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The Cities

 Poetry by 

Ghassan Alameddine 


Translation by 

Raghid Nahhas


Selected poetry from five published collections 

and one unpublished, in Arabic


Comments by poet and educator Dr Louise Wakeling are included


Kalimat Publications, Sydney 2019


(A PDF copy is available from "Downloads" on this website.)



No One Knows My Name

A Bilingual Collection

Poetry by Khalid al-Hilli

Translation by Raghid Nahhas

Published by Kalimat, Sydney 2019


A PDF copy is available from DOWNLOADS on this website.

Find out more

The Poem of Istanbul - Bilingual Version

An Arabic Poetry Collection by Jihad Elzein with English Translation by Raghid Nahhas

Published by Bada2e3, Beirut 2016

(With special thanks to the prominent Lebanese lawyer and thinker Professor Chibli Mallat for the opportunity to publish this version.)


فاجأ الصحافيّ اللبنانيّ المعروف، جهاد الزين، زملاءه وقرّاءه اللبنانيّين والعرب حين أصدر "قصيدة إسطنبول"، ديوانه الشعريّ الأوّل، عام 2002. ما سبق لأحد أنْ علم أنّ الزين يكتب الشعر، ناهيك بأنّه ينظمه بمهارة رفيعة. نشر الزين كتاباته وتعليقاته السياسيّة على مدى السنين في أرقى الصحف اللبنانيّة، لكنّه معروف من قبل عدد كبير من القرّاء العرب أيضاً. يأتي تحليله للأحداث المختلفة نتيجة خبرة شخصيّة طويلة زار خلالها دولاً كثيرة حيث تعرّف إلى الثقافات المختلفة، لكنّ الأهمّ من ذلك، برأيي، أنّ فهمه العميق لأساس السلوك الإنسانيّ هو ما أضاف بعداً هامّاً على تحليلاته السياسيّة، ألا وهو ما يمكن أنْ نصنّفه على أنّه البعد "الأدبيّ"، نظراً للأحاسيس التي يكشفها لنا في القضايا التي يعالجها، بما في ذلك نقاط الضعف والقوّة، لدى الغالب والمغلوب، في سلسلة من التداخلات، والصراعات، أو مجرّد إدارة العمل السياسيّ. يكتب الزين أجزاء من بعض قصائده الحاليّة نثراً، لكنّ شعره حديث، موزون بأناقة. وهو شعر  مصقول وعلى درجة فكريّة عالية، منظوم بإيقاع موسيقيّ ينمّ عن حبّ الزين وتقديره العميقين لجمال وبؤس الطبيعة، والناس، والمدنيّة. يجمع ما بين إعجابه بما يرى، مثل اللوحات الزيتيّة، وفهمه لما وراءها من أحداث وعلاقة ذلك بالحياة من حوله مباشرة. النتيجة: قطعة شعريّة مشبعة بالفكر الذكيّ والخيال الخصب. "قصيدة إسطنبول" قصيدة من عشر سفن محمّلة بهوى مدينة تاريخيّة وعصريّة معاً بامتياز! إنّها المدينة القصيدة: أغنية أرض تقع في جزء حيويّ من العالم، تقسمه وتوّحده مياه شاهدة على مساعٍ إنسانيّة سرمديّة 


مع الشكر العميق للمحامي والمفكر اللبناني المرموق البروفسور شبلي الملاّط الذي أتاح نشر هذه النسخة مع الترجمة


 رغيد النحّاس

The Poem of Istanbul by Jihad Elzein

A translation into English, by Raghid Nahhas, of a poetry collection by Jihad Elzein

