagan at nasirang pangarap, masarap pa ring mabuhay. Maging maligaya. Sikapin mong maging masaya.