Ode to the Avatar

"My heart's in the highlands, my heart is not here
My heart's in the highlands, a-chasing the deer
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe
My heart's in the highlands, wherever I go."

An old song.

Not only an old song, McTag, but a poem as well.

My Heart's In The Highlands
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer -
A-chasing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.

Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North -
The birth place of Valour, the country of Worth;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.

Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forrests and wild-hanging woods;
Farwell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.

My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer -
Chsing the wild deer, and following the roe;
My heart's in the Highlands, whereever I go.
Felföld, hegyeim
Felföld: oda, csak oda vonz a szivem!
Felföld: oda, csak oda! ... Fegyveresen
száguld a vadász ... fut elõtte az õz:
Felföldön a szívem, akárhol idõz!

Felföld, Hegyeim, kik a hõst szülitek,
hejhó, bucsuzom most: ég veletek!
Út bárhova, észak akárhova vet,
Felföld, Hegyeim, a szivem tietek!

Hejhó, gyönyörû, hófödte orom,
hejhó, szakadék, s zöld-völgy: bucsuzom;
hejhó, meredély, s erdõk, suhogók,
hejhók, patakok, s ti vizek, zuhogók!

Felföld: oda, csak oda vonz a szivem!
Felföld: oda, csak oda! ... Fegyveresen
száguld a vadász ... fut elõtte az õz:
Felföldön a szívem, akárhol idõz!

Foditotta: Szabó Lõrinc



Such A Parcel Of Rogues

and by whoelse but your friend and mine, Robert Burns.

May be a wee bit off thread, but I have permission to do that.

Hungarian? I know Burns is popular in Russia....

I like the "hey-ho" bit.

McT

l. Mein Herz ist im Hochland,
Mein Herz ist nicht hier,
Mein Herz ist im Hochland,
Im waldgen Revier!
Da jag ich das Rotwild,
Da folg ich dem Reh,
Mein Herz ist im Hochland,
Wo immer ich geh.

2. Mein Norden, mein Hochland,
Leb wohl, ich muß ziehn,
Du Wiege von allem,
Was stark und was kühn.
Doch wo ich auch wandre
Und wo ich auch bin,
Nach den Hügeln des Hochlands
Steht allzeit mein Sinn.

3. Lebt wohl, ihr Gebirge
Mit Häuptern voll Schnee,
Ihr Schluchten, ihr Täler,
Du schäumender See,
Ihr Wälder, ihr Klippen,
So grau und bemoost,
Ihr Ströme, die zornig
Durch Felsen ihr tost!

4. Mein Herz ist im Hochland,
Mein Herz ist nicht hier,
Mein Herz ist im Hochland,
Im waldgen Revier!
Da jag ich das Rotwild,
Da folg ich dem Reh,
Mein Herz ist im Hochland,
Wo immer ich geh.
Tr. Ferdinand Freiligrath, 1835

Ok then, that's the Russians, the Hungarians, and the French. Any more?

Nice poem Walter. I think Herr Freiligrath made a good job of that translation.

Freiligrath was born rather close to us: in Detmold (open air museum, Hermann memorial :wink: ).

(He had long-standing friendship with Karl Marx, btw.)

Among Freiligrath's important works are his translations of the social poetry of William Wordsworth, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Walt Whitman, Robert Burns, Victor Hugo, and Molière.

Wow!

Ode to the sailor:

How innocent that German
Looks, how naive and how shy.
One would never choose to look,
Behind discerning eye
That's seen so much,
And hurt so few
Beneath a mars like sky.

and, Walter, I do understand why English is low German.
I understood every word.

Wunderbar.

I love that poem, although I find it so sad... I've been meaning to translate it into my family's old language-- which, apart from my and a few others' speaking it-- is extinct... I have used a few synonyms to make it, with one or two exceptions, rhyming and using 11 syls to the line.

Mìn Hert sèn dès Heitepay'n, min Hert nè sèn hier,
Min Hert sèn dès Heitepay'n, sat çassen at Dier'n,
Das Dier'n sat çassen, i, sat purcùn das Shint'n
Min Hert sèn dès Heitepay'n ne matè jan iren.

À Die av dès Heitepay'n, À Die avos Nord,
Das sit ù nacet dos Vèlonce, das pays dos Mèrìd,
Ne matè jan mendèren, ne mate cas' iren,
Parsimper dès Altrèste'n dos Heitepay'n jan liben.

À Die av dès Monten, cvas alt i ponyà,
À Die av dès Nèn i paste'n vern debà;
À Die av dès Uersten, av çons' n'uild i ver,
À Die av dès Rìën i Torrens' n'auder.

Mìn Hert sèn dès Heitepay'n, min Hert nè sèn hier,
Min Hert sèn dès Heitepay'n, sat çassen at Dier'n,
Das Dier'n sat çassen, i, sat purcùn das Shint'n
Min Hert sèn dès Heitepay'n ne matè jan iren.

and drom's new profile,
Cameo of lovely outline
Fresh as snow
on darkened earth.

Drom, how intriguing. What vanished language is that? Somehow, I thought that you were a Brit.

monitor is finally fading out.

and in the words of Emily,
I cannot see to see.................

Goodbye, my friends,
Don't know if I have the will to continue...........................

Poor Letty! don't say that it's so:
That your PC is letting you down;
Without you here, a King is a clown,
And the sun's just a sickening glow...

