tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Wed Sep 06 10:01:54 2006

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Re: Hegh lung wamwI'

Steven Boozer ([email protected])



Edna St. Vincent Millay:
>> >  He burned the candle at both ends,
>> >  It did not last the night.
>> >  But while it burned, my foes and friends,
>> >  It gave a lovely light.

pagh:
>Ivan D? translated it something like this:
>
>   cha' DaqDaq meQtaH weQwIj chu'
>   tugh tlheDpa' ramvam loj
>   'a toH peqIm jaghpu' juppu'
>   'IH meQtaHvIS 'ej Doj
>
>It may not be word for word, and it's missing appropriate punctuation, but 
>it's close. As I remember, he wasn't happy with the <chu'>, but needed a 
>word there for rhyme and meter.

qa'pIn qorghon puqloD:
> > megh'an weQ meQ 'ej 'er'In meQ weQ.
> > ramvetlh nI'be' 'oH
> > 'ach, weQtaH 'oH jaghwI' juppu'wI' je,
> > wewqu' 'ej le' wovmoHwI'

lay'tel SIvten:
>weQ megh'an 'er'in je meQ.
>ramvetlh weQ meQchu'.
>jaghpu'wI'! juppu'wI'!
>meQtaHvIS, wewqu'
>'ej le' wovmoHwI'.

{wovqu'} "be very light/bright" might be better than {wew} "glow" here, and 
it would rhyme with {meQchu'}.  There's a line with the same imagery from 
the Klingon Anthem (a.k.a. {Qoy qeylIs puqloD!}) to tie it into Klingon 
tradition:

   nI'be' yInmaj 'ach wovqu'.
   Our lives burn short and bright

(I wonder if Hilary Bader was thinking of this very poem when she wrote the 
Anthem?)



--
Voragh
Ca'Non Master of the Klingons






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