tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402275990823741920.post1079376063659030858..comments2024-02-15T05:39:52.275-05:00Comments on A Journey Round My Skull: Belli's Red GravyWillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05799869059793681283noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402275990823741920.post-89160078379786519142008-12-02T05:17:00.000-05:002008-12-02T05:17:00.000-05:00I've located my copy of Robert Garioch's Complete ...I've located my copy of Robert Garioch's Complete Poetical Works. There are more Belli sonnets than I'd remembered - 120 in total, the result of a really sustained effort at the end of Garioch's life. They're absolutely great, the language "alive as a bout of all-in wrestling", in Hugh MacDiarmuid's phrase. He translated both of the two Burgess ones you posted. The first is<BR/><BR/> The Beasties of the Yirdlie Paradise<BR/><BR/>The beasties of thon place, or Adam's reign,<BR/>levit as well as lairds, I hae nae dout,<BR/>mainaged their ain affairs, and gaed about<BR/>lowse as they likit, nor behaudit nane.<BR/><BR/>Nae grooms, nae toffs invitit to the shoot,<BR/>nae killin-hous, nae skelps, nae need to hain;<BR/>sae faur as talkin wes concerned, ilkane<BR/>blethert awa like doctors in dispute.<BR/><BR/>But eftir Adam cam to be their chief,<BR/>in cam the gun, the pole-aix and the whup,<BR/>dauds on the heid, and ilka cause for grief.<BR/><BR/>And syne, for the first time, yon man of micht<BR/>reiv'd frae the beasts their word, garr'd them shut up,<BR/>sae he allane cuid speak, and aye be richt.<BR/><BR/>The second is entitled "Wha Asks Fir It, Gets It". The last three lines are:<BR/><BR/>But no the Serpent, that cuid plainly see<BR/>aa this: "Big-heidit cuif! Ye'll ken some day,"<BR/>he tellt his gaffer, "whit I'll dae to ye."<BR/><BR/>Without consulting the originals, I suspect the Burgess translations are much freer than Garioch's, but they are wonderfully energetic and forceful. Bravura performances, with those relentless rhythms and all those internal rhymes tumbling over one another. Garioch's approach is quieter, but still full of sly wit and delight in language.Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020242863144175965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402275990823741920.post-32937748673018652952008-11-30T13:15:00.000-05:002008-11-30T13:15:00.000-05:00I put up a few more Belli poems here, in Harold No...I put up a few more Belli poems <A HREF="http://wutheringexpectations.blogspot.com/2007/10/within-lovely-grotto-of-salami-giuseppe.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>, in Harold Norse's semi-Beat translations.<BR/><BR/>I had no idea about the Burgess translations. Good stuff.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2402275990823741920.post-20139829402749583752008-11-28T17:38:00.000-05:002008-11-28T17:38:00.000-05:00I met Burgess once but was too shy to speak to him...I met Burgess once but was too shy to speak to him - a glaring, baleful presence. I have some great translations of Belli into Lallans by Robert Garioch, somewhere on my shelves.Neilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18020242863144175965noreply@blogger.com