Published by Raghid Nahhas, Sydney 2015


Jihad Elzein, a prominent Lebanese journalist, surprised his colleagues and his Lebanese and Arab readers when he published Qassidat Istanbul (The Poem of Istanbul), his first poetry book, in 2002. No one had known that Elzein wrote poetry, let alone that it was of high calibre. A political columnist who has been working for prestigious newspapers in Lebanon, Elzein is known to many Arab readers as well. His analyses of events has been the product of years of first-hand experiences that took him to many countries and exposed him to various cultures, but above all it was his deep understanding, in my opinion, of the innermost of human behaviour that added an important touch to his political commentary, namely a dimension that can be classified as “literary” due to the emotions he exposes in his subject matter, weaknesses and strengths, of victims and victimisers in an array of interactions, conflicts or merely the conduct of political business. Some of the poems in the current book have parts written in prose. This is indicated in italics. Elzein’s poetry, however, is modern with fine use of metre. It is sophisticated and highly intellectual, musically constructed to reveal his deep passion and appreciation of the beauty and misery of nature, humans and civilisation. He combines his admiration of what he sees, such as oil paintings, with his understanding of the events behind them and the association with this and the immediate life around him. The outcome is often an intelligent and imaginative piece of poetry. “The Poem of Istanbul” is a poem of ten ships loaded with the passion of a historic and remarkably modern city, which is itself a poem: a song of a land located at a vivacious part of the world, divided and united by waters that has stood witness to long and continuous human endeavours. 


Raghid Nahhas

Thirty-Four Tales

Translations into Arabic, by Raghid Nahhas, of contemporary Australian short stories

Published by Raghid Nahhas, Sydney 2015


This is a collection of my Arabic translations of thirty-four contemporary Australian short stories, told by writers of varied backgrounds, but they all call Australia home. I originally published most of them in different issues of Kalimat, a journal I edited between 2000 & 2006. (Kalimat is the Arabic for “words”.) Most of these tales embody elements of the cultural heritage of their writers or their forbears. As such, they extend beyond Australian boundaries to include other geographical, historical and intellectual spheres. Some of these tales take us to a village in Lebanon, a street in New York or a field in Afghanistan. Others tell us about what happens in some Australian suburbs, beaches, mangroves or an industrial city such as Newcastle. They speak of the human condition in its sexuality, mental capacity, health, social status, domestic upheavals, business ventures, civil strives, fantasies and much more.  I am grateful to all the writers who originally were the air that Kalimat was breathing. With their contributions we were able to sustain publication for a while. Now, readers of Arabic have an opportunity to enjoy and explore these contributions, particularly that they are included in one book. This book is intended to delight the general reader of Arabic and the scholar.


The Selected Writers


Hyacinth Ailwood, Susan Beinart, Carmel Bird, Greg Bogaerts, Marisa Cano, Fiona M. Carroll, Dave Cauldwell, Justin D’Ath, Jane Downing, Ryn England, Kennedy Estephan, Mary Goulding, John Griffin, Pam Harvey, John Holton, Pam Jeffery, Carolyn van Langenberg, Andrew McKenna, Chris Mansell, Strephyn Mappin, Eileen Marshall, Sophie Masson, Jean L. Menere, Bruce Pascoe, Rachael Quigley, Eva Sallis (Eva Hornung), Thomas Shapcott, Graham Sheil & Astra Warren


المحتويات  

مقدّمة المترجم: هذه الحكايا 3   كينيدي أسطفان: وَعْد 9    إطلاق السبيل 13   رين إنكلاند: ريشتان 21   

هياسينث أيلوود: المعموديّة في غلينروك 27    الطريق إلى "غليب" 30   بروس باسكو كوَّة 33   

سوزان باينارت: مصيدة الصراصير 40   غريغ بوغارتس: "لِمونتري باسيج" 51  كعكة عيد الميلاد 61   

كارمل بيرد: اللحْظَةُ الذَهبيّة 67   بام جيفري: جايمس دين والأحلام القديمة 77  تشارلي صديقنا "اللدود" 81   

جَستين داث: خمسَة تعميمَات عَن المَرأة والحُبّ 85   جاين داونينغ: محلاّت خان 103   

إيفا ساليس: مُنيرَة والوَجبةُ العَامِرَة 117   توماس شابكوت: القبّعة الحمراء 125   غراهام شيل الشحنة 139   

