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[missa-gorightry.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to translate Gippius' 'Почему' but I'm stuck on these lines:

Как я помню зори надпенные?
В черной алости чаек стон?

Any suggestions?

Comments

[xpy.livejournal.com]

she's playing with occasionalisms here. Зори надпенные in general means something like The dawns that rose above the spindrift. Черная алость literally means Black “scarletness”. Well, it's quite a tricky one to translate :)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Gippius, among other early 20th century poets, isn't as "transparent" as many older (and later!) writers.
В черной алости чаек стон
means "there's seagulls' moan in the black scarletness."
Note that neither 'scarletness" exists in English, nor алость - in Russian. That is just an "occasionalism," that's right, a word which can be understood intuitively by its root and grammar form, but not a word from a real vocabulary. he same with "надпенные," literally "abovefoam ones" (над - above, over; пена - foam, the foam of sea waves in this case.) Gippius seems to share Legolas The Elf's passion to seagulls' cries :))

[xpy.livejournal.com]

oh, that's a much nicer and more comprehensive explanation than mine :)
I'm trying to make up an Enlgish word for надпенные, and I can't come up with anything appropriate. "Overseafoam seagull moaning" makes me feel funny while the Russian phrase sounds more than serious.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Too serious, I'd say. Deadly serious. Just like the most of Russian Symbolism :)

[udarnitsa.livejournal.com]

I think the standard term for "occasionalism" is "nonce word".

[shellesie.livejournal.com]

How do I remember the dawns above spindrift, and seagulls' groan in the black redness?

That's lyrics, don't try to understand each word ;)
(Ответить)

[uxare.livejournal.com]

Варкалось...

[capricosha.livejournal.com]

Oh, Gippius never was my favourite poetess :-))

well, these lines mean something like "Do I (or 'how do I') remember sunrises above the sea-foam? And sea-gulls' moans in the black crimson colour?" Bla-bla-bla... I know it all sounds weird but you should forgive me as poems were never my cup of tea :-)) And I never felt like writing or translating poems. You see, such words as надпенный (originates from 'над' (above) and 'пена' (foam)) and алость ('алый' (crimson)) don't exist in Russian, they are poetic forms used by Gippius rather than independent words.

[nemica.livejournal.com]

Wow, not easy reading I must say.

[missa-gorightry.livejournal.com]

Спасибо всем!