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Friday, February 6, 2015

Mona - translated -

A stunning multitude of my readers , well some of them, actually my daughter, demanded that I translate the Poems about Mona Lisa, which appear below in German, into English.
I attempted to do this and thereby confirmed a discovery, made many years ago.
I cannot just decide to "sit down and write a poem or an essay".
When i do this it normally comes out a bit stilted and with little flow.

The Originals, in German and in English, flowed without effort as a consequence of a discussion.
The translations below.....     well, let's say ...  well, let's say nothing...  it's better that way.



The Painter and his hungry Model.

Lenny mixes white and black
while Mona's looking for a snack.
What is this constant cry of hunger?
Lenny asks with look of anger
The painting hasn't started yet
you want already to be fed
I did not bring you cheeze and bread.
Come back next week on Wed-nes-day
when I shall cook with much Hurray
„Last Supper“ showing food and drink
a work of art, in just a blink.


The Gap

A little smile ! Yes ! Just like that!
I'd rather paint you with no hat.
Close your lips! Your teeth, don't show them
the gap in front could be a problem
Thus spake Lenny in Verona
to his model called just „Mona“.



This simply expresses 
Bertstravels
suspicion that Mona Lisa was well on her way of getting fat through over-eating and that she had lost a tooth and the rest were rotten due to a case of scurvy.







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