جون غريفين: قصّة نيليكان 155   ماري غولدينغ: السَلَف 167 

كارولين فان لانغنبيرغ: أكابر... من "ردفيرن" إلى "ورينغتون" 172   فيونا م. كارول: الميراث 179   

ماريسا كانو: رايموندو 187   دايف كولدوِل: تحرير 196   راشيل كيغلي: رقعة جلد 205   

ستريفين مابين: الغَطَّاس 215   آيلين مارشال: بحروف قرمزيّة 221   

صوفي ماسون: شَاطئُ الأجَانب 230  "لانسِلوت" 233   كريس مانسل: يوجيني وطيور الكَرَوانْغ 246   

أندرو مكينا: تطويب "مالك الفلانيّ" 251   جين ل. مونيير: أفكار على القماش 262   بام هارفي: رَسائلٌ إليْهَا 271   

جون هولتون: جون لينون ومسألة مصرفيّة معقدة 278   أسترا وارِن: الدائرة المغلقة 291



Verses Across the Tasman

Translations into Arabic, by Raghid Nahhas, of contemporary poetry from Australia and New Zealand

Published by Raghid Nahhas, Sydney 2015


This is a collection of my Arabic translations of a selection of contemporary poetry from Australia and New Zealand. I originally published most of them in different issues of Kalimat, a journal I edited between 2000 & 2006. (Kalimat is the Arabic for “words”.)  These verses are their creators’ magical journeys to mundane places and situations. Whether, for example, describing  a flower, a hospital ward, city traffic or bathing one's mother, the intensity of our poets' feelings is effectively articulated in the internal music played by keywords and an ensemble of instrumental expressions. As I similarly note in a recent book about my translations of Australian short stories, I am grateful to all the writers who originally were the air Kalimat was breathing. With their contributions, we were able to sustain publication for a while. Now, readers of Arabic have an opportunity to enjoy and explore these contributions, particularly that they are included in one book. This book is intended to delight the general reader of Arabic and the scholar.   


The poets selected are


• Margaret Bradstock • Adrian Caesar • Fiona M. Carroll • Jan Dean •J ohn Encarnação • Glenda Fawkes • Paul Hetherington • Jan Hutchison • Bryony Jagger

• Manfred Jurgensen • Jillian Kellie • Liat Kirby • Paul Knobel • Carolyn van Langenberg • Julie Leibrich • Jennifer Maiden • Ann Martin • John O’Connor • Eva Sallis (Eva Hornung) • Faith de Savigné • Rae Sexton • John Sheppard • Clarissa Stein • Heather Stewart • Leon Trainor • Ron Vickress • Louise Wakeling • Chris Wallace-Crabbe


