Forough Farrokhzād: Sin

(http://voiceseducation.org/content/forough-farrokhzad)
no copyright infringement intended

I bought a couple of days ago an anthology of Middle East contemporary literature (Tablet and Pen), edited by Reza Aslan, and as I was going back home I started browsing it, opening the pages more or less at random. The first author that I saw there was Forough Farrokhzād. It was a superb surprise for me, I love her poetry. She was present in the anthology with a few poems, and the first one was Sin, in a rapturous English rendering done by Sholeh Wolpé. I found then this rendering also on the web, together with two other versions: another English translation done by Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, and a French one (part of a blog named Carnets de Poésie de Guess Who). I would like to give you here the whole poem, stanza by stanza, each one in all three renderings:

I have sinned a rapturous sin
In a warm, enflamed embrace,
Sinned in a pair of vindictive arms,
arms violent and ablaze.
(Sholeh Wolpé version)

I sinned, a sin all filled with pleasure
wrapped in an embraced, warm and fiery
I sinned in a pair of arms
that were vibrant, virile, violent.

(Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak version)

J'ai pêché, pêché dans le plaisir,
dans des bras chauds et enflammés,
j'ai pêché dans des bras de fer,
brûlants et rancuniers.

(version from Carnets de Poésie)

In that quiet vacant dark
I looked into his mystic eyes,
found such longing that my heart
fluttered impatient in my breast.
(Sholeh Wolpé version)

In that dim and quiet place of seclusion
I looked into his eyes brimming with mystery
my heart throbbed in my chest all too excited
by the desire glowing in his eyes.

(Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak version)

Dans ce lieu solitaire, sombre et muet,
ses yeux remplis de mystère j'ai regardé,
mon coeur dans ma poitrine, impatiemment a tremblé,
des supplications de désirs de ses yeux.

(version from Carnets de Poésie)

In that quiet vacant dark
I sat beside him punch-drunk,
his lips released desire on mine,
grief unclenched my crazy heart.
(Sholeh Wolpé version)

In that dim and quiet place of seclusion
as I sat next to him all scattered inside
his lips poured lust on my lips
and I left behind the sorrows of my heart.

(Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak version)

Dans ce lieu solitaire, sombre et muet,

je me suis assise près de lui, agitée,

sa lèvre, l'envie, sur mes lèvres a versée,

de la tristesse de mon coeur fou, je me suis libérée.

(version from Carnets de Poésie)

I poured in his ears lyrics of love
"O my life, my lover it's you I want
Life-giving arms, it's you I crave,
Crazed lover, for you I thirst."
(Sholeh Wolpé version)

I whispered in his ear these words of love:

“I want you, mate of my soul

I want you, life-giving embrace

I want you, lover gone mad”

(Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak version)

A l'oreille, l'histoire d'amour, je lui ai racontée,

je te veux mon amant,

je te veux, toi dont les bras sont vivifiants,

je te veux, toi mon amoureux fou.

(version from Carnets de Poésie)

Lust enflamed his eyes,
Red wine trembled in the cup,
My body, naked and drunk,
quivered softly on his breast.
(Sholeh Wolpé version)

Desire surged in his eyes

red wine swirled in the cup

my body surfed all over his

in the softness of the downy bed.

(Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak version)

Le désir alluma le feu dans son regard,

le vin rouge dansa dans le verre,

mon corps sur le lit doux,

librement trembla sur sa poitrine.

(version from Carnets de Poésie)

I have sinned a rapturous sin
beside a body quivering and spent.
I do not know what I did O God,
In that quiet vacant dark.
(Sholeh Wolpé version)

I sinned, a sin all filled with pleasure

next to a body now limp and languid

I know not what I did, God

in that dim and quiet place of seclusion.

(Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak version)

J'ai pêché dans le plaisir,

près d'un corps tremblant et évanoui,

Dieu! Je ne sais ce que j'ai fait,

dans ce lieu solitaire, sombre et muet.

(version from Carnets de Poésie)

I tried also to get a Romanian crib, here it is:

Am păcătuit, şi păcatul mi-a fost dulce desfătare
Într-o imbrăţişare care mă dogorea,
Într-o pereche de braţe care se răzbunau,
Arzând in flăcări sălbatice.

În întunericul acela ascuns şi tăcut
Am privit in ochii lui tainici
Şi am văzut atâta dorinţă
Încât inima imi tremura de nerăbdare.

În întunericul acela ascuns şi tăcut
Eram alături de el ca trăsnită,
Buzele lui işi slobozeau in mine dorinţa,
Mâhnirile dispăreau din inima-mi nebună.

Şi-am turnat in urechile lui cuvinte de dragoste
"Viaţa mea, iubitul meu, pe tine te vreau
Îmbrăţisarea ta, pe ea o aştept fara astâmpăr,
Iubire nebună, de tine sunt insetată."

Patima i-a aprins ochii,
Vinul roşu dănţuia in pahar,
Trupul meu, despuiat şi beat,
Peste pieptul lui fremăta.

Am păcătuit, şi păcatul mi-a fost dulce desfătare,
Alături de un trup fremătând şi terminat,
Nici nu ştiu ce-am făcut, Doamne,
În întunericul acela ascuns şi tăcut.


(Forough Farrokhzād)

(Reza Aslan)