tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sat Feb 08 18:09:13 1997

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taghpu' may'

On Thursday, Holtej and I were talking on the KLI's Talker site, and he asked 
me when it was I first joined the list.  I didn't have an exact answer then, 
so today I went through the archives and found my very first message.  I had 
written one or two Klingon sentences, and remember being exhausted after that 
effort.  Still, I continued, and somehow actually managed to write a poem.  Of 
course, I first wrote this poem in English, but I was keeping the Klingon 
vocabulary in mind.  I lost the paper version, but kept reminding myself that 
it was in the archives.

Well, today I called it up and looked it over.  It actually wasn't too bad.  
As far as the English goes, it's the only poem that I've ever written that I 
thought was any good (I don't do a lot of poetry).  I was looking over the 
Klingon with a much more experience eye, and I realized that I made some 
pretty good choices there, too!  I've made a few changes (mostly vocabulary 
alterations -- I added a couple of extra alliterations), and if anybody's 
interested, I'll now post it below.  (My first attempt started a thread about 
whether certain verb suffixes can modify other verb suffixes or only the verb 
itself, but no one ever commented on whether they actually *liked* the poem!)  
I'll also post the English version, since that was the language the poem was 
composed in.

(Oh, by the way, my first message was to 25 October 1994, and I'd been 
monitoring the list for a few weeks before that.)

Notes: the original title of the poem was {qaSchoHpu' may'}, and it was this 
which started the debate.  It doesn't matter now, because I now see the title 
as much to bland.  Also, I've kept the grammar nearly the same as the 
original.  As I stated the first time around, the grammar is a little unusual 
to accommodate the idea I had.

I ask for comments and suggestions.

taghpu' may'

taghpu' may' 'ej muHIvtaH jaghmey.
bIH vIjeytaH;
no' nuHvo' pumtaH pubtaHbogh 'Iwchaj.
ghoSlI' jaj jar Qav,
bIQtajmey taD SISbogh rammey bIr Hurgh je,
'ej vIDachlu'taH.
loDnI'wI' lommey,
jIyInlaHmeH Heghta'bogh chaH,
vIQanmeH, jISuvtaHvIS,
Hegh quv vItu' 'e' vISov;
chaHvaD yInwIj vInob rIntaH.

taghpu' may' 'ej chollI' ghIjqu'bogh qa'mey.
QIt reghtaHbogh HughwIjDaq
SIch pachDu'chaj boch.


The Battle Has Begun

The battle has begun and I am beset by foes.
I defeat my enemies;
their boiling blood drips from my ancestral weapon.
Day's winter is coming,
cold, dark nights raining frozen water-knives,
and still I am surrounded.
As I fight to protect the bodies of my fallen allies,
those who died so that I might live,
I know I will find an honorable end
sacrificing myself for them.

The battle has begun, and the creatures of terror
slowly reach their shining claws
into my bloody throat.

-- 
SuStel
Beginners' Grammarian
Stardate 97109.1

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