By: Various Poets
- Published: Monday, July 26 2010 07:00
One of the most famous astropoems in the U.K. is:
TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR
by Jane Taylor (1806)
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
When the blazing sun is gone,
When there's nothing he shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, through the night.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
In the dark blue sky so deep
Through my curtains often peep
For you never close your eyes
Til the morning sun does rise
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
How I wonder what you are!
One of the most famous astropoems in the U.S.A. is:
EVENING STAR
by Edgar Allan Poe (1827)
'Twas noontide of summer,
And mid-time of night;
And stars, in their orbits,
Shone pale, thro' the light
Of the brighter, cold moon,
'Mid planets her slaves,
Herself in the Heavens,
Her beam on the waves.
I gazed awhile
On her cold smile;
Too cold- too cold for me-
There pass'd, as a shroud,
A fleecy cloud,
And I turned away to thee,
Proud Evening Star,
In thy glory afar,
And dearer thy beam shall be;
For joy to my heart
Is the proud part
Thou bearest in Heaven at night,
And more I admire
Thy distant fire,
Than that colder, lowly light.
And certainly the most famous astropoem in Romania is:
TO THE STAR
by Mihai Eminescu (1886)
So far it is athwart the blue
To where yon star appears,
That for its light to reach our view
Has needed thousand years.
Maybe that ages gone it shed
Its glow, then languished in the skies,
Yet only now its rays have sped
Their journey to our eyes.
The icon of the star that died
Slowly the vault ascended;
Time was ere it could first be spied,
We see now what is ended.
So is it when our love's aspire
Is hid beneath night's bowl,
The gleam of its extinguished fire
Enkindles yet our soul.
ADG Note: Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889) is the Romanian national poet. The English version above belongs to Corneliu M.. Popescu (1958-1977), who unfortunately died during a terrible earthquake when he was only 19 years old.In the memory of Corneliu M. Popescu, the British Council and UNESCO created an international prize for translations.
Here is also the Romanian original version of Mihai Eminescu's astropoem:
LA STEAUA
La steaua care-a rasarit
E-o cale-atat de lunga,
Ca mii de ani i-au trebuit
Luminii sa ne-ajunga.
Poate de mult s-a stins in drum
In departari albastre,
Iar raza ei abia acum
Luci vederii noastre,
Icoana stelei ce-a murit
Incet pe cer se suie:
Era pe cand nu s-a zarit,
Azi o vedem, si nu e.
Tot astfel cand al nostru dor
Pieri in noapte-adanca,
Lumina stinsului amor
Ne urmareste inca.
Comments