المحتويات

مقدّمة المترجم  3  جون إنكارناسا أيّ جزيرة هذه؟  15  جون أوكونر القَصيْدَة 19  طَريق فِرسَاي، لوفِسْيِين 20 أسْوَد وأبْيَض 21  الغَسَّالة الدَورَانـيّة 22  البالون 24  مارغريت برادستوك مُتتالية كايب بايرون المنارة 25  السفينة المقلوبة 28  أغنية الحوت 30  ليون ترينر من هذه الأرض 33  من القمّة 34 حركة المرور في جاكارتا 36  تسلّق الرَبْوَة 37 حديقة ماريّا 39  بريوني جاغر تَفَتُّح اللَيلَك 41  قرْطاسْيَا 42  جان دين السَبْر والكَدْح 43 فيث دو سافينيه المُتَفَرِّجَة 45  إيفا ساليس (إيفا هورننغ) وَجَع 47  انعكاسات 48  كلاريسا ستاين حكم مؤبّد 49  أخبار اليوم: أزهار زيتون، تتفتّح. 50 أرشيف الأمل 52  لا أخوض هذه الحرب 54 صيف هنديّ 56   فوق أفغانستان 57  خسارة 58  هيثر ستيوارت لحَظَةٌ قَمَرِيَّةٌ 61  ريه سكستون الطائرُ القيثاريُّ 63  سُكوت 64  مارالينغا 65  أدريان سيزر أربعُ صُوَرٍ ذاتيّة 67  جون شبرد غُبار 75  غليندا  فووكس الدُّخُولُ في الغَسَق 77  أسْهَلُ مما ظنَنّا 79 خَسَارَةُ الكَلِمَات 81  رون فيكرس حين خَرَجْتِ من الصفحات 83 فيونا م. كارول تسلّق السور 87  ليات كيربي حَمَّام 89  وِرَاثَة 90  تُقوّسُ عَينيَّ لِلَّوز 91 تغيير 93  حَديثُ الصَمت 95  انتشار الصفار 96  جيليان كيلي مُحَجّبَاتُ مَسْقَط 99  كارولاين فان لانغنبيرغ ديمقراطيّة 101  فِنجَان 109  جولي لايبرخ انتزاع الجِلب 111   تأطير الماضي 112 منظر طبيعيّ 113   في يومها الأخير في المنزل 114  عذراء الجليد 116  آن مارتن صَقيع 119  جينيفر مايدن ليبق الغطاء محكماً: تأمّلات في حرب الخليج فكرة عظيمة 121  لسنا بهذا الرخص 122 ليبق الغطاء محكماً 124  دودج 125 دفن قبل الأوان 127   بول نوبل حديقتنا 129  بيروت 130  مَرْثاة أبوريجينيّة 131  جان هتشيسون السجن المؤبّد وقت طويل جدّاً 133  حِبال من أجل جَوّال 135  بول هيذرينغتون الشَجَرة المتسلّقة 141  وأصحو 143  بسبب الغياب 144  كريس والاس-كراب التفكير بـــأوميو 145  خَضَارٌ دُونَ صَدَى 146 أعضاءٌ كابحة 147  العفريت المحتار 148 مُكْتَنِزٌ كاللحم 150  لويز ويكلينغ يقظة الصباح 153  هنا، وهناك 157 المكتبة الوطنيّة، بغداد، 2003 160  مانفريد يورغنسن منتصفُ الليل 163  الصوتُ الكَسير 164 جناح الإصابات، وسط مانيلا 165 سباحة ظهريّة من أجل روبرت 167

Your Name Is My Memory by Khalid al-Hilli

Poetry collection, translated by Raghid Nahhas. Papyrus Publishing, Melbourne 2012

My association with Khalid al-Hilli developed when he was an adviser to Kalimat, a magazine of creative writing I used to publish and edit. In addition to his literary contributions to the magazine, he attracted several Arab writers from around the world to contribute their writings, poetry and art. He was also in charge of “Literary Fair”, a section in the Arabic edition of the magazine, concerned with book reviews. He promoted the magazine in several ways, including organising literary gatherings. His deeds were a reflection of his dedication and love of literature and the arts. Khalid al-Hilli was born in Hilla (so he is al-Hilli), a town in the county of Babil (Babylon) in Iraq, in 1945. His first publications were outside his country in 1962 when he published poetry and prose articles in prominent literary journals in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Later his works appeared in many Arab and Iraqi journals. He left Iraq for the last time in 1979, and stayed in the United Arab Emirates where he worked as a journalist till 1982. He then moved to Morocco working as an editor for a local newspaper and a correspondent for a Qatari newspaper. He migrated to Australia in 1989, and worked for some time as a correspondent for a Saudi newspaper. He lives in Melbourne, and still writes for some Arabic newspapers. His first book of ideas and poetry was published in 1963. The present translated collection was originally published in Arabic under the title Cloudy Cities just before he left Morocco in 1988. From his introduction to Cloudy Cities, we know that the poems were all originally written in Iraq between 1962 and 1977. Al-Hilli believes that poetry is written on some occasions and lived on others. This is why when he is not writing poetry, he is living it. Khalid and I are very appreciative of Eileen Marshal who kindly commented on the manuscript.  We are grateful to Dr. Mohamed Abumeis, an artist of Libyan origins, for allowing us to use one of his paintings for the cover of this collection.  The photos used throughout the text are of paintings by Dr. Foad al Tai, an Iraqi artist living in Sweden. For this, we thank him whole-heartedly. We appreciate the guidance and patience of Clarissa and Herbert Stein, of Papyrus Publishing, throughout the preparation for and publishing of this work.   


