tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Jun 26 07:50:41 1994

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Re: Klingon on TV -- original poems?



Hu'tegh! nuq ja' Richard Kennaway jay'?

=I'll just stick to the standard ti-tum-ti-tum metre, regardless of meaning.
= (That's what I do with English poetry anyway.)  

Actually, you won't go too far wrong with that, but for the record, here's 
the intended scansion:

  *      *   (*) *     *       *
qaDelmeH bov tuj pem vIlo''a'? Qo'.
    *       *      *         *      *
SoH 'IH 'ej belmoH law', 'oH belmoH puS.
    *      *     *       *    (*) *
jar vagh tIpuq DIHo'bogh Sang SuS ro'.
    *           (*) *      *     *
'ej ratlhtaHmeH bov tuj leSpoH luvuS.

    *      *               *      *
rut tujqu' bochtaHvIS chal mIn'a' qu'.
    *        *   (*) *               *
rut DotlhDaj SuD wov HurghmoHmeH, HuvHa'.
    *        *     *        *        *
'ej reH Hoch 'IHvo Sab Hoch 'IH, net tu'.
*        (*) *      *             *
choHbogh 'u' Hemo', Sanmo' joq quvHa'.

     *      *       *       *      *
'ach not wovHa'choH jubbogh bovlIj tuj,
    *      *   (*) *         *     *
'ej SoHvaD not loj Hochvetlh 'IH Daghajbogh,
     *           *         *   (*)  *
'ej "QIbwIjDaq bIleng" not mIy Hegh nuj,
*        *             *     *
bovmey DaDontaHvIS, DojwI' nIHajbogh!

*            *         *     *        *
tlhuHlaH 'ej legh, wej 'e' lumevchugh nuv,
    *      *             *      *
vaj yIntaH bomvam, 'ej DuyInmoH quv.

=BTW, two lines seem to have 15 syllables:

Er, 11.

='ach not wovHa'choH jubbogh bovlIj tuj,
='ej SoHvaD not loj Hochvetlh 'IH Daghajbogh,  <--
='ej "QIbwIjDaq bIleng" not mIy Hegh nuj,
=bovmey DaDontaHvIS, DojwI' nIHajbogh!         <--

=I'm dealing with that by leaving the final syllable unstressed, almost silent.

Yeah. They're just 'feminine' pentameters. Cf. 

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest (owest is 2 syllables)
When in eternal lines to time thou growest (ditto)

="HoghlI' DatIvpu'"                     ["How was your week?"]

HoghlIj DatIvpu''a', I'm afraid.

="ghItlh may'mo' jIqeqta'"              ["I prepared for a conference."]

Now *that*'s an ingenious rendering!

="*DentISngan* HIq qIj vItlhutlhtaHpu'" ["(and) drank coffee all the time."]

taH and pu' can't cooccur. Coffee *qua* dentists' brew? Interesting... ;)

Nick.



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