I am a Brit; well, strictly speaking, I am British on my passport, and I was borne and raised here to British parents; but my heritage is very weird and varied: I have sixty-fifths of this and twelfths of that… my ancestors were mostly ambassadors; although, we did have an assistant to explorers or two, but that was long ago. Anyhow; this meant that people were scattered all over the place; which, consequently, meant that, as the generations went on, English as a means of communication for everyone in the family died out, due to the ancestors' marrying into other cultures. To solve the problem of communication, despite how few and far between it must have been, two men and one woman (who was my great-great-great-grand-mother) invented their own language, using elements of mostly Indo-European languages, but using grammatical elements from Oriental languages too, which ended up as the family language, known by many names; not for every day use, but for communication. However, people either returned to England, like my great-grandparents, or had to learn English to get along. Consequently, it faded out; people were too lazy to keep it going. I found it intriguing, and learnt it from my cousin, who died recently.

What I've transcribed as ç is a letter like sch in German or ch in French, but it's a letter that doesn't occur in any other language; it's like an M on top of a W in written form. It's a lovely language to here.. like Italian mixed with French; so, because its unusualness really interests me, I'm trying to keep it going on despite the reluctance of my family, by translating poetry, mainly, and writing a guide, like those '[Insert language here] in three months]' books.

drom, you never cease to amaze me...a musician, a poet, a speaker of vanishing languages..and to think that I once thought you a man.

Another miracle--I got a new monitor and I can actually see stuff, now.

Clary's face--the man under the hat--WOW!

Now if you tell me what "taters" mean, I'll know that you have mastered mountainese..<put West Virginia IQ test here>

Of course, Letty made a dramatic exit; that's the name of the real game, you know.

Letty, so good to hear from you.
Was worried.

No poem right now
Watch this space
I'll get one, I vow
I'm a disgrace..

Jespah the moderator,
Jespah the administrator,
Jespah the Gladiator,
Jespah my avatar's creator :-)

Many thanks to Jespah to be 'Godmother' of my lovely avatar!
I look forward to a new one from her.

Ah, McTag, You're no disgrace, just amazing. (played by bagpipes, of course)

Sonny's rose, is a rose, is a rose.
And Jes does keep on her toes.

Just let me say,
Welcome to A2K,

Like the ocean, it ebbs and it flows.

Taters means not only potatoes; it also means the 'Time and travel expense reporting system,' which is one of the most mundane things on the face of the planet.

I'm quite amazed but pleased nonetheless that I amaze you! And, out of interest, do I often seem manly, or was it something different?

I'm glad that you can see properly; like having your Internet cataracts removed. Did the screen cost much for you?

Time and travel expense? My word. I hate to admit this, drom, (I created an entire thread on it called stereotyping) but I originally thought that you were a man because you played tenor sax.

Well, I had a Gateway monitor for ten years, and I knew that it was going, but waited until the last moment. I bought a KDS monitor, 17 inch screen for $129.00, plus $10.00 for home delivery. The man who delivered it forgot to haul off the old one. grrrrrr.

Incidentally, my advisor at UVA, who was originally from New York, brought a West Virginia IQ test to class one day. One of the questions was: Who wrote "Take an Old Cold Tater and Wait"..Not only could he not answer the question, he didn't know what a tater was.

Before I go on, Letty; when is your birthday? We should start some sort of birthday thread, if there is not one, to keep track.

The Time and Travel expense thing is something common to-day to cover up for somethig completely archaic: TATERS is usually a bunch of hand-written forms on when you're going from work, and how much you will need to beat the costs. I find this common; everything seems to have to have a 'posh' name: the person who cleans crap from the streets is now called an Excrement-centric Community Officer.

As for playing Tenor Sax, well usually the affiliation of it with men is right; but I, being awkward, picked it instead of alto up, because of a whim of liking it better, really.

Have you had the same computer for ten years, God forbid; or have you changed parts of your computer and kept the monitor because it seemed all right? Is the old one perfectly useless? If not, or possibly if so, E-bay is the answer to not wasting.... someone once sold a bag of toenails on there, for a hefty price; it's amazing what people will buy.

Was that John Bartlett, or am I hallucinating? Is West Virginia the Swindon, or idiot factory, of the US? Isn't tater a word from that area? Well, some people are just a little late; I remember that there was an English child of 15 of French birth who came over to the school that I was assisting in, and he came over with no knowledge of English. By the time that he left, he was confident enough in English, but had forgotten French completely. I never thought that that were possible until I came across him...

West Virginia is like most states. All sorts of cultures and sub cultures. Here is the Tater song by little Jimmy Dickens:


Take an Old Cold 'Tater (And Wait)
(Bartlett)

When I was a little boy around the table at home
I remember very well when company would come
I would have to be right still until the whole crowd ate
My Mama always said to me "Jim take a tater and wait."

CHORUS:
Now 'taters never did taste good with chicken on the plate
But I had to eat 'em just the same
That is why I look so bad and have these puny ways
Because I always had to an old cold 'tater and wait.


And then the preachers they would come to stay awhile with us
I would have to slip around and raise a little fuss
In fear that I would spill the beans or break the china plate
My Mama always said to me, "Jim, take a 'tater and wait."

CHORUS:

Well I though that I'd starve to death before my time would come
All that chicken they would eat and just leave me the bun
The feet and neck were all that's left upon the china plate
It makes you pretty darn weak to take an old cold 'tater and wait.

CHORUS

Recorded by Little Jimmy Dickens
GG
apr97

And drom, I am a Halloween baby. The resident witch of A2K.

The CPU was custom made for me, but I kept the old monitor. (often, I am quite parsimonious)

Strange about the young man who forgot his native tongue.

Aaah, but surely the most memorable of them all:(Paul Robeson, of course)

He don't plant taters
He don't plant cotton
And them that plants 'em
Is soon forgotten, but
Ole Man River, that Ole Man River
He just keeps rolling along.