Raghid Nahhas     



CONTENTS  


Notes from the Book of Women 7

Inferno 10 

Cloudy Cities 12 

The Garden of Sadness 14 

A Deferred Matter 18 

Nightmare 20 

The Many Faces of the Same Matter 22 

The Flight of Laughter 26 

Things Related to the Mirror 28 

The Riddle 30 

A Passing Memory 32 

Vestibules 33 

Down and Up 37 

Half-Lost in Water 39 

Words at Crossroads 41 

After Four 43 

From my Early Scribbles 46 

A Night with a Twisted Neck 48

Attack and Retreat of another Kind 50 

Dispositions 52 

Temporary Departure 56 

Another Return 57 

Equation 59 

From Discarded Papers 61 

Tremor 63 

Sour Grapes 64 

Premonitions 66 

Roaming 68 

Your Face and the Night 69 

Another Wednesday 71 


About the Poet 72 

About the Translator 73

Arabesque of Love by Maher Kheir

Poetry collection, translated into English by Raghid Nahhas

Papyrus Publishing, Melbourne 2010


CONTENTS


Unpublished Poems  


Roads in our Palm 9 

A Tear on a Clown’s Cheek 11 

What Shall I do with my Wings Now? 12   


A Last Dance on Canberra’s Lake 


The Blue Shirt 13 

I Am not Singing 14 

Dead Tales 15 

A Drop of your Heart 16 

Floating Cities 18 

Sunflower 19 

Snowman 20 

Dancing under the Rain 22 

The Carnival’s Night 23 

Rosella 24 

Broken Piano Keys 25 

Naked 26 

We Grew up One Morning 28 

Eleven Moons 30 

The Lake Dancer 33 

Horses of Snow 35    


Sparrows of the Nile Palace Bridge


The Cairo of Love 36 

Close Your Eyes 38 

Nile Palace Bridge 39 

Don’t Believe the River’s Tears 40 The Dance of the Mummy 41 

If only We Had enough Colours 42 Violet Haemorrhage 43 

The Nile’s Wound 44 

The Swing of Love Is Falling 45 

Oh Sea, Be My Witness 46 

The Dance of the Infatuated spirits 47 

The Face of Time 49 

Our Arabesque Window 50 

The Harp Player 51 

An Apple 52 

Inscribed on My Skin 53 

No Intercessor four Our Love 55 

A Memory over Cairo 56 

Our Days on the Nile 57  

 

A Sun for a Blue Shirt  


Laced Memory 58 

A Toast 59 

Haemorrhage over the Seine 60

Two Faces 62 

Moon Flakes 63 

The Destiny of Lovers 64 

Whenever We Touch 66 

I Forgot My Face 67 

The Gardens of Light 68  

 

