#it is a reduplication of the verb 巡る／廻る meguru ‘to go around; to return’ | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

abyssus-aeterna · 1 year ago

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月影の闇の中にて煙草を吸ひ乍ら過ごしゝ夜々。

碎けたる紫石英と翠玉の映り、季節の巡り廻り、

拵へ上げられたる性、是より先の傳へは仄暗し。

虛ろの下には、隱さずして堅き化學の深みあり。

殘り物には粗けれど、祭祀的再生には乳色なり。

[Classical transliteration]

Tuki-kage no yami no naka nite tabako wo sufi-nagara sugosisi yo-yo. Kudaketaru shisekieĩ to suigyoku no uturi, kisetu no meguri-meguri, kosirafe-ageraretaru saga, kore yori saki no tutafe fa fono-gurasi. Uturo no sita ni fa, kakusazu site kataki kwagaku no fukami ari. Nokori-mono ni fa arakeredo, saisi-teki saiseĩ ni fa titi-iro nari.

[Modern transliteration]

Tsuki-kage no yami no naka nite tabako wo sui-nagara sugoshishi yo-yo. Kudaketaru shisekiei to suigyoku no utsuri, kisetsu no meguri-meguri, koshirae-ageraretaru saga, kore yori saki no tsutae wa hono-gurashi. Utsuro no shita ni wa, kakusazu shite kataki kagaku no fukami ari. Nokori-mono ni wa arakeredo, saishi-teki saisei ni wa chichi-iro nari.

nights spent smoking cigarettes in the darkness of moonlight:

shattered amethyst & emerald reflections, cycles of seasons,

manufactured essence, the traditions of the future are bleak,

beneath the hollow, the depth of candidly callous chemistry;

so harsh in remains, yet so opalescent in ritual renaissance.

#🫀#.#poetry #voidic3ntity #translation to classical japanese #translator’s notes below #‘cigarette’ → 煙草／タバコ tabako ‘tobacco; tobacco product (of any kind)’; an old loanword from portugese #‘night’ → 夜々 yo-yo (plural meaning by reduplication)#‘amethyst’ is nowadays often called アメシスト ameshisuto or アメジスト amejisuto #but there are also sino-japanese words for it: 紫水晶 murasaki-zuishō (literally: ‘purple crystal’) or 紫石英 shisekiei (‘purple quartz’)#the latter of two seems to be the more precise term #the common name for ‘emerald’ is also an english borrowing: エメラルド emerarudo #but one can also say 翠玉 suigyoku (literally: ‘green gem’)#‘season’ → 季節 kisetsu; a standard sino-japanese word #‘cycles’ are rendered as 巡り廻り meguri-meguri #it is a reduplication of the verb 巡る／廻る meguru ‘to go around; to return’#also 季節の巡り kisetsu no meguri is one of the phrases that is used to refer to the changing of the seasons #‘essence’ → 性／相 saga ‘one’s nature’ (in philosophy one would rather say 本質 honshitsu)#‘future’ normally is 未來 mirai or 將來 shōrai #but if one wants to use only native japanese words one would have to say 是より先 kore yori saki ‘what is ahead/hereafter’#‘bleak’ → 仄暗し hono-gurashi ‘gloomy; dimly dark’#‘candidly callous chemistry’ is an alliteration which I’ve managed to preserve as 隱さずして堅き化學 kakusazu shite kataki kagaku #‘candidly’ → 隱さずして kakusazu shite ‘without hiding’#‘chemistry’ → 化學 kagaku (literally: ‘the study of change’); standard term #‘callous’ → 堅し katashi ‘hard; solid; tough; firm’#‘ritual renaissance’ was another alliteration which took me considerable time to translate #‘ritual’ → 祭祀 saishi ‘rite; ceremony; religious service’ + 的 teki (adjectival suffix)#‘renaissance’ → 再生 saisei ‘revival; rebirth’#‘opalescent’ → 乳色なり chichi-iro nari ‘of milky colour’#(the mineral opal itself is called オパール opāru or 蛋白石 tampakuseki (‘the egg white stone’) or 乳白石 nyūhakuseki (‘the milky white stone’))

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