a bilingual rensaku (haiku sequence)
I shall hang a few Japanese knick-knacks on my walls.The Letters of a Post-Impressionist: Being the Familiar Correspondence of Vincent van Gogh (Project Gutenberg)
1
ag éisteacht liom
go géar anois
cluas van Gogh
listening intently
to me now
van Gogh’s ear
2
earrach . . .
péacann rud éigin
as cluas van Gogh
spring . . .
something shoots
out of van Gogh’s ear
3
níl faic
cloiste agat fós
cluas van Gogh
you ain’t heard
nothing yet
van Gogh’s ear
4
samhradh
boladh an fhéir nuabhainte
i gcluas van Gogh
summer
the scent of newly mown hay
in van Gogh’s ear
Why do we not stick to what we have once discovered in our art, as the doctors and the engineers do? With them, when anything is discovered, the knowledge of it is carefully preserved. But in the wretched fine arts everything is forgotten; we hold fast to nothing . . .The Letters of a Post-Impressionist: Being the Familiar Correspondence of Vincent van Gogh (Project Gutenberg)
5
Vincent, braithim uaim thú!
uaigneas chluas
van Gogh
Vincent, i miss you!
the loneliness
of van Gogh’s ear
6
amach san fhómhar
cluas van Gogh
ag éirí buí
autumn deepens
van Gogh’s ear
turning yellow
7
deir cluas van Gogh:
an té a bhfuil cluasa air
éisteadh sé
van Gogh’s ear says:
he that hath ears to hear
let him hear
8
cluas van Gogh amháin
a thuigeann í
an tseanmóir ón Athair Mac Coinnich
only van Gogh’s ear
gets it –
Fr. McKenzie’s sermon
The healthy man should be able to live on a piece of bread and keep at work all day. He should also be able to bear a pipe of tobacco and a good drink; for without these things nothing can be done. And withal he ought to have some feeling for the stars and the infinite heavens. Then it is a joy to live!The Letters of a Post-Impressionist: Being the Familiar Correspondence of Vincent van Gogh (Project Gutenberg)
9
cén fhuaim atá
ag leathchluas
is í ag éisteacht
what is the sound
of one ear
listening
10
deir Boris Johnson
rud éigin ar an teilifís
preabann cluas van Gogh
Boris Johnson
says something on TV
van Gogh’s ear twitches
11
tuilleadh tinte
in Amazonia
cluas lasta van Gogh
more fires
in Amazonia
van Gogh’s ear burning
12
cluas van Gogh
is túisce a chloiseann é –
an Mistral
van Gogh’s ear
is the first to hear it –
the Mistral
13
an fharraige!
sliogán brúite
in aghaidh chluas van Gogh
the sea!
a shell pressed
to van Gogh’s ear
14
ar fán
i réaltbhuíon éigin
cluas van Gogh
wandering
in some galaxy or other
van Gogh’s ear
15
ghabh síoladóir amach
chun cluas
a chur
a sower went out
to sow
an ear
16
prátaí á scamhadh
ag bean tuaithe . . .
craiceann i bhfoirm cluaise
a peasant
peeling potatoes . . .
ear-shaped sliver
17
sound of absinthe
poured in a glass . . .
his good ear
fuaim apsainte
á doirteadh i ngloine –
sa chluas mhaith
18
cuimhníonn sé
ar na mianadóirí guail
cluasa chomh dubh le súiche
he remembers
the coal miners
ears as black as soot
19
dhá choinín a gcluasa ar bior
two rabbits ears pricked
20
cluas ag briodarnach
ag fanacht
go mbeireoidh na prátaí
throbbing ear
waiting for the potatoes
to boil
21
deir Gauguin rud éigin
a théann isteach i gcluas amháin
agus –
Gauguin says something
that goes in one ear
and –
22
páirc chruithneachta na diasa go léir
a field of wheat with all its ears
23
cloig na heaglaise
ag clingeadh
i leathchluas leis
church bells
ringing
in one ear
24
portráid
den Dr Gachet
a lámh gar dá chluas
portrait
of Dr Gachet
a hand close to his ear
25
asal is cairt
cluasa fada
an ainmhí
donkey and cart
the long ears
of the beast
26
grian an tráthnóna
ar dhath
chéir chluaise
evening sun
the colour
of earwax
27
portráid
den Dr Felix Rey
ar leathchluas
portrait
of Dr Felix Rey
only one ear
28
fear an phoist
chomh gruagach sin
gur deacair na cluasa a dhéanamh amach
postman *
you can barely see his ears
with all that hair
* Joseph Roulin (1841 -1903)
29
trí chiocáda
an gcloiseann siad
a chéile
three cicadas
do they hear
one another
30
dhá fhéileacán bhána . . .
a compánach á lorg
ag cluas
two white butterflies . . .
an ear looking
for its companion
31
cathaoir shúgáin
gíoscán beag
uaithi
straw chair
the little squeak
it makes
32
corrán gealaí . . .
tá rud éigin in easnamh air
cad é féin
crescent moon . . .
he is missing something
what is it
33
geimhreadh . . .
cluas van Gogh
iompaithe dubh
winter . . .
van Gogh’s ear
has turned black
I have been and still am half dead, after my last week’s work. I cannot do anything yet but, as it happens, a terrific north wind is blowing at present, which whirls up clouds of dust and covers the trees from top to bottom in a coat of white. Willy-nilly, therefore, I am obliged to remain idle.The Letters of a Post-Impressionist: Being the Familiar Correspondence of Vincent van Gogh (Project Gutenberg)
34
ag éisteacht
léi féin anois
cluas van Gogh
listening
to itself now
van Gogh’s ear