Naked under the Sun  


In Praise of the Coming Generations 69 

The Horses of Dreams 70 

Love’s Farewell 71 

Dancing on the Eyelash of the Universe 72 

I love to Die in Your Eyes 74 

Your Eyes are My Favourite Book 76 

I Live by the Grace of Your Eyes 77

Sparrows Shall Rip the Heavens’ Chest 78 

Naked under the Sun 80 

Would the Two Rocks Meet? 82 

A Secret Letter from Beirut 84

Friday, Sunday by Khaled Ziadé

Translated by Raghid Nahhas. Kalimat Publications, Sydney 2005

My Affinity with Khalid Ziadé— A Translator’s Perspective  


What attracted me most to translating this work is the personal presence in some of the lines Khalid Ziadé moulds out of very simple words to describe his generation’s life-long history in Tripoli, his Medi-terranean birthplace. The reason this personal presence appeals to me may be that I belong to the same generation and I was born in Damascus, Syria. The populations of both cities share many traditions and values, but one important difference between Tripoli and Damascus is the interaction between city and State. Damascus is predominantly a Moslem city, and the capital of a predominantly Moslem country. Tripoli, on the other hand, is predominantly a Moslem city in a country controlled by Maronite Christians, although composed of sectarian populations of comparable numbers, mainly Maronites, other Christians, Sunni Moslems, Shiite Moslems and Druze. In his narrative about city and State, Ziadé touches on the sensitive issue of the aspirations of his city conflicting with those of the State, but mirroring the predominant aspirations of the Arabs (in any Arab State) at the time, namely their strong affiliation with Arab nationalism. Politics has always been inseparable from the cultural norms of Arab families. Ziadé informs us how his generation defined itself during a culturally vibrant era in the history of the Middle East as it starts to face the 1960s, a period of great cultural significance to the whole world. Ziadé might well be talking about himself throughout the book, but this is not his biography. On some occasions, I felt he was talking about me, my father, my friends, our home, our lane in the old quarter of Damascus where narrow arched paths connected homes with internal open yards, and our new home in a multi-story building in one of the modern quarters of the city to which we made a transition in the nineteen sixties. Ziadé’s concern for the human aspects of civilisation is matched by his concern for its architectural manifestations. Although not articulated in a literary or philosophical fashion, he has a deep sense of the “dwelling” as a focal point of activity and enjoyment. This is very appealing to me.  I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Damian Boyle, Manfred Jurgensen, Sophie Masson, Bruce Pascoe, Eva Sallis and L.E. Scott who, in their capacity as advisers to Kalimat, reviewed various parts of my translation as it was serialised in Kalimat between 2000 and 2003.  



CONTENTS


My Affinity with Khalid Ziadé— A Translator’s Perspective       5  

Prelude       7 

A Biography of a Civilisation     13 

Leisure Time     31 

The Night     43 

The Mediterranean     55 

The Bygone Days     69 

Moslems and Christians     79 

Friday and Sunday     91 

City and State   103  

Images and Thought   115 

City Streets   127 

The Transition to the Sixties   139  


The Author     153     

The Translator   155

Papers of Solitude

A Poetry Collection by Shawki Moslemani, Kalimat Publications, Sydney 2004

Translated by Raghid Nahhas & Noel Abdulahad


CONTENTS


Smoke 9 

Cities 10

 Dust 11 

Dead Ones 13 

Madman 14 

When they Awoke 15 

Circles 16

 Screaming 17 

Graveyard 18 

Night 19 

Locust 20

Robot 21 

Most 22 

He Does not Turn His Face 23

The Lakes of Sand 24 

Someone Who Looks Like You 25

Stone 27 

Absent 28

Optimist 29 

Strangers 30

Whips 31

Harvest 32 

Another Herb 33

Voices 34 

A Fang 35

Departure 36

Group 37

Bill on the Other Side of the Road 38 

Fetch the Bottle 39

 Abdullah 40 

Hope 41 Cawnin 42 

The Departed 44

Beirut 45 

What Do You Want? 46

Corner 48 

They Said 49 Naked 50 

A Window to the Sea 51

Where the Wolf Is

A poetry collection by Shawki Moslemani, Kalimat Publications, Sydney 2004

Translated by Noel Abdulahad & Raghid Nahhas


CONTENTS


The Colour of the Glass 39

A Tree 40

An Eye in Disguise 41

Again 42

Blood 43 Smoke 44 

A Bird in Town 45

The Eternal Egg 46

The Dawn 47

A Glance 48 

The Race 49 

An Idea 50

A Garden 51

The Absentee 52

Another Bird 53 

Phantoms 54 

Other Skies 55 

We Almost 56 

A Legal Opinion 57

Emptiness of the Cage 58

Immanence 59 Eternity 60 

The Response of Light 61

Whispers from the Faraway South

Translations into Arabic of works by 79 Australian poets (Alabgdya, Damascus, Syria 1999)

This work was assisted by a grant from the Australia Council, the arts funding and advisory body of the Commonwealth Government of Australia.


