Thursday, April 09, 2009

The Door

Neither did you knock
nor did I open
the door in between us.

நீயும் தட்டவில்லை
நானும் திறக்கவில்லை
இடையில் இருந்தது கதவு
- சுந்தர்ஜி

My translation of a poem/limerick that was published in Ananda vikatan. The piece is simple yet profound.

6 comments:

ICANAVENUE said...

Congratulations! these are really profound lines

Chenthil said...

I think I didn't make it clear. The original wasn't written by me, it was published in Ananda vikatan by some one called Sundar. I just translated it.

Anonymous said...

did you intend for this to be unidiomatic in english? just curious as to why you'd write "neither did you knock" rather than "you neither knocked" or "the door in between" rather than "the door between".

what makes it a limerick? i think i'd like to see a profound limerick, but makes this poem one?

paavam thiru sundar, who doesn't even get his name beside his own poem, profound or otherwise.

Chenthil said...

Anon - I somehow felt that this wasn't a complete poem, hence used the word limerick. That was a mistake, agreed.

I didn't set out to be unidiomatic. My English grammar is weak, I just go by how it sounds if I read it aloud. Hence I used "neither did you knock".

Sundar's poem and name is included now. I normally type out the original with the poet's name, but this was published in Ananda Vikatan, and I wasn't sure of the copyright issues.

What makes it profound for me - the poem could be about lovers, friends, parents. It brings out different emotions (lust, pain, sadness) based on who I imagine it to be.

Keep visiting.

Anonymous said...

there once was a blogger named chenthil
whose hold on his verse was quite gentle.
his frequent translations
were off-hand persuastions
that art is more arduous than sentimental.

;-) just teasing and i have kept reading for a few years.

Chenthil said...

Thanks Anon, for following me over the years. Art is arduous. And are you the previous anon? do use a handle for me to address.