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itsprobable's review
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
really nice edition with the side by side translation.. def want to revisit in the future when my Danish improves
tillydaisym's review
4.0
I have often marvelled at the power of translation and how translators choose between synonyms, but the thing I have puzzled over the most is how poetry can be translated into different languages. Michael Strunge was (and remains) one of Denmark's most influential poets. For the first time, his poetry can now be read in English, translated by Paul Russell Garrett (published by Nordisk Books). This beautiful edition of Speed of Life features the original Danish on the left and the English translation on the right (particularly fun if you, like me, are curious about languages).
I read the entire collection aloud, from cover to cover, in what felt like a single breath, leaving me with a raspy voice, drawn onwards by the urgency of Strunge's words. The poet flickers between politically-infused soliloquies, love letters to a better world, and thoughts on spirally sanity. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1986 and became part of the infamous 27-club. This is a truly poignant poetry collection and one I will return to.
*ad-pr note: I was kindly gifted an ARC by the publisher, but all thoughts are my own.
A few underlined sections from different poems...
Speed of Life
Shatter the clock
with my thoughts
- I only live
at the speed of life.
IV. Satellite
I'll intercept everything
and recall and study and caress
and analyse and kiss.
Morning
Never had I thought the sky could be this blue,
in such a way, with such depth, azure
crystal-clear like soft soap.
It's too beautiful, there's something behind it
and I let the curtain fall back into place
nature can't fool me
Dust
I drift through days of fog
between the scattered light of night
only occasionally encountering existence
in mutually independent collisions
like in a dream or in a fantasy
Farther
Thus I want to be close
in the distance that is heard
especially at night
when things speak at length and with sadness
of when they were something else
something bigger and smaller and more beautiful
in an obviously distance everyday whiteness.
The Bedroom
The walls leans through my back
making the room smaller than before.
I pull myself together
and push it back.
Stay there, I say
I still want to live.
But I quickly switch off the light again
- even the shadows were too great a burden...
I read the entire collection aloud, from cover to cover, in what felt like a single breath, leaving me with a raspy voice, drawn onwards by the urgency of Strunge's words. The poet flickers between politically-infused soliloquies, love letters to a better world, and thoughts on spirally sanity. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1986 and became part of the infamous 27-club. This is a truly poignant poetry collection and one I will return to.
*ad-pr note: I was kindly gifted an ARC by the publisher, but all thoughts are my own.
A few underlined sections from different poems...
Speed of Life
Shatter the clock
with my thoughts
- I only live
at the speed of life.
IV. Satellite
I'll intercept everything
and recall and study and caress
and analyse and kiss.
Morning
Never had I thought the sky could be this blue,
in such a way, with such depth, azure
crystal-clear like soft soap.
It's too beautiful, there's something behind it
and I let the curtain fall back into place
nature can't fool me
Dust
I drift through days of fog
between the scattered light of night
only occasionally encountering existence
in mutually independent collisions
like in a dream or in a fantasy
Farther
Thus I want to be close
in the distance that is heard
especially at night
when things speak at length and with sadness
of when they were something else
something bigger and smaller and more beautiful
in an obviously distance everyday whiteness.
The Bedroom
The walls leans through my back
making the room smaller than before.
I pull myself together
and push it back.
Stay there, I say
I still want to live.
But I quickly switch off the light again
- even the shadows were too great a burden...
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