Here is my introduction to the collection.


Poetry is an ultimate act of creativity.  The Arab World I was brought up in is often described as a nation of poets. The Arabs’ passion about poetry can be traced back even to the time before writing became commonplace. The Arabs used to memorise and recite poetry. The famous annual poetry festival in Mecca in pre-Islamic Arabia was an event in which outstanding poets were rewarded by allowing their winning poems to be written in calligraphy and hung on the walls of the Kaaba, the renowned black-stone structure in Mecca that hosted statues of pagan gods, and later became the holiest Islamic shrine towards which Moslems all over the world direct themselves whilst in prayer.  Poetry continues to be a major literary practice in the Arab World. Arabs of all religious and ideological categories contribute to this art. Interestingly, admiration of  poetry and the pride Arabs have taken in it, often led some of them to believe that their poetry is second to none, and that the richness of the Arabic language (that is also the language of the Holy Koran) makes it imperative, they think, that the best poetry can only be produced by them. Only Arab academics would have read original non-Arabic poetry.  The first attempt, I am aware of, to expose the Arabs to Australian poetry was the publication of a special issue of al-Adaab al-Ajnabya with the assistance of Anne Fairbairn as explained in the section dedicated to her poetry in the present book. More recently, an anthology of Australian poetry in Arabic has been published (Saba M. 1998. Mukhtar al-Shi’r al-Australi. Dar Aljadeed, Beirut, Lebanon). There is, however, a need to continue to communicate Australian poetry to the common Arab reader.  Australian poetry is an intricate continuum of cultural and historical creations that originate from various sources internal and external to the Australian continent. This is not surprising considering the diverse social structure of this land. Australian poetry in the present book means poetry written in Australia by persons who experienced both the cultural and geographical landscapes of this unique island continent. It is a poetry of richness and diversity that mirrors the nation. It is also a poetry that ventured beyond the continent, sometimes by joining the war effort (e.g. Kenneth Slessor), travelling (e.g. R. F. Brissenden), or even just closing the eyes and dreaming (Anne Fairbairn). What attracts me most is the many ventures of the mind (e.g. A.D. Hope).  The poems translated in the present book are almost entirely selected by the Australian poet Anne Fairbairn to give us an idea about the development of Australian poetry. The selection is personal. I did not myself intend to select any poems for the purpose of the present collection because I did not want the technicalities of translation to compromise the selection. I, however, selected Fairbairn’s poems, in addition to three other poems.  Translation can be a controversial issue for some. My general philosophy in this respect is that no good translation can be or should be better than the original; otherwise it might be a distortion. Similarly, no good translator can recreate a badly written original and still calls it a true and correct translation. Whilst, I believe that these principles apply even to poetry, we should not lose sight of the fact that poetry translation requires a more sophisticated treatment. This is particularly the result of the increased need to understand the codes and cultures of both the source and target languages. The trick is to select the right code rather than the exact corresponding word. The emphasis should be on the intended original meaning, or on the spirit rather than the mere technicalities. This usually means that some imagination and creativity are needed in the process, particularly in the choice of terms from the target language that can convey the original meaning and appeal to the new readership. One simple way of looking at this process is putting myself in the shoes of the poet. I wrote the poem in English, and now I am going to tell it in Arabic. I want to tell the same thing with the same beauty in either languages. I am the same spirit that is using different tools to haunt the hearts with the same rate of heartbeat.  Every individual poem was a challenge by its own merit. Every individual poem was for me a learning exercise in Australian poetry as well as in the art of translation. The joy I obtained from doing this work is only surpassed by the joy of writing my own articles. What I read in the poems and in the biographies of the Australian poets makes me very proud and honoured indeed to have had this opportunity in dealing with such fine human beings, be it in spirit or in reality. Those poets who I had the chance to speak to directly or to correspond with regarding obtaining their consent were, without hesitation, extremely helpful and supportive. 

