What time are we living in by T. Wignesan
What time are we living in It’s not if but since the future can be told To a broadly verifiable degree What time are we living in: present old Future or has it all gone past already Don’t tell it for honours to politicos They hanker after two-bit history lines Don’t even […]
Villanelle: Oscar Victorius by T. Wignesan
Lock not the door in the face of your fate The intruder lies dimly in your place Will he die for you were he your true mate Soft the dark wind taps in every haste late Makes your darling come lie by your fire-place Lock not the door in the face of your fate Harsh […]
To the author(s) of Manimekalai by T. Wignesan
“Apart from its popular conception of transmigration, (which is) sometimes almost humouristic, Manimekhalai offers a documentary contribution of immense value, under an easily accessible form, on the philosophical speculations of Ancient India. The cosmology of Sankya, the scientism of Vaisheshika, the logic of Nyaya, the materialism of Lokayata, originally related to the Ajivika tradition, (all […]
To Don Quixote, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s A Don Quichotte by T. Wignesan.
To Don Quixote, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s A Don Quichotte by T. Wignesan. To Don Quixote, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : A Don Quichotte (Poem written in March 1861 that I would Verlaine had dedicated to the Grand Dear Old Man of Letters : Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra – with kind permission, of course, […]
To a woman, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: A une femme by T. Wignesan.
To a woman, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: A une femme by T. Wignesan. To a woman, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : A une femme (In this traslation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : « A une femme », I have retained the rhyme scheme to the letter, I hope. T. Wignesan) To you these […]
To a person, they say, frigid, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: A celle que l’on fit froide by T. Wignesan
To a person, they say, frigid, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: A celle que l’on fit froide by T. Wignesan To the person, they call, frigid, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem : A celle que l’on dit froide (Poem written on September 5, 1889 at Aix-les-Bains, which I found a bit jarring with abrupt exclamations […]
The Virgin Maid of Orleans, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: La Pucelle by T. Wignesan.
The Virgin Maid of Orleans, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: La Pucelle by T. Wignesan. The Virgin Maid of Orleans, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s La Pucelle To Robert Caze* Even as the blaze crackled around the stake’s pyre, Joan was deafened by the clergy’s brutal chanting, Harsh eyes with hate from all the windows demeaning, […]
The Evening Soup, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: La Soupe du soir by T. Wignesan
The Evening Soup, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: La Soupe du soir by T. Wignesan The Evening Soup, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s La soupe du soir To J.-K. Huysmans (Verlaine here paints a stark tableau of working-class or peasant life shorn of any symbolic or imaginary references. Even if I see no reason to keep […]
Prison Souvenirs, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Prière by T. Wignesan.
Prison Souvenirs, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Prière by T. Wignesan. Prison Souvenirs, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem : Souvenirs de prison, March 1874* (Verlaine was sentenced to serve a term of two years in prison for having shot his erstwhile lover in the arm/hand, the legendary poet Arthur Rimbaud, ten years his junior, on […]
Prayer, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Prière by T. Wignesan.
Prayer, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Prière by T. Wignesan. Prayer, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem : Prière (One of Paul Verlaine’s later poems, after having gone through early success as a poet, love, family life, and yet another kind of relationship with Rimbaud, crime, prison, drunkenness, unrequited love, divorce, and intense inner turmoil. T. […]
Post coitum omne animal triste est sive gallus et mulier by T. Wignesan.
Yes, no cockerel who rules the cackling roost Will stomach slander from Latin master; But who will stand aside and let the ghost Of hints slur old motherhood’s register. Manhood must of needs hang its head in pain After all the sweat and toil in loins of love; After millions of squiggly soldiers in vain […]
Plaidoirie for a “Prince” of Jaffna by T. Wignesan
“We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Nobel Prize by T. Wignesan Blue blood gushes when heroes die From gory wounds on battlefields Not in castle intrigues when for a lie Crowns use commoners as shields. A royal house does not construct itself After centuries have broken tradition […]
Petrarchan Sonnet: If no one else breathed in this wide, wide world by T. Wignesan
If no one else breathed in this wide, wide world Will one know one exists under this sun Or how will he guess he’s the only one If none thought of him in some other world Will he then climb upon some hill all bold To announce: Where is there another son Not just the […]
Paris, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Paris by T. Wignesan.
Paris, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem: Paris by T. Wignesan. Paris, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s poem : Paris ( For those who may be interested, this poem by Paul Verlaine presents more difficulties than his other rhymed quatrains I have read, but then this may only be a personal feeling. T. Wignesan) Paris cannot lay […]
Nevermore, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: Nevermore by T. Wignesan
Nevermore, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet: Nevermore by T. Wignesan Nevermore, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s sonnet : Nevermore (In this translation of Paul Verlaine’s « Nevermore » , I must say I felt inveigled into adhering to the fixed form by making some unnecessary allowances just in order to respect the rime scheme. It would […]
Master Valluvan, the long-misunderstood Tamil Mentor by T. Wignesan
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Limerick: Once a Great Leader with empty pockets by T. Wignesan
Once Great Leader with empty pockets Strode our World distributing nuggets Nuggets Made in China Slick smooth like Godiva Now makes Godiva China rockets. © T. Wignesan – Partis, 2013 Poetry In Englishwww.poetry.monster
Criss-Cross Acrostic*: Ai My Eye ! by T. Wignesan
I Was Saw Eye Eye Saw Was I Eye Was Saw I I Saw Was Eye *Construe as “words” not as “letters”: Lines 1 and 3 read alike reversed; Lines 2 and 4 read alike reversed; likewise vertically and diagonally from up-down or down-up mode. © T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013 Poetry In Englishwww.poetry.monster
Copla Suelta: The One and the Same Dream by T. Wignesan
If you must dream the dream I dream Then the dream comes true when you wake But who dreams first Yet if you wake before the dream Has had time to gestate and make The dream will burst Is there only one dream out there The kind we watch ponder record And hang up high […]
Ballade: In favour of those called Decadents and Symbolists, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s Ballade: En faveur des dénommés Déca by T Wignesan
Ballade: In favour of those called Decadents and Symbolists, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s Ballade: En faveur des dénommés Déca by T Wignesan Ballade : In favour of those called Decadents and Symbolists, Translation of Paul Verlaine’s Ballade en faveur des dénommés Décadents et Symbolistes for Léon Vanier* (The texts I use for my translations are […]
Am I the Assassin or the Undertaker by T. Wignesan
For Palani I He stopped coming our way again He was no where in sight at school Then, after a long absence In the pit of the Chan Ah Tong padang He came and stood at one corner of the field He looked resigned grave A stoic smile hovering over his lips Over his virgin […]