Rose, oh reiner Widerspruch

[Rilke Fan]

Hello Volker, Marie, and everyone else!

How would you translate Rilke’s epitaph into English or which of the following translations (from various books) do you think is most fitting? The main problem is with the word “Lust” because there are so many possible words that could be used in English.

Rose, oh reiner Widerspruch, Lust,
Niemandes Schlaf zu sein unter soviel
Lidern.

Rose, oh pure contradiction, joy
of being no one’s sleep under so many
lids.

Rose, oh pure contradiction, delight
in being no one’s sleep under so many
lids.

Rose, oh pure contradiction, desire
to be no one’s sleep under so many
lids.

Rose, oh pure contradiction, desire
to be no one’s sleep under so many
eyelids.

Viele Grüße,

Linda

[Volker]

Nach meinem Sprachgefühl müßte es heißen:

Rose, oh pure contradiction, joy
of being no one's sleep under so many
lids.

Hi Linda,
I would prefer the first version. "Lust" in this connection I would understand as a mixture of joy (Freude) and delight (Entzücken), but not as desire (Verlangen).
I would also rule out "eyelid", because this narrows the term too much to the "eye"lid. I believe the "Lider" are the eyelids alright, but they can also be other "lids".

[Rilke Fan]

Thanks Volker. The author of the translation you chose, Stephen Mitchell, is considered to be one of the best English translators of Rilke, and he is usually pretty close to the mark. Thanks for your confirmation. You have such a good grip of English, I can't help but wonder if you don't teach it. Are you by chance an English professor or is that more than you wish to reveal about yourself?

Viele Grüße,

Linda

[Volker]

Hi Linda,
no, I'm not a teacher, I'm just an "Old Man" on a containership.
One of the vessels I was on earlier:

[Rilke Fan]

Thanks for the picture, Volker. It reminds me of my "Kiel" days a bit. I'd never make it on a ship -- I'd sink it with the weight of all my books I'd be dragging along with me!!

[Marie]

Hallo Volker,

du machst das ja profimäßig mit den Photos! Wenn ich Probleme mit den Rosenphotos bekomme, wende ich mich mit einem SOS an den "alten" Seebär!
Den "Ehrenprofessor" hast du dir mit deinen Übersetzungen aber zumindest verdient (auch wenn ich spontan mehr zu "desire" tendiert habe, gerade wegen der Bedeutung "Verlangen", aber bei "lid" bin ich wieder ganz deiner Meinung)

Liebe Grüße

[Volker]

Hi Linda,
Hallo Marie,

falls von Interesse: hier ist eine website von einem amerikanischen Journalisten, der eine Reise als Passagier auf einem Containerfrachter in der Karibik gemacht hat. Er beschreibt (und zeigt mit vielen Fotos) sehr anschaulich und realistisch das Leben an Bord.
Here is a website worth to visit if you want to know more about life on board.
By the way: my daughter is living in Kiel too, with her husband and two boys of nine and one and a half years.

The funny thing is: "Katrin S." is the vessel I'm going to join soon!

http://www.juddspittler.com/freighterbum/index.htm

Oh, bitte entschuldigt, das hat aber nun wirklich nichts mehr mit "Rose" zu tun (höchstens vielleicht etwas mit "Widerspruch"? )

[Marie]

Hallo,

it's easy to create a connection between Rilke's epitaph and ships: a ship often symbolizes the crossing of the soul-ocean (Odysseus!) or of the river/ lake located between the world of the living and the dead ones! So you don't have to worry, Volker. Anyway, everything is somehow connected with it all - with this, at the latest, we are back to Rilke, no doubt!

Viele Grüße

[Volker]

Hallo Marie, da hast du wohl recht. Alles hat einen Zusammenhang.

... Es nehmet aber
Und giebt Gedächtniß die See,
Und die Lieb' auch heftet fleißig die Augen,
Was bleibet aber, stiften die Dichter.
(Hölderlin, Andenken)

PS: wegen der Bilder schicke ich dir demnächst eine Nachricht.