  

Raghid Nahhas

Sydney, Australia 1999



MAIN CONTENTS  


Aranda Song - Ankotarinya

Corroboree Song - Flood Water

Charles Harpur - from A Coast View 

Henry Kendall - The Last of His Tribe 

anon - The Convict’s Rum Song

A. B. paterson - Pioneers 

Mary Gilmore - An Aboriginal Simile 

Barcroft Boake - An Allegory

Henry Lawson - Ned’s Delicate way 

Charles W. Hayward - King George V 

Christopher Brennan - from The Quest of Scielence 

J. Shaw Neilson - The Orange Tree

anon - The Railway Train 

Robert D. FitzGerald - Edge

Kenneth Slessor - Beach Burial

A.D. Hope - The Death of the Bird

Elizabeth Riddell - After Lunik Two

Roland Robinson - Altjeringa 

John Bray - Address to the pigeons in Hurtle Street

Douglas Stewart - Marree

John Manifold - Garcia Lorca Murdered in Granada  

David Campbell - Night Sawing

Judith Wright - The Company of Lovers  

James Mcauley - Tune For Swans 

anon - from the diary of Australian soldier

Jack Davis - Day Flight 

Gwen Harwood - In the Park

Rosemary Dobson - The Three Fates

Buluguru - Working Song 

Oodjeroo - Dawn Wail for the Dead

Anne Edgeworth - In Memoriam James McCaulay

Geoffrey Dutton - Time of Waitin

Eric Rolls - Rain Poem

Francis Webb - The Gunner

anon - Wenberi’s Song 

Vincent Buckley - Youth Leader

Alan Riddell - Goldfish at an Angle

R. F. Brissenden - Walking Down Jalan Thamrin 

R.A. Simpson - Antarctica 

Peter Porte - What I have Written I Have Written

Mackenzie Munro - Tiger Moth

Bruce Dawe - The Flag of the Future 

Evan Jones - Noah’s Song

Vivian Smith - Tasmania 

Chris Wallace-Crabbe - The Secular

David Malouf - Guide to the Perplexed 

Thomas Shapcott - Water  

Randolph Stow - Ishmael 

Carmel Gaffney - To a Scottish Carmelite 

Judith Rodriguez - A Lifetime 

Devoted to Literature  

Les Murray - Below Bronte House

Anne Fairbairn - High Country Dreaming 

J.S. Harry - Honesty-Stones

Geoff Page - Country Nun

Geoffrey Lehmann - Song For Past Midnight  

Roger McDonald - Components

Margaret Bradstock - The Mask

John Tranter - The Death Circus

Robert Adamson - Sonnet to Be Written From Prison

Robert Gray - Cattle

Alison Clark - The Moon Behind Branches  

Lynette Kirby - To Dance on Stones

Mark O’Conner - Fire 

Michael Sharkey - Poem For Translation Into Any Other Tongue

Paul Knobel - My Homeland

Michael Dransfield - Rainpoem

Alan Gould - Pearls

Jennifer maiden - Dew 

Ian Campbell - Leaving Beirut

Robert Harris - Isiah by Kerosene Lantern Light

Martin Langford - Querulous

James Taylor -  Blind Persian Fish

John Foulcher - After the Flood

David Brooks - Mosquitoes

Andrew Lansdown - Two Men 

Judith Beveridge - Catching Webs

Paul Hetherington - Textures  

Mike Ladd - Tiger Snake 

Jemal Sharah - Revelation  



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