Saturday, May 4, 2013

French.

Today in my teenage angst, I'm discovering that life outside of school is the best. When you're not at work, you're allowed to do - wait for it - whatever. you. want.

After a week, though, watching TV and fake-napping and not going to the gym, have gotten lame. So I decided to pick up a hobby.

I took French this year at school for my two-semester language credit. I had a really amazing French teacher in High School and I had retained a lot of the basics. So going into the first semester I was like, this is so easy, how could anyone not get a hundred percent in this class? I ended the first semester with a 72 and the second with a 69. So I guess me. It's just one of those things that isn't super hard to understand, but is one of those things that is super hard to apply if you don't try and apply it regularly. I didn't want to try. Because, really guys, it's my language credit.

I did learn a lot though, and participating in other languages makes me feel superior. So I have decided to take up translating French Poetry. This is my first translation. If you can't read it because thought I would be fancy and scan my translation notebook, you can find it re-written below the image.


You are silence
             and midnight.
You are science
         and instinct.
 And the scream
And desertion
Certainty
The pacifier
                          and the forgiveness
The multitude
The desire and belief
Where he supports
               and unravels.
All loneliness.

It's also worth noting that I did this translation in my room while listening to Peter Gabriel's So, on vinyl. It makes me feel like a character from a Sophia Coppola movie. That, I feel, is something worth pursuing. 

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